This was my first book returning to fiction after the longest dry spell due to studies in the world of non-fiction. I LOVED this book! 
 It was full of suspense, absolutely thrilling and so many twists! Due to it being quite a large book 617 pages for me, I read this over a couple of weeks whilst juggling studies. Post-book me: 
 This book in short, follows a group of school kids who have been placed on an evacuated island especially for them to all kill each other in the sake of Government military research and so the benefit of the land. This book is told from multiple perspectives. 
 Comparisons with other books. 
 I began reading this book after hearing a lot of comparisons with the hunger games, a trilogy I really enjoyed. It only took about a fifth of the book before I did begin to understand the hunger games comparisons and stark similarities. However I think this book differs as it is, in my opinion, grittier, less child friendly and honest which gives it a more realistic environment to relate and develop the story. Also it is important that this book is told in multiple perspectives and THG is through only one perspective, which again shapes and differs the stories significantly. 
 The corrupt government setting of the book is a big contributor to how much I enjoyed this book. Battle Royale shows the reader the multiple perspectives of a corrupt country and what maintains it and why change sometimes isn't possible at a particular time. This I feel is a point often missed or ignored in many books where the characters are trying to overcome oppression. 
 The romance I did enjoy. It wasn't conventional to say the least even till the end. Instead Takami left it realistic and completely understandable given the circumstances up until the last page. 
 My Negatives would be similar to other reviewers! I found the Japanese names, which for this English girl, they could get a little confusing at times! There were also a few translation errors, although I only picked up on 2-3. My biggest negative would be Kazuo Kiriyama. He seemed pretty unrealistic especially near the end. I mean, how are you still alive?! 
 TL;DR I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read others by Takami again, as well as this book again. I feel because it is so expansive it has a lot of re-readability.