sashaanauo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
i think i enjoyed the plot concept more than I enjoyed actually engaging with this book. the pacing towards the midpoint slowed down a bit too much for my liking, and the unprompted misogyny and transphobic themes really threw me off. the main two characters also being bad people (a rapist and a friend of a rapist) made it really hard to connect with the story as well. i wouldnt mind the two main characters being bad people if it felt like the narrative framed them in a negative manor, but i didnt feel they were at all. i know this is a translated story from 90s japan, but I felt the story would have benefited for a better exploration of its female characters. regardless of all my negative thoughts on the novel, i genuinely enjoyed the explorative mystery element of this novel. the way the it played out was very natural and enjoyable to discover along with the characters. also I know it's a series but the ending happened a lot faster than I was expecting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death, Misogyny, and Rape
onekid1egg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the overall story is very interesting and kept me reading, but the characters are bad people in a way that doesn’t feel like a critique at all. the best part is the plot and the weird sexism/transphobic (?) remarks from characters leave a bad taste in my mouth at points
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Rape
Minor: Transphobia
jazmineteaa's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Misogyny
loganreadshorror's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Ryuji gave me the ick big time. Asakawa is also grotesquely spineless . Despite the sexism, transphobia, and general disgust I felt towards the characters, it was a really good read, imo. Suzuki’s writing style is interesting and while some of the content is offensive, the idea is interesting and well-executed enough to keep me reading through my digust.
Spoiler
for overlooking Ryuji’s confession about being a serial rapistSpoiler
After reading Spiral, you’ll definitely see further why Suzuki makes you hate Ryuji so throughly in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Transphobia
suzyrez's review against another edition
1.0
Strongly not recommended; offensive misogyny & transphobia
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Transphobia, and Sexual violence
choco_bunbun's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Misogyny
Minor: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Grief, and Transphobia
judassilver's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Misogyny, Murder, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
jsi550's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Stalking, Misogyny, Death, Rape, Transphobia, Infertility, and Murder
ivy123's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Ok, so I have so many thoughts about this no idea how I will get them all out for my book club or be happy with any one rating.
Firstly I want to say I have seen the movies but a long time ago so all I really remembered was a girl is assaulted and killed, thrown down a well, and coming back for vengeance with a videotape. With that limited information, it felt like discovering the story all over again while reading the book.
So getting down to what I liked about this book.
- I liked the mystery of the novel, following around the main characters and his sidekick as they followed clues to find out how to avoid death around Japan was very interesting.
- the writing style worked really well for me as well. Sometimes with translated works, things are lost in translation but I found for me it was perfect.
- the utilization of technology as something to be afraid of and the hints at the spreading of the media being like disease were also things I think we can find relevant in today's society even with a more dated medium like VCR.
SPOILER
However, there were a lot of things I also didn't like or wanted more of.
- For a start, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects to this novel. I wanted more appearances by the spirit even if just to remind the main characters of their impending doom or a scene of her exiting the TV like in the movie.
- The main character and his sidekick were also unlikeable, however, I feel like that was the intention of the author. They were both misogynistic to the point I wanted them both to die and only wanted the main character to stay alive for his family's sake not because of him. Also, the way the main character is still friends with his friend who likes to talk about how he raped women was hard to swallow and the attempt at a small redemption at the end did not seem justified in relieving him of his personality.
- Lastly, the way in which sexual assault is discussed in the book was tough for me to read. As someone who does not like reading this in books, I thought I could deal with this as I assumed it would be a brief mention and the actions labeled as reprehensible. However the way, it was almost brushed under the carpet as something that happens did not sit well with me. At one point one of the characters even suggests a woman wanted to be raped so she did not die a virgin before backtracking this as unlikely. Even when they find the person who assaulted and murdered the girl in the well no justice is had it just moves on to the next clue. I understand this is a reflection on the way the characters think about women as written they are not meant to be likable but I still struggled with this as I feel if you were not able to figure this out the novel could be sending some very unhelpful messages.
In regards to a lot of the twists in this novel, I would say half had good pay off and half were unnecessary. Why did we really need the medical twist with Sadako and Ryugi's plot twist after his death was not enough to redeem him or excuse his behavior. So in conclusion really liked this book but also really did not at the same time. I am considering reading the other books in the series as I do wonder what would happen next with the tape spreading but I do feel this can be read as a stand-alone and you would not be missing out on not continuing.
Firstly I want to say I have seen the movies but a long time ago so all I really remembered was a girl is assaulted and killed, thrown down a well, and coming back for vengeance with a videotape. With that limited information, it felt like discovering the story all over again while reading the book.
So getting down to what I liked about this book.
- I liked the mystery of the novel, following around the main characters and his sidekick as they followed clues to find out how to avoid death around Japan was very interesting.
- the writing style worked really well for me as well. Sometimes with translated works, things are lost in translation but I found for me it was perfect.
- the utilization of technology as something to be afraid of and the hints at the spreading of the media being like disease were also things I think we can find relevant in today's society even with a more dated medium like VCR.
SPOILER
However, there were a lot of things I also didn't like or wanted more of.
- For a start, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects to this novel. I wanted more appearances by the spirit even if just to remind the main characters of their impending doom or a scene of her exiting the TV like in the movie.
- The main character and his sidekick were also unlikeable, however, I feel like that was the intention of the author. They were both misogynistic to the point I wanted them both to die and only wanted the main character to stay alive for his family's sake not because of him. Also, the way the main character is still friends with his friend who likes to talk about how he raped women was hard to swallow and the attempt at a small redemption at the end did not seem justified in relieving him of his personality.
- Lastly, the way in which sexual assault is discussed in the book was tough for me to read. As someone who does not like reading this in books, I thought I could deal with this as I assumed it would be a brief mention and the actions labeled as reprehensible. However the way, it was almost brushed under the carpet as something that happens did not sit well with me. At one point one of the characters even suggests a woman wanted to be raped so she did not die a virgin before backtracking this as unlikely. Even when they find the person who assaulted and murdered the girl in the well no justice is had it just moves on to the next clue. I understand this is a reflection on the way the characters think about women as written they are not meant to be likable but I still struggled with this as I feel if you were not able to figure this out the novel could be sending some very unhelpful messages.
In regards to a lot of the twists in this novel, I would say half had good pay off and half were unnecessary. Why did we really need the medical twist with Sadako and Ryugi's plot twist after his death was not enough to redeem him or excuse his behavior. So in conclusion really liked this book but also really did not at the same time. I am considering reading the other books in the series as I do wonder what would happen next with the tape spreading but I do feel this can be read as a stand-alone and you would not be missing out on not continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, and Sexism
Minor: Suicide, Confinement, and Medical content
peppers_books's review against another edition
4.5
like others have said, the characters.. are Not Good People. I thought a lot of the misogyny Sadako in particular exhibited was honestly unnecessary. Especially the whole r*pe/assault aspect, combined with the reveal at the ending. It was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story?? So like.. don't?
i did think the atmosphere and overall story was eerie. the backstory is really interesting, it's different and (as would be expected) a lot more developed than it is in the movies. i really liked this aspect and it made a lot more sense which raised the stakes. i also never thought specifically about the implications and the ending really put this into focus.
this book also has the one of the best sentences ever written, i was at work when i read it and could not stop cackling. maybe it's not that funny, but for some reason it really got to me. i think it's because I could never have predicted where the sentence was heading.
"Ikuma decided to acquire paranormal abilities himself, and he retreated deep into the mountains and stood under waterfalls, but all he got was pulmonary tuburculosis"
i did think the atmosphere and overall story was eerie. the backstory is really interesting, it's different and (as would be expected) a lot more developed than it is in the movies. i really liked this aspect and it made a lot more sense which raised the stakes. i also never thought specifically about the implications and the ending really put this into focus.
this book also has the one of the best sentences ever written, i was at work when i read it and could not stop cackling. maybe it's not that funny, but for some reason it really got to me. i think it's because I could never have predicted where the sentence was heading.
"Ikuma decided to acquire paranormal abilities himself, and he retreated deep into the mountains and stood under waterfalls, but all he got was pulmonary tuburculosis"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape