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A review by suryac
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Despair always begins as a snack that you nibble on when bored and then becomes a meal that you have thrice a day
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, and War