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Battle Royale
 

Battle Royale, Volume 1

by Koushun Takami

Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence in a dystopian world, it is one of Japan's best-selling - and most controversial - novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  violence,  dystopia,  japanese,  science fiction (all tags)

Readers

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  • Manga Shelf Discussion Group
  • Dystopia Discussion Group
  • Worldly World Lit Discussion Group
  • Fletcher's English 11CP Discussion Group
  • I heart JAPAN Discussion Group
  • Book Club Discussion Group

Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

jlover13
  • Rated 5 stars

“A beast of a book(and I don't mean the number of pages). Very fast-paced in some parts, but with breaks in between. Kind of a simplistic plot, but almost impossible to put down.”

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Didn’t Like It

Kelly L
  • Rated 2 stars

“This book is like reading an anime cartoon that you'd watch on Adult Swim. It has its merits--the premise is neat and there's almost a 1984 sort of feel to the world the characters live in--but the general immaturity and exaggerated relationships/character traits just instantly reminded me of anime. If you like anime, go for it. But if you're not into lots of blood and 15 year olds talking about their everlasting love/sex lives, pass it up.”

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Community:
  • Rated 4.334951 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Marilyn

    marilyn said:

    “I really like this book. I do agree its not a book for the squeamish, some scenes are too over the top, I had no idea teenagers could do things like that without thinking it twice. It is survival though, and everyday I question myself if I could of survived something like it.”

    posted Friday, July 25 2008
  • Krisztina T

    krisztina t said:

    “The book is horrifying. Do not consider this book as Dostojevsky's main oeuvre. It is all about how your basic instinct would work if you have to survive even by killing your own classmates or friends. It is also about trust and friendship.
    I really love this book but not for its sophisticated literature style.”

    posted Wednesday, July 2 2008
  • Emma B

    emma b said:

    “That was such an awful book ! I think the story could have been interesting, but it's such a bad writing... The character's psycholgy is a joke. Really, don't waste your time”

    posted Saturday, June 28 2008
  • mmmqx

    mmmqx said:

    “I can't say it's better than the movie or worse than the movie. The movie is great for people who like to be entertained with visuals. But people who have wild imaginations would really enjoy this book as well.

    Never mind the reviews that say the writing is bad, or that it's "elementary". The book is about kids in Junior High, so the author (and the translator, in this case), will of course consider that the readers won't just be people who are old enough to understand complicated terms.

    You'd probably appreciate it more if you did a little research first on the youth of Japan-- how much of an issue "bullying" is, how suicide is almost a norm, how delinquents in class treat their teachers, how tight-knit the groups of friends are, etc.”

    posted Thursday, June 5 2008
  • Lydia V

    lydia v said:

    “my teacher says its good but really creepy!”

    posted Friday, May 16 2008
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