Reviews tagging 'Death'

Confessions by Kanae Minato

118 reviews

himpersonal's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I think I’m in the minority here, but I really enjoyed this book. Japanese courtesan and writer Murasaki Shikibu is credited as writing the first novel in history, and it was a psychological novel that launched a cult favorite around The Tale of Genji that still thrives and is taught all over the world today. I feel like Japanese are still the best at this genre, and I love that this book's subgenre within the psychological novel category is called iyamisu in Japanese which literally translates to “ew mystery.” This book was far more satisfying than my most recent Stephen King (It). Books like this make me feel better because I know I’ll never reach the depths of darkness written here, no matter how upset I get. I feel safer, and that’s the greatness of writers like Minato. Too bad only two of her books are available at my libraries in English translations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

tjieldi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

_david_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

If you like this, you'll probably like the movie Monster (2023)

I love this way of storytelling: revealing a mystery by using multiple perspectives.

It was a very dark and tense story with a good payoff. The characters were all very unique and though sometimes a bit over the top, not unbelievably so.

The only reason that I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 was because of the repetition. Just as it gets too much repetition imo (chapter 4), it stops and goes on with the character's own unique perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism and Terminal illness

Child abuse (physical) with the victim glorifying their attacker

_meganrose's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

WOW, the varying perspectives in this were equally horrifying and disturbingly fascinating. The storytelling in this was very unique. Overall 3.75 ⭐️ read for this dark thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

duskx's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship

allornothing292's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Damn at first I was disturbed but less so the more I progressed the book... I guess next developments couldn't surpass the initial shock. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

ong's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

alexisgarcia'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this was such a unique triller. i really enjoyed how different the plot and formatting was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

authenticallybria's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was dark, crazy, and had shocking twists/reveals. The writing style of the book was different than what I'm used to reading, yet it was still interesting to follow along.

My only con was listening to it as an audiobook instead of reading it physically. I was unable to see the characters' names and got a little confused as to who was who in the beginning. 

Overall, it was a good read! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

One of the wildest rides I’ve ever been on. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the author throws another curveball. I was floored for about 95% of this book. The writing style takes a bit to get used to at first, but once you get into it, it’s not as jarring. At the outset of reading this, my main takeaway is who really was the “bad guy” in this story. I’m not sure, are you?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment