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rissryann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, and War
heyitsneen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Drug use
suryac'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
4.5
Do not be afraid of demons; it is the living we should fear. Human horrors trump anything that Hollywood or the afterlife can conjure. Always remember this when you encounter a wild animal or a stray spirit. They are not as dangerous as you
4.5⭐/5
There are books that make you dream about happy things and makes you feel excited about everything great in the world, and then there are books that keep you up at night, making you question how so much injustice can happen in a place, without anyone doing anything about it. This book definitely falls into the latter category.
I've known about the Civil War in Sri Lanka growing up, but weirdly enough, until reading this book, I couldn't grasp the amount of struggle, the people might have gone through in those periods. Especially the parts where, Maali interact with the ghosts of people killed during those times, it deeply affected me.
Even though Maali was trying to figure out what happened to him the entire book, I actually didn't care about that mystery as much as I loved the random stories in between, conversations with ghosts from various times, even though at times it was hard to follow the narration, with the author's choice of second person narration. I didn't think I would get used to it, but I did eventually and honestly it was a good choice.
Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, and War
whirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping
alisha94'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
3.75
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol
richy_qu33r_readzz'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
Packed full of political commentary on civil war, governance, human violence and more, this may be fiction but it teaches readers a lot about Sri Lanka, the struggle for independence, and empathy. All while exploring a uniquely wacky world of the dead.
“Do not be afraid of demons; it is the living we should fear. Human horrors trump anything that Hollywood or the afterlife can conjure. Always remember this when you encounter a wild animal or stray spirit. They are not as dangerous as you.” P.335
“This must be where they allocate budgets for torturers, organise pension plans for abductors and approve home loans for assassins” p. 345
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Violence, and War
salesforce'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
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Homophobia and Racial slurs
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
chloesnotscared'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Grief, Murder, and Outing
Minor: Suicide
hiitssimone's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Violence