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valjeanval's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My husband often asks me if I'm liking whatever I'm reading, and I often found that questions hard to answer with this one. This book is profoundly uncomfortable and occasionally horrific. It's also Murakami, so there's a great deal I probably need four or five re-reads to interpret. Did I like it? Kind of? When I wasn't horrified? It's hard to explain. I had similar feelings after 1Q84. I like reading Murakami, though, because it really makes my literary interpreter brain kick into gear. Even when I don't understand points of the story, I enjoy thinking about them and why they are there. This book made me think about Japanese civilians in WWII, Greek Mythology, classical music, poetry, libraries as memories, memories as libraries, why people help others, capitalism, philosophy, and lots more, so it felt worth my time. That said, definitely check out some trigger warnings before reading this one.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Incest
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
booksense's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Murder
oiproks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Incest
noeul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Emotional abuse
Minor: War
mishsofil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Incest and Rape
doormango's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.25
- The main character is the most insufferably precocious 15 year-old imaginable.
- Nearly every woman is highly sexualized from first introduction to final appearance.
- The characterization is extremely poor: most characters read like carbon-copy projections of the author, all interested in classical music and literature, all spouting vague metaphorical reflections on life (including in internal monologues), all having weirdly-specific knowledge about, say, history or car models.
- No one questions the insanity of the premonitions or supernatural powers they encounter.
- The plot often feels like the author's fantasy (of, say,
sleeping with an older sister , being a brooding athletic witty genius that everyone constantly finds extremely interesting, winning an argument against confrontational feminists, etc.). - The frequent philosophical musings are only ever superficial.
Graphic: Incest
cheynanigans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Incest
bobbijo104's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
kdalton15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Incest, Rape, and Abandonment
emma_succubus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and War