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siobhanward's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
This book had an interesting concept but I wasn't sold on it until the very end. I thought that tracing Maali's journey through life as he tried to piece together his death was interesting, and I found myself learning a lot about Sri Lankan history and politics. The concept of the afterlife and the seven moons was really great and I wish I knew whether this were part of Sri Lankan culture (or the culture of one of the the ethnogroups found in Sri Lanka), or if this is something Karunatilaka came up with. Definitely an interesting read, though the use of second person sometimes made it challenging to follow.
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Police brutality, and Murder
bugle's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
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
- 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
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- 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
Why did I give it another chance? I still feel the same way! I should’ve left it on the DNF shelf…
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
avvamapia's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
dahlialover's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War
harveyhorse321's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault
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
sgrizzle's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
I read this for my StoryGraph Reads the World Sri Lanka entry, and because it is a Booker Prize winner. This is a hard one to rate, because the quality is HIGH. I absolutely understand the award wins, and how this is a Very Important book for Sri Lankans. It is also a hard read for a few reasons. I went in knowing very little about Sri Lanka, and felt pretty lost, I had to stop and do some research. To be clear this is not a point against the book at all, and is the point of reading diversely! I learned a lot. It’s also very heavy subject matter, and confronts violence and corruption and evil very directly.
That said, once I got my footing under me, it was a fascinating story. The world-building of the afterlife here is really fun, and for being about such a dark period of history, there was also so much humor here as well. A big help was switching to the audio version, the narrator is EXCELLENT and really helped to bring the characters to life. Having the audible cues of how he did the differing voices also helped where I found myself getting a little lost. It did take me much longer to read than normal, and I took a couple of breaks, I think both because of the complexity and the difficult content, but as I was getting closer to the end I was fully absorbed.
Ultimately, it ends in a poignant and hopeful place, which is meaningful for a novel of war. I don’t know that I’d recommend it to every reader because it’s definitely a challenge, but worth the effort
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and War
Moderate: Suicide