Reviews with content warning for Rape - Sputnik Sweetheart

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Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

13 reviews

sagelikesscats's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.75

The magical realism is very well done and the writing is exquisite. The female characters are objectified but are complex.

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misheel_bayasgalan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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pers1mm0n's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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kyoe983's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

The definition of a good story. I'm not referring to Murakami's writing style, but to the quality of the tale itself. Murakami brought back successful tropes that he mastered in past novels before this one, however, the ending seems to me so well crafted that I don't mind the repetitiveness.

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andrew_t's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I will admit that I am not overly familiar with Murakami's works but the first one I read was Kafka on the Shore. And, while it wasn't a bad book, I didn't enjoy it, but I enjoy this one much more.
There's a certain quality to Sputnik Sweetheart that I felt in Kafka on the Shore but felt it was overshadowed by some of the things I was at odds with. However, that quality is much more present in Sputnik Sweetheart with less of the bad and it makes the book incredibly amazing and special.
The book was short, sweet, and enjoyable from beginning to end. Sure there was the occasional rough spot but they were small enough that they were very easy to get through, the rather explicit descriptions of characters' bodies that are often found in Murakami's works are kept to a minimum in this one and for that I am thankful.
The book does slow down a little in the middle but man I loved the ending, it was brief and left the future of the story to the imagination of the reader, and I have to say that I was smiling ear to ear reading it. Given the character's previous interactions it almost felt like the most appropriate ending the book could have.
Overall I'd say that this is a very enjoyable book that you could just pick up and read in a few days and extract a great amount of enjoyment from it.
And if you're a fan of Murakami and haven't read this one, give it a try, it's always good to fill in your catalog of completion for an author.

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