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A review by emmalouisereads
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The plot of this story is really interesting, both in terms of the surreal aspect of the afterlife and the setting of a civil war in Sri Lanka.
The entire book is written in the second person, which is quite cool but does make things a bit harder to follow. Also, civil wars are generally quite confusing even for the people in them, and this, coupled with the interwoven dreamlike afterlife, just made this a bit of a challenging read for me.
I loved how Maali spoke about Jaki, his best friend, and my favourite parts of the book were getting to know Maali, DD and Jaki.
Edit - I’ve just read Human Acts by Han Kang, and I’ll be shocked if the author hasn’t taken inspiration from that book. So if you like Human Acts (the second person + speaking from the perspective of the dead writing style), you might like this too
The entire book is written in the second person, which is quite cool but does make things a bit harder to follow. Also, civil wars are generally quite confusing even for the people in them, and this, coupled with the interwoven dreamlike afterlife, just made this a bit of a challenging read for me.
I loved how Maali spoke about Jaki, his best friend, and my favourite parts of the book were getting to know Maali, DD and Jaki.
Edit - I’ve just read Human Acts by Han Kang, and I’ll be shocked if the author hasn’t taken inspiration from that book. So if you like Human Acts (the second person + speaking from the perspective of the dead writing style), you might like this too
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Gore, and Suicide
Minor: Pedophilia, Child death, and Sexual assault