Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

7 reviews

tangerinejellies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Not completely sure how to feel about this book, it was a very heavy read and some of the characters’ outlooks on the world were quite unsettling, though not impossible to understand. They’re kids who still have a lot of maturing to do, and don’t necessarily understand the world around them that well yet, so I can see how they’d think like that, which all the more adds to the sort of pain I felt reading this, witnessing the hardship of navigating the dark parts of the world and trauma and violence and things like that at such a young age. Rough. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

xlaraxk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Not my favourite book by Kawakami but she's still a brilliant writer on bad days. Some scenes in this book are incredibly hard to read; the bullying portrayed in this is so cruel and brutal that it made me a bit nauseous at times. Some parts felt a bit too slow even though its a rather short book. There is not that much happening, so if you're not that interested in reading character-focused stories, I'd skip this one. But Kawakami is truly a master at showing us complex human relationships through wonderful poetic language. Unsettling, sad, and simultaneously inspiring and hopeful.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Abandonment

tindin's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

epicredza's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

betul's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Eating disorder

mmatti300's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

After reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this was a bit of a breath of fresh air, despite being yet another Japanese translated fiction and having certain problems that are apparent in Murakami's works as well. Heaven is a coming-of-age romp that allows the reader to truly feel the main character's pain, hold-ups, and the terrors of adolescence. I found this a great little book to read in a day, beyond thrilled to have found this at the library and I'm excited to read more of Kawakami's work in the future. One thing that makes me wish I could read Japanese is the way that Kawakami along with translator Sam Bett and David Boyd use wordplay to drive the novel and bring the characters together. Because I am limited by my inability to read and comprehend any language outside of English, I am limited to the English wordplay. This makes me wonder if the delightful wordplay I found in this novel changes the storyline in the original Japanese. Overall, very enjoyable. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail