From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

Battle Royale

Koushun Takami

Why we're reading this: This is not a post-apocalyptic book, but it is about an authoritarian society so f*d up that it sends it'…more
[close] This is not a post-apocalyptic book, but it is about an authoritarian society so f*d up that it sends it's school kids off to an island to fight to the death. Only one survivor is allowed. (Yes, that plot is reminiscent of The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale came first, and has a different feel to it.)

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What Members Thought

Sep 01, 2013 Jennifer rated it really liked it

I've seen the movie, so knew the book would be violent, so that wasn't a shock, but if a person reads this book with no idea what it is about, the violence will probably come as a huge surprise. I did think the book was better at developing the characters and their back story. You get to care more about the main characters surviving.

So many people compare The Hunger Games to this story, and yes they are both about kids killing each other but I would say this is the better of the 2, not because ...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Netanella rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, place-japan

Phew! This book was tough to finish - I found myself skimming whole sections of repetitive teenage internal dialogue of who has a crush on whom and flashbacks of early childhood trauma while trying to get to the blood and gore. And man, there was a lot of that - no complaints there, however. The book was way too long for my taste, however, and if this jr. high class started with half the number of student contestants on the island, it would have been all good. Great ending, though.

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Jun 30, 2010 Jane rated it it was ok

Shelves: dystopia, ya, horror

Some of the story was interesting. The ending was great. However, most of the writing and all of the dialogue was painful to read. I wish I could give it 2.5 stars for effort, creativity and the ending.

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