Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

62 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 🥹

Content Warnings

reads2cope's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

A difficult book to rate. The setting and mythology were totally immersive, the commentary on colonialism was sharp, and the characters gave me a lot to root for. However, there were at least three points where I thought the book was wrapping up only to find hours more to read. The journey became repetitive, and while I liked Maali’s growth, the constant homophobia and violence behind him became too much to keep wading through.

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

Go to review page

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…

Content Warnings

avvamapia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny hopeful mysterious 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 feel like the financial times said it best, "Breathtakingly kaleidoscopic"

Content Warnings

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

Go to review page

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)

Content Warnings

sophiestasyna's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

3.75

This book was beautifully written and quite unique. If you are looking for a book to stretch your thinking, look no further. The second-person POV took some getting used to. At times, I found the storyline a little difficult to follow.

Content Warnings