A review by watermelleon
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

5.0

Shock factor fiction at its finest. So Unputdownable, that I screamed and gasped and grimaced and cried on my morning bus commutes, and attempted to read it down those hazardous stairs, and spilled coffee on it, and spent 5 minutes at the bus stop in the rain to finish the next chapter. (my copy is in terrible condition now). If it wasn't so Haram you know that I would be reading this in my kitchen at work too.

This book starts out slow: it was a chore to begin with, not because I started it during jury service, but because I had to make notes on the 40 classmates to remember who was who in a sea of Japanese names. Then I obviously took it to my parents house and left it behind for months, and I didn't want to continue reading without my trusty field guide. But at some point, about a third in, I gave up on my guide: I recommend it for anyone in their first steps of this book. but once characters begin to minimise, you recognise the distinct characters from each other.

It gets better with each and every page: seriously. I've covered the slow start but by the end you are left with the two most chilling sentences I have ever finished a book on. Chilling. You grow to love the characters and then your favourite dies: everyone has a story, and a thing they wanted to do but never will. and its very real and very sad.

its realistic: I don't want to mention other book titles in this review, but this scenario, this situation, every single unique reaction, everything screams real human nature. real human psychology. Real human choices. Real potential dystopias. The terrifying thought is that nothing seems unfeasible in this book to really happen (except for fucking Kiriyama's bulletproof vest that makes him weirdly immortal even though he has hands and legs and a head and the fact that even bullet proof vests need replacing MAN THIS IS MY ONE CRITIQUE).
But yes, you read this book and can only wonder: if you were told to kill your friends to keep on living, what would you do? would you hide, alone? would you hide with your friends? get paranoid and accidentally kill someone you love? act against your sweet nature and kill relentlessly? plan an escape? Abuse your female body to your advantage? tell the girl you love that you always loved her?
my heart, none of these are unrealistic, and I still do not know my own personal answer.

girls are cruel, boys are cruel. it would be easy to have the males as powerhouses in this scenario. but you have chilling female villains, girls that are BADASS, and girls that are weak the entire time (I'm looking at Noriko for this one, she limped through the game I swear to god). Gender doesn't separate the cruelty of the situation. I liked that a lot.

I could write a whole essay . This is an emotional rollercoaster, and I was here for it. Put in the effort at the beginning, and you will get the biggest payoff ever. I promise.