Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - All the Lovers in the Night

There's just something so remarkable in the way Mieko Kawakami writes. I'm so enveloped in her world at first word. To think none of these people are real. I can't wrap my head around it.

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torismazarine's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.25

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virgcole398's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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reflective slow-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

I'm sure the mundanity and passiveness of the main character is important to the story, but I couldn't stand it. It was very frustrating to read how she interacted with other characters, but specifically her lack of response when communicating with them or the way she constantly repeated what they said. I also found the book to be dull and dry, and often times the monologues (particularly with one character) came off insincere and preachy. All the Lovers in the Night is described as "insightful, entertaining, and engaging; it will make readers laugh, and it will make them cry" but I strongly disagree. The storytelling was so overwhelmingly monotonous that I wasn't emotionally engaged at all.

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pagpangarap's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

the light motif was absolutely gorgeous, and the prose had me strung along althroughout the story. a lot of the content and the message is implied rather than explicitly stated, which made it all the more beautiful. mieko kawakami is extremely talented and i wish i could read this in japanese some day <3

i ached so deeply for fuyuko throughout the story, especially because it seemed like she couldn’t catch a break until the story’s conclusion. the ending leaves a little to be desired and i’m really curious about mitsutsuka’s truth, but i suppose that the mystery is just a part of the sensation of lacking closure.

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koyali's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Was excited for this book, but it ended up just being deeply ok? I really enjoyed the writing style(translation was fantastic though there were some scenes where it was off) and the characters were interesting, but I couldn't find myself getting attached to them. I finished off the book saying "that's it?" because I felt like I'd missed the whole point of the novel.

3/5 :)

Edit: I forgot to mention, the author portrayed the feeling of loneliness very well. The main character Fuyuko is in her thirties and struggles with the fact that she is alone all the time. I just wish the author had made Fuyuko's character more interesting. Instead of feeling the character's emotions, I just felt like I was watching Mitsutsuka drink coffee through a foggy window. Her lack of self is a part of Fuyuko's character, yes, but I believe that more of her personality can be shown to the reader and not to Fuyuko. Because really, Fuyuko does have a personality! She just doesn't know it well enough.

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lazypanda's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-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

3.0

Maybe I haven’t reached a point in my life to understand the reality or depth of this book or maybe because I’m not surrounded by people like Irie that she really pissed me off and so did this book. The writing style is good. The story telling is good. But the story does not sit well with me because I want Irie to be ambitious. Isn’t that stupid though? I mean, me.

The thing is, some people just want to get through life. And some, just let life be and don’t really care about anything. Not themselves not anyone. That’s how Fuyuko Irie seemed to me. What frustrated me was that there is no turn of events like I wanted. Not questioning the story itself or the storytelling. Both are perfect for intended audience but I’m definitely not one of them.

Irie is a proofreader letting life happen as it is without ever having to intervene it. She has one co-worker friend, Hijiri, who has a very happening life. Then by some happenstance she meets Mitsutsuka. That takes a turn in the story, an interesting one and then an unexpected one.

Hijiri is interesting though. Her take on love, her flings, her ambition is engrossing.

The book is almost poetic but not one I could feel for. I’ll leave the story here because I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Another way of summarizing this story would be a teetotaler turned into an alcoholic, her life turned around and then it turned around again.

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austinzzz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

Sad, lonely, and depressing for most of it, but there is hope and change eventually.

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