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essiie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, and Car accident
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Stalking, and Death of parent
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Did I remember all ~50 characters? No! But the reading pace kept me flying through it and the 20ish that were most important were definitely memorable. The size of the book flew by with the pacing of the short, intense chapters.
This new translation is more action-packed than the original (I compared line by line with the audiobook of the original English translation). You can tell this translator has worked on manga and video games before because the fight scenes are so much smother. But whichever version you have, read it.
What a thrilling, unexpectedly emotionally charged, bloody, anti-fascist roller coaster. This is the inspiration behind Hunger Games and battle royale style video games, but way more politically incendiary.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, and Classism
Minor: Car accident
noodlebooknook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Well first of all given the size of the book (650 pages of my edition) I was a little intimidated but this book FLIES by so fast it feels like a 200-300 page book.
The narration style was so unique starting with 42 characters and we get POVs with a lot of them. Which has its normal downsides where sometimes I would be less invested than normal but overall most of the POVs were so interesting.
Also I really had no idea where this book was going at all somehow have managed to avoid spoilers for 25 year and wow wow wow the ending was just amazing.
I will say absolutely trigger warning this was one of the most gore heavy and violent books I’ve read in awhile and it is absolutely an insane read along with other terrible things happening.
Overall would highly recommend this book to anyone
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
mysteryspouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Pedophilia, and Death of parent
velveteenrabbit'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: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
vvabecca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
maurits's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Medical content
parchmentdreams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
seventhcr0w's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Stalking
perthalus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I’ve seen the film adapt more than once before, and reading the original book provided so many pieces of context and extra character bits that made reading it entirely worth it. Koushun Takami absolutely nails the action. Even knowing what happens doesn’t remove from the intensity and suspense provided by each encounter, and god, what a premise.
I especially love Kazuo Kiriyama’s gang, though I wish Kazuo himself got a little more background towards the end, but that may just be my bias talking. And I also love Shogo Kawada because… I don’t know, I just love him, okay? 🫶🏻 Now that I think about it, there isn’t a character I don’t really like, maybe besides Shinji, though even he has his moments. But Mitsuko, Kazuo, Shogo, Shuya, Hiroki, Chigusa, and Noriko are all characters I absolutely love.
I will say that the action can ride the edge between believable and ridiculous, especially when characters do somersaults mid-fight. And on top of that, Shinji’s computer jargon and his exposition on pre-established information made his chapters a little repetitive, but other than that I can’t pick out any glaring problems with the book or it’s story.
Overall, it’s a book that is still incredibly entertaining, shocking, and politically powerful as it was when it was first released, and it only made my appreciation grow for the story and the film adaptation.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Trafficking, and Classism