kylenestrella's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Transphobia
flowtjo's review against another edition
medium-paced
1.0
It has some of the most egregious use of intersex characters, sexism and rape as plot features I've ever seen. It's not a bad translation job, a product of its time or cultural difference - the writer had a couple of good ideas and wrapped them up in his terrible views, badly defined characters and very limited knowledge of both the occult and science. A mildly interesting story that turned out to be such a nasty little book. So so disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, and Transphobia
Starts off OK, but the latter half of the book is riddled with transphobia/anti-intersex speech, a lot of rape, and healthy doses of sexism against women throughout. Ye been warned.magalis's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.5
Not my strongest October read. I have to admit, I didn't actually intend to read this one this year. I had put what I thought was the Japanese movie version on hold at the library, but what came in was the book instead (my bad! You'd think I'd be able to navigate a library catalog, but apparently not). I figured since I didn't have a definite October book this year anyway, I might as well just read this one!
The story itself could have been really good, but the pacing is incredibly slow. It's more of a mystery than a horror novel, which I wasn't really expecting. You would think that since the majority of the book takes place in just a week that things would move along fairly quickly, but I didn't feel like that was the case at all. This could have been a translation issue I suppose, but it made it feel like a chore to pick this up and read it.
I also didn't find the two main protagonists to be sympathetic or likeable at all. Asakawa started out alright, but was just incredibly mean to/about his wife and daughter, and then was transphobic and a rape apologist. Ryuji was literally a rapist who told Asakawa about the women he raped and clearly showed no remorse. I honestly didn't care if either of them survived until the end. The majority of the mystery-solving was also just Asakawa following a gut instinct that turns out to be right, not a lot of legitimate detective-work.
I don't regret having read this, but I don't have much of an interest in continuing this series or reading more by the author.
The story itself could have been really good, but the pacing is incredibly slow. It's more of a mystery than a horror novel, which I wasn't really expecting. You would think that since the majority of the book takes place in just a week that things would move along fairly quickly, but I didn't feel like that was the case at all. This could have been a translation issue I suppose, but it made it feel like a chore to pick this up and read it.
I also didn't find the two main protagonists to be sympathetic or likeable at all. Asakawa started out alright, but was just incredibly mean to/about his wife and daughter, and then was transphobic and a rape apologist. Ryuji was literally a rapist who told Asakawa about the women he raped and clearly showed no remorse. I honestly didn't care if either of them survived until the end. The majority of the mystery-solving was also just Asakawa following a gut instinct that turns out to be right, not a lot of legitimate detective-work.
I don't regret having read this, but I don't have much of an interest in continuing this series or reading more by the author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, and Rape
e_l_bee's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Transphobia
Moderate: Rape and Death
Minor: Death of parent
emayn's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
3.0
Conflicted on this book and how I feel about it & the ending…
Also I have to wonder how long until the major technology (VHS tapes) in this book is gonna be too far in the past for later readers to understand? Just a fun thought
Also I have to wonder how long until the major technology (VHS tapes) in this book is gonna be too far in the past for later readers to understand? Just a fun thought
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, and Rape
samdej's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
If you’re a fan of the ring movies and want a deeper understanding of the lore, this is a fun read. Fair warning, a lot of the iconic things about the movie series (i.e.
Spoiler
Sadako/Samara emerging from the TV and, more generally, her ghost antics) are original to the movies and don’t appear in the books. As the books go along, the lore gets deeper and (in my opinion) more wacky. All in all, there’s a reason why Koji Suzuki is called the Japanese Stephen King and this book is great proof.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Transphobia
valkri3's review against another edition
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
dorohedoro's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Suicide
cw:Spoiler
it's not transphobia, but specifically intersexism. unfortunately there's no tag for it yetcranberriesjelly's review against another edition
1.0
See content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Transphobia
emmsiej95's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.75
A decent book. I've seen the American and Japanese adaptations, and I feel they both have better characterisations, but still.
Sadako's hatred fusing with smallpox's hatred is hilarious,aand I will be thinking about it forever.
Spoiler
The discussion of Ryuji being a rapist and Asakawa being fine with it? That was so off-putting. At the end, when Ryuji is dead and Mai claims he was a virgin? Am I supposed to be forgive him? It was weird and I hated it.Sadako's hatred fusing with smallpox's hatred is hilarious,aand I will be thinking about it forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Medical content and Infertility