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Hokay. 

I know I talk about Battle Royale all the time, but this is the last time (maybe). I just finished the novel. 

Well. I will say this. It is a very easy read. No big words, lots of description, and the gruesome parts are the most fun to read, because that’s where the author gets really colorful with the imagery. It also is very suspenseful, and once you pick it up, it’s pretty hard to put down.

That being said, I do prefer the movie. In the book there was a ton of back story, which is important, but there was just too much. It translates very well onto film, but in the book the flashbacks just kind of took away from the action. 

The novel also repeats certain details incessantly. It became pretty annoying after a while.

Another thing that bothered me were the characters. All of these kids were supposed to be 8th graders, and everyone in the class was either a computer genius or a baseball star, or they were in a gang or they were a prostitute. Really? I could understand one kid in the class being in a gang or being really good with computers, but it seemed like everyone was like, “oh yeah, before we left I dismantled the government’s computer programming system so they can’t track anyone who hacks into their database.” No. No 8th grader does that.

Besides that, I enjoyed the book. The end actually was amazing, and much clearer than the ending of the movie. Again, I’m really happy with how well the novel translated onto film, there’s actually many slight details in the movie that weren’t in the book. If you are a fan of the movie, I would never discourage you from reading the novel, because it does enhance the overall experience. 

And so concludes my summer of non-stop reading. I’ve decided to take a break for a while, since I’ve spent the past 4 months with my nose in one book or another. There are many books still left on The List, but I think I will save them for the school year or for winter break.