Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

74 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

dianahincureads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, and War

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

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

salesforce's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-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

An incredible book. Wonderfully dark and humorous, and reeks strongly of the horrors of the Sri Lankan civil war. Karunatilaka has a brilliant voice and is deeply angry, political, and satirical without simply moralizing. I don't think I've read anything like this before and am super happy I picked it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Homophobia and Racial slurs

lanid's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

sinewton's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

regans's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and War

Moderate: Drug use, Torture, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism

mattiaforc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail