jantine's review
2.0
This book was totally not what I expected, and not in a good way.
The first story, what did it even do in a book that, according to the cover and blurb, mostly is about Lolita, teenagers etc.? There are two middle-aged people, talking about modern art, it's mostly being pretentious. It's too short to start to know the characters at all, and thus mostly seems to be about 'look, I can talk about art too!' On the other hand, I was glad it was over.
The second story was creepy, although it was slightly better than the first. At least it tickled my interest in the mentioned fashion-designers, and I felt kind of a connection with the main character.
The longest and main-story, Emily, wasn't what I expected either. For a part it was, but the two people who should be teenagers, were too much exactly like the people from the first two stories; they talked like adults, but didn't seem to know why or what they said or did. I also didn't like how the story sexualised their relationship, and the reason she wore Emily Temple cute, and the reason he wore that other brand, and everything. Many times I wondered: why??? Why does it have to be like this? It could've been such a great story without all the sex, and it kind of spoils it.
There were a couple of nice parts, some things got my interest, but I wouldn't have wanted to read this book if I'd known it had been like this.
I received a free copy through Netgalley, in return for an honest review.
The first story, what did it even do in a book that, according to the cover and blurb, mostly is about Lolita, teenagers etc.? There are two middle-aged people, talking about modern art, it's mostly being pretentious. It's too short to start to know the characters at all, and thus mostly seems to be about 'look, I can talk about art too!' On the other hand, I was glad it was over.
The second story was creepy, although it was slightly better than the first. At least it tickled my interest in the mentioned fashion-designers, and I felt kind of a connection with the main character.
The longest and main-story, Emily, wasn't what I expected either. For a part it was, but the two people who should be teenagers, were too much exactly like the people from the first two stories; they talked like adults, but didn't seem to know why or what they said or did. I also didn't like how the story sexualised their relationship, and the reason she wore Emily Temple cute, and the reason he wore that other brand, and everything. Many times I wondered: why??? Why does it have to be like this? It could've been such a great story without all the sex, and it kind of spoils it.
There were a couple of nice parts, some things got my interest, but I wouldn't have wanted to read this book if I'd known it had been like this.
I received a free copy through Netgalley, in return for an honest review.
heatherinjapan's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this group of short stories! It had a very interested writing style as it focuses on the narrator who has a "You" in each story. These characters end up being the ones the main narrator pines after but all three stories have different and unique circumstances that keep them apart in some emotional and physiological sense. I also enjoyed how the author incorporated art in each of the stories, in terms of fashion and art pieces. It gave the stories a certain sophisticated spin that I do not see very often in stories. These stories also shed light on the how Japan sees mental illness, homosexuality, and bullying. As an East Asian Studies student, I really enjoyed this!
lejazzhotbaby's review
3.0
I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Protagonist/s: 3/5
Love Interest/s: 2/5
World Building: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Overall score 11/20 which is 3 stars.
This was a little more literary collection of short stories than I was expecting but they weren't completely terrible.
The first story was Readymade which was the shortest story in the collection which is only a few pages long. It focuses on a woman who asks a co-worker on a date to an art exhibition. The man - only referred to as you which is how all the love interests are viewed - is rather pretentious but at the end they can see each other's views in the artwork they liked.
The second story was Corset which started off slow, got interesting with the fashion and then got dull near the end. Both characters were dull and I was unsympathetic towards the both of them but there was a good quote: "So I make you uncomfortable? It must be because I'm a depressed man who likes goats." The authors love of fashion was clear in this story and I liked that.
The final story was Emily which was...a weird one. The fashion stuff was interesting and you felt sorry for the two main characters but the unfortunate scenes of rape made me very uncomfortable. There were two that should definitely be warned about. The relationship between the two characters was mostly sweet but how it was at the end of the book was kind of a little too open.
I'm glad I read this collection but it's not something I'm sure I'd read again.
Protagonist/s: 3/5
Love Interest/s: 2/5
World Building: 4/5
Plot: 2/5
Overall score 11/20 which is 3 stars.
This was a little more literary collection of short stories than I was expecting but they weren't completely terrible.
The first story was Readymade which was the shortest story in the collection which is only a few pages long. It focuses on a woman who asks a co-worker on a date to an art exhibition. The man - only referred to as you which is how all the love interests are viewed - is rather pretentious but at the end they can see each other's views in the artwork they liked.
The second story was Corset which started off slow, got interesting with the fashion and then got dull near the end. Both characters were dull and I was unsympathetic towards the both of them but there was a good quote: "So I make you uncomfortable? It must be because I'm a depressed man who likes goats." The authors love of fashion was clear in this story and I liked that.
The final story was Emily which was...a weird one. The fashion stuff was interesting and you felt sorry for the two main characters but the unfortunate scenes of rape made me very uncomfortable. There were two that should definitely be warned about. The relationship between the two characters was mostly sweet but how it was at the end of the book was kind of a little too open.
I'm glad I read this collection but it's not something I'm sure I'd read again.
More...