Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Battle Royale

Wow where do I even start

Well first of all given the size of the book (650 pages of my edition) I was a little intimidated but this book FLIES by so fast it feels like a 200-300 page book.

The narration style was so unique starting with 42 characters and we get POVs with a lot of them. Which has its normal downsides where sometimes I would be less invested than normal but overall most of the POVs were so interesting.

Also I really had no idea where this book was going at all somehow have managed to avoid spoilers for 25 year and wow wow wow the ending was just amazing.

I will say absolutely trigger warning this was one of the most gore heavy and violent books I’ve read in awhile and it is absolutely an insane read along with other terrible things happening.

Overall would highly recommend this book to anyone

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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excritos's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

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parchmentdreams's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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remembermenever's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The last time I read Battle Royale, it was 2017. I gave it an instant five star rating when I completed it. I thought it was thought-provoking, if I remember right, and an engaging read. Well, it is now 2023. And it is clear that my tastes have changed entirely, as this will not rate higher than a three.

In this reread, something that immediately stuck out to me was that a lot of the characters that had POV scenes all felt very similar in voice, unless they were characters that had multiple scenes. Their voices got muddled together, in such a way that it made it confusing sometimes to remember who was who. And this could be because the author was juggling 43+ characters throughout the novel, from characters who only barely have appearances in the novel, to major characters that we follow for the entirety.

Shuya is a very bland main character, which makes for a very boring main character. He spends much of the novel basically following after Shogo, caring for Noriko, making promises to people that he can’t hope to complete, especially in a death game. He’s also very naive, believing in the good of everyone, even while seeing the results of what is happening all around him. Noriko also comes off as a very trope-heavy character, mostly there to play the part of “damsel”. Shogo is the only one of the unlikely trio who has some sort of plan, and that’s only because of his experiences.

Moving away from the characters, the pacing just made it hard sometimes. The author chooses to jump from character POV to character POV, leaving the reader to have to catch up with what that character has been doing for the last length of time since they have last been with them, if at all. Only then, do they move forward. Some characters get barely a mention, including one character who lasts until late into the game. The choice makes it so that the reader has to keep up with several storylines at once, and most of them are very separate, only tangentially together (the death game).

And maybe it’s just because it’s been six years, or maybe it’s because my tastes have changed a lot in that time, but this just didn’t do it for me anymore. I was never really a fan of gratuitous violence, but I was able to overlook it for the most part all that long ago. I was drawn to something else initially, though I can’t put my finger on what. And now? Whatever it is, it’s gone. Either I imagined it was there… Or I changed enough that I don’t see it anymore.

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fe_aye's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

Wow, this book is a lot of things. It doesn’t feel right to call a story about pointless child murder amazing, but this is certainly an interesting read. Not knowing who you can trust, who will die and who will survive. Some things about this story are a bit off, but overall it’s a book with an interesting commentary on society, and trusting each other, along with the fragility of life.

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

aandromeda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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