Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

10 reviews

ebp's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

This book was frustrating, dense, bleak, and aloof. It was also darkly funny, astute, and creatively brilliant.

I struggled with the first two thirds of this book, which felt like a protracted setting up of the world, characters, and backstory. I found the text impenetrable, the pace frenetic, and the storyline uneven. The second-person perspective placed me at a distance from the text, and this was made doubly alienating by what an unpleasant character the protagonist is. This perspective also made it harder for me to engage with the unfamiliar concepts and language used in the book, as I felt like my brain was already exhausted from filtering the meaning through a perspective filter.

This changed when I got to the final third of the book. I'm not sure if it just took me that long to get into the rhythm of it, or if the pacing and action substantially changed, but all of the elements came together for me and propelled me towards the conclusion. Was the last third of the book satisfying enough to make up for how much I struggled with the beginning? On balance? Just.

Other themes/aspects that came up for me when I read it:

- ethics of conflict photojournalism 
- war and power
- mortality/the afterlife
- homophobia (both homosexuality and homophobia are portrayed pretty negatively in the book and the author also appears to be straight. For me this makes it a homophobic commentary on homophobia?)
- female characters (they are... Not well written)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

dr_acula's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, and Alcohol

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I am honestly not sure what to make of this book. The folklore is incredibly lush, and this definitely taught me more about Sri Lanka than 16+ years of school but it was a bit of a slow start.

Maali was… not a good person but he tried to do right by his family in the end, and i really liked him becoming a helper. DD… I’ll be honest he pissed me off. The entire time he’s being skeptical & unhelpful while Jaki risks her life for their friend/lover… his dad literally had his bf murdered and he just ate it up & got a WHITE boyfriend weeks later… their relationship was awful but still YIKES. 

Sena… what a bitch boy. 

The ending was a bit sad but hopeful, I need to think on it more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

sumunun's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

roseblossom999's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Maali a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka 3👻

Giving major Cantik itu luka/Beauty is a wound vibes: magical realism at the height of violence of the civil war. 

A must read for anyone wanting to know more about one of the bloodiest civil wars of the 20th century.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

emjbarnes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I usually prefer shorter books, and it took me a while to get through this, but it was so worth every page. There isn't a word wasted and the cast of so many characters comes together perfectly at the end. It's a very difficult read but I'd highly recommend it - just read the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation