Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

29 reviews

3eggomelet's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

Yes, I read the whole thing. I ordered all three books in Japanese and referred to them throughout my reading. 
The premise and concept of this book carried me through. I wanted to know what would happen. I'm not gonna say it wasn't worth it, but I would recommend against reading this if you're not already super interested.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Abandonment

flitch's review against another edition

3.5

I found this to be an enthralling read, but ultimately a let-down. Much of the early symbolism felt meaningless by the end of the book, and many of the intriguing plotlines were simply abandoned. For a novel with a strong female lead - who I loved! - the misogyny was overwhelming. The obsession with breasts really detracted from my ability to enjoy the story.

I loved the surreal qualities of the story, especially the interplay between the intentions of the characters and the nature of reality. The writing itself is beautiful and thought-provoking.

I absolutely hated

the introduction of underage rape as a plot element, made even worse by the bizarre supernatural explanation "absolving" the perpetrator. Almost DNF after a sympathetic character described an assault and the resulting infertility in graphic detail front of the victim. Entirely unnecessary and disgusting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

bookwort's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

gmco's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

qstew's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Dementia, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Confinement, Torture, and Suicide attempt

k_pelowk'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I can’t wait to reread this story. I love the characters; I have real affection for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Death of parent

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

This one was a let down... 

Murakami can write really beautiful passages but this 1000+ book was just way too long and about 40% of it was just boring descriptions of mundane things. I do enjoy it when an author takes care to describe certain details but this was just too much.

We follow Aomame, a young woman who climbs down a staircase off a freeway and finds herself in a seemingly different world from her own. On the other hand we also follow Tengo, a young man who is tasked with ghostwriting a novel for a teenage girl by his editor. Aomame and Tengo live different lives and the first Book in this novel is spent trying to figure out how they fit together.

The themes explored in this book go from loneliness, religion, the power of literature, broken family dynamics, and more. Some of it did feel visceral and real, but others were just explored over repetitive and overdone writing. 

Then there are all the descriptions of women and anyone who isn't perfectly attractive in the author's eyes... it was just awful. The mysoginy was rampant throughout as well as deeply uncomfortable descriptions of certain intimate encounters that left me feeling like chucking the book in a corner and going for a walk. 

I do not recommend this novel, it's not magical realism in my eyes, it's fantasy/sci-fi. It's entirely way too long for what it is and it's not enjoyable in the least. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

mxpringle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was so so good in every way except one, and would have been 5 stars except for the sheer misogyny in describing every female character's breasts and

the horribly disturbing adult/minor relationship and blatant pedophilia

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore

risemini's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

delekelll's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

4.0

I think the max I can give this book is 4 stars, because I enjoyed it and it was enthralling, but THE sex scene  and the gratuitous focus on every single female characters boobs threw me off. (hey murakami is that something you can speak to ????) I enjoyed the way that the secrets of the novel were given out very slowly, and I thought the ending was great. I think that now I've read both favorite books of someone who was not the nicest to me I understand more about them. Also, I feel like I should have taken longer to read this book. 1170 pages in 4 days is a lot. But, I felt the need to finish and move out of the cat town while the train still stopped for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Death, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Definitely unsettling, when it is not outright morally reprehensible. However, it was a very fascinating book and some of the triggering materials related to the above content warnings were justified in being included in the novel.