Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

92 reviews

christinamartin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Excrement and Cannibalism

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.5

I read this for a book club, and heard a lot of hype when it came out.  
The structure of the book is interesting,  with it written as if the main character Pi is telling his story to a writer decades after he survived a shipwreck and was on a lifeboat in the Pacific for over 6 months. Pi is likeable and is exploring religions in India as a teen when his family decides to sell the zoo they own and move to Canada. 
His story of hardship and survival is harrowing. I won't give away the big twist at the end, although I figured something was going to be revealed well before then. 
Overall,  it is well done but not the spectacular,  mind-blowing book that some critics described,  at least for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cannibalism and Murder

Starvation murder, cannibalism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

I can see why this is a classic. Full of teachable moments, especially the ending. But OMG it took so long to get there! I know that’s part of the telling of the tale, but the monotony, the monotony!!! Nonetheless, I would still reread it because it is a profoundly layered book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ambivalentneb's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? No

2.25

It was a good book, but there are two interpretations one of author intent and one of reader interpretation. The one of reader interpretation is greatly better than the other in my opinion. I ranked this one on the author’s  intent though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry

Moderate: Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

traciereads's review against another edition

dark informative 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Islamophobia

onceupon_longago's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was amazing.

This book is a rollercoaster ride—I laughed, I cried, I cringed in horror. So good! Descriptive and thought provoking. Loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Cannibalism

emilyxjoyce's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

1.75

This book just was not for me. I wanted to like it, but it was a very tedious read and at times I was disturbed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Cannibalism

Moderate: Gore and Death of parent

Minor: Religious bigotry

bexsur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

taural41's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

I enjoyed the writing style and the reflective, slow-paced nature of this book. I love a good, slow, character-driven story thick with description and glimpses into characters’ interior lives, so I was expecting to love this book. I did really enjoy it most of the way through but for me the alternative reading of Pi’s journey at sea offered at the end essentially ruined the whole book for me. I am grateful for the reading experience because it helped me learn that I HATE an ambiguous ending, especially one that reveals an unreliable narrator. I enjoy twists in books in other respects, but this one came so late in the story that it just left me feeling like I had been lied to throughout the entire book. Sometimes the last few pages of a book are powerful enough to color my entire experience of reading it, and that was definitely the case for me with this one. I can see why some people love it, but this was very much not for me. In fact, it’s hard to think of a book that I’ve felt more betrayed by. The low star is not reflective of the objective merit of the book, just my experience of reading and really disliking, maybe even hating it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Cannibalism

aquakerwitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

I prefer the story with the animals, even though the idea of someone trying to eat tiger poo horrifies me. Wild how many characters they gender swapped for the UK touring version of the play to make it slightly more diverse as in the book I think the mum is the only woman??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail