Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Rings

There’s a good premise here but the explanation was a huge let down for me personally. Some problematic elements too, which decreased my reading enjoyment substantially. Probably wouldn’t recommend.

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inhaledmocha's review against another edition

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Literally a waste of my time.

The main characters "Friend" describes his VIVID recounting of the sexual assault a woman and it goes on for far too long and literally adds nothing to the story. And the main character just ignores is wife's pleas to not let him in the house because she's uncomfortable around him. Like WTF?

And then has the audacity to pick up the plot (Where essentially the movie starts at about 50%) and say okay here's the actual plot now have fun.

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xavz_'s review against another edition

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1.0

boy howdy was this book gross and also bad. completely unnecessary intersexphobia and like WAY too much rape. the parts where i wasn't mad i was sooo bored. i should have dnf'd at the beginning of the book (even before ryuji was introduced and asakawa really said i can excuse SERIAL RAPE but i draw the line at making noises when you chew. absolutely bonkers.) but alas i continued and that was a mistake. no reason this book had to be doin all of that. nasty.

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loganreadshorror's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

Ryuji gave me the ick big time. Asakawa is also grotesquely spineless

for overlooking Ryuji’s confession about being a serial rapist

. Despite the sexism, transphobia, and general disgust I felt towards the characters, it was a really good read, imo. Suzuki’s writing style is interesting and while some of the content is offensive, the idea is interesting and well-executed enough to keep me reading through my digust.

After reading Spiral, you’ll definitely see further why Suzuki makes you hate Ryuji so throughly in this book.

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judassilver's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

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akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I saw the film (Ringu) recently and really enjoyed it, so I decided to finally get around to reading this.

Much like the film it’s a slow burn that gradually speeds up towards the end. I prefer the book purely because it goes more in depth about Sadako and her reasons for becoming an Onryo, but I prefer the movies version of Asakawa.

That being said This Asakawa is a really compelling protagonist. Despite everything he really cares about his family.

There were various elements that made me uncomfy, such as Asakawa’s attitude towards intersexuality, and generally the way women are portrayed, however I wonder if (for the time) it may have been considered progressive? I don’t know, I think it’d be interesting to research and I like how the story has evolved over the time.

A solid read!

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