I only picked up this book because The Hunger Games is constantly compared to it, and many Japanese readers felt that Suzanne Collins stole the idea. While the basic idea is similar, kids forced to fight each other to death by a totalitarian government. But these books are very different. For one, Battle Royale is incredibly violent. All of the deaths are described, with gory detail. Yet it didn't make me uncomfortable, but rather drew me into the book because i was so entranced with who was going to die (and there were a lot that did). Also, the book is told in third person, so it allows you to see different students at all times, despite the main character being Shuya. The Hunger Games really focuses on the corruption of the government, and starting a revolution, whereas Battle Royale focuses on the actual battle and the thought to overtake the government is a distant dream. It made the situation seem somewhat more realistic.

I really loved this book. It was so entrancing (even though I felt there were mistakes in translation sometimes, because certain words just sounded incredibly awkward) and I couldn't stop reading it. The violence didn't seem over the top, in fact it felt very necessary for the tone of the book. There are more students than Hunger Games, so you get a wider range of personalities. From a psychological perspective, the book is completely fascinating and rather Lord of the Flies-esque (except, this book is tolerable). Plus the ending was so well written, and had well placed twists.

Since this book was originally Japanese, the names can get confusing (the way American names would probably sound to the Japanese). It didn't help how incredibly similar some names were: Yukie, Yuko and Yuka, then Yumiko and Yukiko. That bothered me, and it bothers me in English when authors give similar characters too similar of names. But it doesn't really take away from the book. Oh and everyone is in love with Shuya. Everyone. That seemed rather excessive.