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kimew2023's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
I enjoyed this. Liked the Japanese ness. Just found the ending a bit too twisty.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Osamu Nonoguchi visits his friend, bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka, the day before Hidaka is due to emigrate to Canada with his new wife. Later that evening, Nonoguchi receives a telephone call from Hidaka asking him to return to his home as he needs to see him again urgently. When Nonoguchi reaches the house, all the lights are off & Hidaka doesn't answer the door. Nonoguchi raises the alarm & Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga is given the case. The police find Hidaka dead on the floor of his office, with both the door to the office & the front door to the house locked from the inside. Both Nonoguchi & Hidaka's wife have alibis for the time of death. Who killed the author & why?
The reader is kept at arms length from the investigation & the characters really as the murder & circumstances are told from written confessions, notes, or interview transcriptions. It is a writing style that takes a little getting used to. The story starts off slowly but as the twists & turns of the case started to reveal themselves, I found myself needing to know what happened next. There's no gore & most of the trigger warnings below are not dealt with in a graphic way. I think I would read the next one in the series just to see how the character of Kaga develops.
The reader is kept at arms length from the investigation & the characters really as the murder & circumstances are told from written confessions, notes, or interview transcriptions. It is a writing style that takes a little getting used to. The story starts off slowly but as the twists & turns of the case started to reveal themselves, I found myself needing to know what happened next. There's no gore & most of the trigger warnings below are not dealt with in a graphic way. I think I would read the next one in the series just to see how the character of Kaga develops.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Murder
hoppyread's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying and Rape
hikajelny's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
From the beginning til the end, everything that I guessed or predicted were all wrong. You would have thought that you got the answer but no, it wasn’t as easy as this. Malice is a brilliantly written piece of literature that challenged your standpoint through the presentation of unreliableness of the materials presented, thus causing you to scrutinize everything. The author made it work without overcomplicating the plot through easy narration and direct explanation/discovery of a situation, motive, anything that might raise a question.
I was quite surprised to find out how fast the story progressed - when it came to thriller or detective theme story, the plot tended to be drawled out in a way that it felt the detective was “struggling” with the challenge through long description and abundance of hints to be parsed through but it was different for this book. It didn’t mean that the challenge didn’t exist, it was present strongly but written in a way that lulled you into a false sense of security. You were as confused as the characters — it was at the very least, basic in the manner of description to fit the image of, “This is it, this is what we know and there’s no need to talk poetry about it.” Hence, the fast pacing of the story (at the very least to me).
The characters portrayed are also very on-ground. It evoked strong emotions from you, whether it’s sense of justice, dread, pity, with the careful way the author wrote and developed them. It was truly brilliant with the way the author would call back and maintained the identity of the characters, then presenting it in a way that might lead you to believe otherwise.
It’s definitely a worth read — my guts were basically free falling and my brain worked overtime trying to piece everything out.
I was quite surprised to find out how fast the story progressed - when it came to thriller or detective theme story, the plot tended to be drawled out in a way that it felt the detective was “struggling” with the challenge through long description and abundance of hints to be parsed through but it was different for this book. It didn’t mean that the challenge didn’t exist, it was present strongly but written in a way that lulled you into a false sense of security. You were as confused as the characters — it was at the very least, basic in the manner of description to fit the image of, “This is it, this is what we know and there’s no need to talk poetry about it.” Hence, the fast pacing of the story (at the very least to me).
The characters portrayed are also very on-ground. It evoked strong emotions from you, whether it’s sense of justice, dread, pity, with the careful way the author wrote and developed them. It was truly brilliant with the way the author would call back and maintained the identity of the characters, then presenting it in a way that might lead you to believe otherwise.
It’s definitely a worth read — my guts were basically free falling and my brain worked overtime trying to piece everything out.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying and Rape
a1exander's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Rape, Terminal illness, Car accident, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infidelity and Suicide
harshada's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Subarashi!
Loved the narration and unexpected twists. Will definitely read more of Higashino san again.
Loved the narration and unexpected twists. Will definitely read more of Higashino san again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-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? Yes
3.75
I really like all the Kiego Higashino books I’ve read, especially The Devotion of Suspect X. The ending was shocking; I felt like I’d been punched. Higashino is a master of the plot twist. However, I feel Suspect X is the pinnacle of his work and nothing I’ve read since has been quite as powerful. Of course when the bar is set so high, it’s difficult to surpass what’s already the best.
Malice is the first of a different series. It focuses more on plot than character. The man arrested for murder is such an unreliable narrator that it’s hard to see what he’s truly like. We learn more about Detective Kaga, and his guilt and remorse at failing a student who was being bullied back in his teacher days, but we don’t know anything else about him. We know nothing about his private life, his friends and family, his likes and dislikes - his character isn’t developed at all.
The plot, which is explained early on, changes repeatedly. The readers aren’t sure what’s true, and I found it confusing to have to keep rearranging my idea of what had happened. In the end I felt it was more of an overly complicated annoyance than a plot twist. That said, I’m about to start reading the second in the series to see what happens next.
Overall the book was complex and convoluted and, as such, was quite a feat. But I didn’t find it completely satisfying.
Malice is the first of a different series. It focuses more on plot than character. The man arrested for murder is such an unreliable narrator that it’s hard to see what he’s truly like. We learn more about Detective Kaga, and his guilt and remorse at failing a student who was being bullied back in his teacher days, but we don’t know anything else about him. We know nothing about his private life, his friends and family, his likes and dislikes - his character isn’t developed at all.
The plot, which is explained early on, changes repeatedly. The readers aren’t sure what’s true, and I found it confusing to have to keep rearranging my idea of what had happened. In the end I felt it was more of an overly complicated annoyance than a plot twist. That said, I’m about to start reading the second in the series to see what happens next.
Overall the book was complex and convoluted and, as such, was quite a feat. But I didn’t find it completely satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Rape, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
x_tora's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Rape
mtnest's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Murder, and Gaslighting
seaoftranquility's review against another edition
mysterious
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Rape