Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

68 reviews

mybluebookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath?

Sri Lankan war photographer and playboy Maali Almeida wakes up dead. He doesn't remember how or where he died, but he does remember that he left behind a box of his photographs that can change the world. As a ghost, Maali resolves to find a way to publish the photos with the help of his lover and his best friend, over the course of his allotted seven days before crossing into the Light. 

I picked this book because I wanted something different, and indeed it is something different. Is historical magical realism a thing? If so, this is it. I admit that I was confused for most of the book, though most of that is due to my lack of knowledge about this aspect of history. But regardless of my ignorance of the atrocities, events, and major players of the Sri Lankan civil war, I was sucked into Maali's story and the fate of both his photographs and his friends. The overall tone of the book is despairing and nihilistic, and yet there are beautiful moments too. 

I do recommend this book if it sounds intriguing to you, but I recommend taking a few minutes to skim the Wikipedia entry on the Sri Lankan civil war first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Suicide

clare072's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Colonisation

caoimhemia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War

andyourstruly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective

4.75

This was a really good book.

The best way of describing it is that genre of book where someone in the main character's life has just died, leaving behind a tangled web of mystery for the MC to unravel and resolve ... from the dead person's point of view.

The author does an amazing job painting the political landscape of Sri Lankan politics in the 70s-90s in all of its complexity and using it as a vehicle to reveal the story as opposed to allowing it to bog the story down.  The main character is jaded and unlikeable, but the slow reveal throughout the book of what leads him to be like that and the dynamics involved was really impressively handled.  I really loved the ending and the way that the author doesn't pretend to try to fix everything.  

I read this book because a friend of a friend told me that her book club had read it and that everyone but her had said that, while they liked it, they would not recommend it as a book club book, a sentiment that she had disagreed with.  Having now read it, I have to agree with my friend's friend: if these aren't the topics we discuss in a book club, then what are?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Torture, and Death of parent

Go into this book on your guard, my friend.

kermities's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.5

Bar the repetitions in descriptions and the slower moving parts I have to the middle, this book was great.
The history brought me closer to my roots, the spirituality thought me more about my culture , the characters made me reflect on the complexities of being kind in a pathologically flawed and unjust world and the ending was the cherry on the cake that left me moved and hopeful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

This book is centered and about death and war. War is horrible so of course there are descriptions of it.

cat_22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation

mrlsdevos's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The more I think about this book, the higher my rating. It’s so good and thought provoking and well written. I’ll probably need to come back to it for a reread sometime because I’m sure there’s a lot that I missed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

leensbeans's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Animal death and Child death

jenbosen's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful

5.0

For such a gruesome book, it was remarkably beautiful and hopeful. It is disorienting at first. Stick with it, though, because the farther you get, the more captivating it becomes. (I want to learn more about Sri Lankan history now too.) Definitely not for everyone, but if you like weird existential books, this is a top notch weird existential book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail