Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

45 reviews

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.0

My friend lent me her copy and I was so puzzled by the concept initially 😳 I knew nothing about Sri Lanka and it’s political landscape so this was a perfect insight into it!

The language was easy throughout, although the content was not. It was thrilling to follow Maali along his ‘death’ 🙊

Okay Stanley also really POPPED OFF 😫 I lowkey felt like I knew it was coming, but it didn’t lessen the shock in any way 🥲

I think I’d like to understand Sri Lankan politics slightly better too! 4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨ 

Content warnings are below 🥹

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bugle's review against another edition

dark tense

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death, Drug use, and Alcohol

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

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.75

This was my original review whenI originally DNFd it last April: Gave up on this book. It was long string of consciousness I could not fully care enough about. Themes were the kinds of things I like to read about (countries I know little about and LGBT injustice, for example), but it meandered too much to hold my attention. DNF.

Why did I give it another chance? I still feel the same way! I should’ve left it on the DNF shelf…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

witchintherain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.5

Really enjoyed the audiobook! The audiobook reader was really talented, not sure I would've enjoyed it as much just reading it rather than listening to the audiobook. Could totally imagine this being adapted for an animated TV show.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ekmsmith's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Homophobia

Moderate: Torture and War

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

stalfos's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

allisonz6's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide attempt

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

4.25

This was an interesting read. I went into this with very little knowledge of the civil war in Sri Lanka, but came out with a general understanding of the time and what it was like to live within it. This was partially a result of the book, but I was also intrigued enough to engage in my own research, which I think was the best way to read this book and if this doesn't sound like an interesting time to you, then this book may not work as well for you. The second-person prose was an interesting choice that I wasn't sure about at first, but I think it worked for the story, or at least didn't take away from the narrative the author was trying to tell. Magical realism in a book about civil war was a choice I was intrigued but wary about going into this, but the balance between the realistic and unrealistic worked in this context to show Maali's life, his photography and the brutalities of the civil war. Aside from the brutalities of war that the book showed, it was actually quite funny and sarcastic and witty at times, which was a good contrast to some of the intense content covered. There were parts of this novel that were a little repetitive and slow-paced, which is why it wasn't a five star for me, but I enjoyed the reading experience, even if the content and storyline of the book was not necessarily "enjoyable". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, and Alcohol