Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

65 reviews

anoke's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

Very interesting read, something different. Really liked the mechanism of magic realism in the story. The second person style of writing took me a while to get used too and, paired with the descriptive writing style, this book took me longer than usual to finish. Very much worth it though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit, Child death, and Child abuse

fivefeather's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Seven Moons is a twisting rat's-nest of a story - easy to get lost in, but constantly engaging, and always moving forwards. Brutal, graphic, and darkly witty.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, War, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Genocide

Minor: Car accident, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Drug use, Animal death, and Death of parent

allisonz6's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, Suicide, Genocide, Death, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Animal death, Sexual content, and Child death

Minor: Suicide attempt

regans's review

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

Moderate: Torture, Drug use, and Car accident

Minor: Alcoholism

clovetra's review against another edition

i am so sorry god i wish i liked this more!
sorry its such a minor pet peeve when books use overly-flowerly language. like yes some description is needed but.,.. this book was too much.
i told myself in 2024 to dnf any book that does not spark joy, and this book did not spark joy at all.
yeah i know im not really giving this book a chance but honestly i dont want to.
that sounds mean
idk i just didn't like it & where it was going!
mayhaps a future pick-up (i highly doubt it sadly)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Blood

Minor: Child death

rosalind's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Murder, and War

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Sexual content, and Homophobia

Minor: Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, and Genocide

remib's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Homophobia

mybluebookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath?

Sri Lankan war photographer and playboy Maali Almeida wakes up dead. He doesn't remember how or where he died, but he does remember that he left behind a box of his photographs that can change the world. As a ghost, Maali resolves to find a way to publish the photos with the help of his lover and his best friend, over the course of his allotted seven days before crossing into the Light. 

I picked this book because I wanted something different, and indeed it is something different. Is historical magical realism a thing? If so, this is it. I admit that I was confused for most of the book, though most of that is due to my lack of knowledge about this aspect of history. But regardless of my ignorance of the atrocities, events, and major players of the Sri Lankan civil war, I was sucked into Maali's story and the fate of both his photographs and his friends. The overall tone of the book is despairing and nihilistic, and yet there are beautiful moments too. 

I do recommend this book if it sounds intriguing to you, but I recommend taking a few minutes to skim the Wikipedia entry on the Sri Lankan civil war first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Kidnapping, War, Murder, Animal death, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Suicide

clare072's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Violence, Classism, Genocide, Car accident, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Torture, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Colonisation and Animal death

caoimhemia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective 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: Drug use, Grief, War, Torture, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Genocide, Suicide, Murder, and Homophobia