Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Cult X by Fuminori Nakamura, Kalau Almony

18 reviews

readwithev's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

⚠️ this book is very graphic and has many disturbing topics⚠️ 
 Pros:

• Multiple POVs with different genders and ages
• Unreliable narrators
• Unique and distinct voices
• Flashbacks
• A few characters have long monologues that may seem confusing but ultimately convey alot about their psyche, religious beliefs, etc.

Cons:

• ⚠️graphic and triggering
• Due to the abusive behavior some of the male characters, women are occasionally described in derogatory and belittling ways
• Lots of characters, sometimes difficult to remember all of them.

In order to truly appreciate and understand this book, I recommend Googling Japan’s work culture, their suicide rates, college entrance exam process, etc. This way you can understand why the characters in this book are experiencing alienation and frustration with their society.

Personally, I really liked this book. It is definitely not going to be for everyone. It has a lot of scenes with physical, sexual, and emotional abuse against women and children. Typical of cult leaders, terrorists and religious extremism, Sawatari (the leader of Cult X) lacks real empathy and compassion; instead, he enjoys manipulating others to feel powerful and only serves himself. He preys on weak, hopeless people to brainwash them and disposes of them without remorse. I was happy to see Narazaki grow a backbone by the end of the book. He slowly overcame his weakness for manipulation and uncontrollable lust for women. Tachibana learns to live without Takahara and takes responsibility for her role in Cult X. Even Meneno starts realizing her obsession and jealousy is childish and confesses to Tachibana.

It’s definitely a dense book and the long monologues about religion, metaphysics, and neuroscience are daunting but I liked them. It helped me understand what all theses characters are looking for - they’re searching for meaning in a world so overcome by war, technology, starvation, apathy, etc. i mean who isn’t?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pedophilia, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War

there are a few very graphic torture, rape, murder, and orgy sex scenes in the book that will be disturbing to many readers.

poisoned_icecream's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I don't believe this book deserves all the 1 and 2 star ratings. It's not perfect though so 3.5 is a more suitable rating in my opinion. Despite the horrendous things many of the characters say and do, there are still some positive messages in this book, such as how all human life is valuable. I'm not sure I recommend this though because it's 500 pages and there's a lot of names to remember.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, and Medical content

klamsc's review against another edition

so much rape and gratuitous sex. I was icked out so I had to stop

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Suicide attempt

natalieanya's review against another edition

dark slow-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? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Not what it says it is

hilbertscurve's review against another edition

1.5

Painful read.

But honestly I should’ve known it was gonna be a sex cult that one’s on me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

oliveseidler's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

sophmcgraw's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Murder

mashmuk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

wow this book just hits ya then keeps on going, read some stuff in here I never thought I'd ever read and I'm not quite sure if I'm better off or worse off for it. I guess we'll see!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

jasonwarrick's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

1.5

This is the exact book that a 15 year old with a masters in philosophy would write.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Violence

cheyraisin's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault