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ebp's review against another edition
- 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
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
reads2cope's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abandonment
liesthemoontells's review against another edition
- 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
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)
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
lanid's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
vaindesi's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
forestfloor's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
I found a lot of this book really compelling: the characters, the descriptions of Sri Lanka, the world building of the afterlife. I didn't know anything about Sri Lanka before and it certainly made Sri Lankan '80s politics intriguing.
However, I found the prose quite difficult to follow - I didn't really get into it until about half way through. This is probably in part because it's written in second person, which isn't my personal favourite. I think that the concept of being able to go where your name is spoken was really cool but it resulted in a constant jumping between locations and interactions which was also interspersed with past memories and I found it quite disjointed - it didn't make for easy reading.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Racism
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
kalyaniwarrier's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and War
mrlsdevos's review against another edition
- 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
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
economydreams's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, Murder, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Alcohol
slimyfan's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment