Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

9 reviews

bella613's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This isn't my favorite of Murakami's novels. It features his classic young protagonist who loses both job and wife, and proceeds to do nothing much but make very strange friends (acquaintances?) who either tell him their life stories or come onto him very strongly. Somehow Murakami uses this same structure often and still makes completely new stories. 

I love Murakami's writing style. He's both straightforward, and roundabout. Descriptively realistic and still wildly fantastical. But this novel didn't do as much for me as his others. I'm not exactly sure what it was (or wasn't) because the main character was definitely more likeable to me than the lead of Norwegian Wood. I liked the side stories, especially the war time ones, even if it was uncomfortable at times to read. I think the overall feeling of this book just vibed with me a little less. 

Also- just a little warning if you haven't read it yet. It's not horror but there are rather graphic descriptions of gore and violence and it feels pretty horrific at times. All of Murakami's stuff is definitely adult rated but this one is a more specific-to-horror type feeling.
If you don't like dark reading this one isn't for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kanderson246's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death and Abortion

nmruss's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_juleyre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide, Vomit, and War

Minor: Racism

lydiabroadley's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So amazingly written and mesmerising. The stories and intricacies are so interesting and kept me hooked on the all the strange and fascinating characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

marinarc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

everest's review against another edition

5.0

Here’s a quote from the book that really sums up what you can expect from this novel:
“A connected reality takes shape little by little. It works in the same way that the piling up of random sounds produces a single syllable from the monotonous repetition of what at first glance appears to be meaningless.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide

12caro9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion and Abandonment

tessorlando's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle has a lot of mystery in its unique story, and I really enjoyed the character May. I struggled with the descriptions of gore and violence and found those parts of the book tedious to get through.

I was weary of the relationship between May and Mr. Okada in the beginning but (to my relief) found it to be very platonic and endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Abortion

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape