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A review by bookishfaye
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
🍃 positives:
- I loved this way this was written!! Each chapter ending on how many were left alive made it super intense!
- I loved the darkness & grittiness of the world/characters/battle royale
- unexpected duos (in this case trio) is my favourite trope so I absolutely adore Kawada, Shuya, & Noriko
- The impact this must have had at it’s time when it came out in Korea must have been wild. I appreciated the boldness the author had in writing this at the time & stirring up some drama. The dedication made me say though, I appreciate your story sir
- the Modern, adult, asian inspired, dystopian Lord of the Flies/Hunger Games vibes were immaculate
-I loved the ending & the plot twist was really good
🍃negatives:
- I have to say I was uncomfortable with how sexualized these 8th graders were at times. It felt like in making this an adult Sci Fi, the author wrote children very adult, & I wish he just made the characters adults to avoid the uncomfiness of sexualizing children.
- Also the focus all the kids had on crushes when they were literally in a life or death battle Royal was kinda silly to me, I feel like they would have different priorities lmao
- some comments that were kinda sexist & outdated, however this did come out in the 90’s so maybe proceed with caution
- I loved this way this was written!! Each chapter ending on how many were left alive made it super intense!
- I loved the darkness & grittiness of the world/characters/battle royale
- unexpected duos (in this case trio) is my favourite trope so I absolutely adore Kawada, Shuya, & Noriko
- The impact this must have had at it’s time when it came out in Korea must have been wild. I appreciated the boldness the author had in writing this at the time & stirring up some drama. The dedication made me say though, I appreciate your story sir
- the Modern, adult, asian inspired, dystopian Lord of the Flies/Hunger Games vibes were immaculate
-I loved the ending & the plot twist was really good
🍃negatives:
- I have to say I was uncomfortable with how sexualized these 8th graders were at times. It felt like in making this an adult Sci Fi, the author wrote children very adult, & I wish he just made the characters adults to avoid the uncomfiness of sexualizing children.
- Also the focus all the kids had on crushes when they were literally in a life or death battle Royal was kinda silly to me, I feel like they would have different priorities lmao
- some comments that were kinda sexist & outdated, however this did come out in the 90’s so maybe proceed with caution
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence