Book Review: The Seven Moons of Mali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

The Seven Moons of Mali Almeida is a Booker Prize winner (2022), which is just one of the most highbrow literary awards on the block. And Shehan Karunatilaka is not only deemed a hot Sri Lankan export, but he has also won other prestigious awards with his debut novel Chinaman. While all of that sounds very fancy, I actually bought this book because I felt in love with the artwork and the texture on its cover. I know, I’m a cover tart. But isn’t it gorgeous, though?

BOOK SPECS:

Number of pages: 408

Format: Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, LGBTQA+, Mystery

Tropes: Missing Person, Flawed Victim, Race Against Clock, So Many Bodies

SHORT REVIEW:

I can’t say I enjoyed this novel. Having said that, it was very educational in terms of understanding what was happening in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, and the writing is very smooth and witty. While I admire Karunatilaka’s wordsmith skills, I would be cautions recommending this book to anyone, as I found it quite upsetting to know that some of the things described in this novel actually happened. Full, detailed review below.

HEART RATE:

SMUT SCORE:

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FULL REVIEW:

Plot

Mali Almeida is a closet gay war photographer in 1980s war-torn Sri Lanka. After being murdered, he finds himself in the afterlife passport office, and has seven moons to put his affairs in order or he will be stuck in the in-between forever. The plot not only sounds interesting, but also funny.

That, however, is misleading.

This book is actually set in and raises awareness for one of the most brutal periods in Sri Lanka’s history. A time marked by civil war, political prosecution, thousands of disappearances and torture victims. And Mali, the main character, is not only a witness, but he’s right at the centre of this violence, to the point that he becomes a victim himself. He's also not closeted gay out of choice. He is so because he has to be.

Characters

There is a whole cohort of characters in this novel, some of which I found unnecessary, but the main ones are Mali, his best friend Jackie, his boyfriend DD, and DD’s father.

Mali describes himself as a “photographer, gambler, slut”. You start the book feeling sorry for the fact he was murdered; but as you read on, you realize he is actually not a particularly nice person - unfaithful, lying, manipulative and egotistical. He does occasionally and eventually show some good attributes, though. But put it this way, the guy is prepared to put all his friends in danger just to have his whistle-blowing pictures exhibited in an art gallery, when the best thing for him to do would be to actually send them to someone that would take notice and do something about it.

The other thing I also realized while reading this novel, is that Mali suffered from PTSD; although, this is never actually mentioned or confirmed in the story.

Smut & Romance Score

There’s plenty of sex scenes going on in this novel, but no detailed smut. While it still manages to be quite hot, it's not necessarily spicy.

Writing

There is a reason why Karunatilaka has won a number of prestigious writing awards. The man has wit, and his writing is very entertaining. He comes out with some cracking one-liners, like “women usually liked the look of you, not knowing that you prefer cock to cooch.” As well as some interesting insight, such as “History is people with ships and weapons wiping out those who forgot to invent them.” There is also a really interesting parallel when he talks about the Sri Lankan and Tamil flags on page 145 and 146.

The other interesting thing about the writing in this novel is that it’s narrated from the first-person point of view but in third-person - like Mali’s conscience is talking to his body as a separate entity. And this adds an unease and eeriness to the paranormal element of the story. It's also quite awkward to write, so I definitely take my hat off to Karunatilaka wordsmith skills.

OUT OF CURIOSITY:

Have you ever heard that Disney animation producers leave breadcrumbs within the movies to connect films and tell undercurrent storylines? Well… Karunatilaka does the same in this novel. This is his second book, and he mentions “chinaman” at least twice in its pages. It’s so well done, though, that unless you know his debut novel was called Chinaman, you won’t notice his name-dropping.

Buy this book on Bookshop.org

Buy it on Amazon