Reviews tagging 'Rape'

In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami

37 reviews

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

1.75

This is a gore-filled book and has a lot of violence against women characters. The majority of the killer's victims are women somewhere between high school age and their thirties. The killer talks about sex with the dying bodies of women in a particularly grotesque manner.

He slits one woman's throat, exposes her vagina, tries to get another man to fuck her as she is dying and then ends up putting a severed ear inside her. He also rants about dead woman's "pussy being the best best" because "the brain is dead but the pussy is still alive so there is no resistance."

There is one man killed as brutally as some of the women. There are two other men killed but not much detail is given. There is a homeless person who also dies with details given via the news.
The killer's motives for their actions are lackluster and dissatisfactory.

The killer has no motives behind killing or whom he chooses to kill. He just kills.

The killer's backstory and skillset are also very lackluster.

He learned how to slit throats without them gushing blood from people in reform schools. Even though he was 4-7 years old when he attacked his mom, killed a swan, or killed two people that are never described in detail. Oh and he was also into black magic and hypnosis too, of course.

This is a story to read if you love gore, hate women, and aren't fussed about the details. This is not what I look for in horror and I think it should be categorized as Gore Porn or light Splatterpunk instead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic friendship

The main character is in his twenties and dating a sixteen year old, at least one on-page victim is also a high schooler and may have been a minor.

jordanpmck's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

joy_ong's review

dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

booksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Oddly terrifying and fascinating. I am unsure if I think the mental illness representation further harms the mental health community (I'm in that community) or not. In some ways it shows the harm of forces institution, and how it does not help if the patient doesn't want to change. This book was very fatphobic. The only fat person in this whole story is an American... and it doesn't sit right with me. I think this book is a meditation on the fasination people have with foreigners, how classism is so prevalent in wealthy and less wealthy countries, lonliness,  and how we are all fascinated by death. Either way, this book had me empathize for the bad guy... That's a hard feat when murder is involved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Please take care of yourself and read the content warnings.

kimberlyswalters's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

larseneiii's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

kamurphy919's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder

zoetennant's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

cinderrunner's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Concept is interesting but the execution could have been far better. Im not sure how much of my issues with the book are due to the translation vs the actual writing. The language felt very odd and stilted. The story dragged a lot in multiple places. We spend far too much time in Kenji's head as he critiques and runs commentary on Japan. Felt less like a thriller and more like I was reading some bitter dude's interpretation on Japanese culture and history. Even after the biggest murder happens, the pace drops right back down and continues to slag. I was honestly bored for most of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

chikin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail