Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

85 reviews

carojust's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This is a triggering story. It's unrelenting in its descriptions of bullying. As with all her novels, Mieko Kawakami writes so beautifully about tragedy and loneliness, and our humanity that's so capable of both destruction and healing. This is her most depressing pair of characters yet, two brave outcasts, not yet high schoolers.

Our narrator is a young boy who has a lazy eye, the victim of intense bullying and physical violence from the popular students. His fellow student Kojima reaches out to him one day through a letter, and she is revealed to be a similar victim of bullying, and is described to be unkempt and unwashed. Their friendship grows through sweet and simple letters, and soon conversations outside of school. In contrast, we experience their helplessness, as they are shells of themselves at school, bracing for the beatings each day. 

There is a conversation with one of the bullies, who proves to be a complete nihilist. He symbolizes the cold, emotionless, male antagonist who's all too familiar in our lives. It's every man for himself. Empathy is weakness. Kill or be killed. 

I can't praise enough Mieko's artistry, and her way of pulling us through emotions, and the confusion her characters feel. She is THE master of  female characters, as always. I especially loved Kojima and her strength, her frailty, her intelligence, her heart. I wanted to save her, though she was saving herself.

You'll appreciate this book if you like dark, intricate writing and characters, coming-of-age stories, and have been in an isolated period of your life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

fairytomie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-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

4.25

This book truly ripped my heart out. This is my introduction to Kawakami’s work and i’m in love with how poetic her writing is. 

Justice for these characters and the fact we don’t know what happened to Kojima is so heart-wrenching.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Vomit, and Death of parent

saoreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

This is an odd book; as I see it, it brings out perspectives worth reflecting on, but I find it infuriating that no justice was done. Being seen as different should not be a reason to be treated awfully, simply because they wanted to? It was hypocritical at most and selfish at best. They stuck to their own definitions, but it's frustrating to read something that seems to offer insight but provides nothing at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lou_christie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual violence

carinaisabelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

This was a painful read. The violence against our main character, a 14 year ols boy who we never learn the name of - he could be anyone. The bullies are too good at hiding their violence. The violence made me sick to my stomach. I was angry and I cried. Knowing that this is the reality of many people.

When we first meet the 14 year old boy, he is beeing beaten up and bullie for his lazy eye. And Kawakami, through her narrator let's us know that this is a normal occurrence for him.

In the novel we also meet Kojima, a girl in the same class as our main character who is also bein  bullied. She reaches out to the MC, and at first it feels like our MC finally get a friend. One that truly understands him and supporst him. But alas, it was not meant to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Eating disorder

milkteeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

miss_chief's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, and Violence

pickledponyo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

it’s a very raw and beautifully written story about bullying that shows how weak and how isolated it can make people feel. loved it so so much, wished there was more as it captured the feelings perfectly.

it also shows us the inevitable and slow deterioration of kojima and it felt so real. i do wish i could have known more of her ending.

beware though… there is like two scenes of the main kid jerking off…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Blood

amy_mansaker's review against another edition

4.0

Deciding how many stars to give this book was extremely challenging for me. I started with absolutely loving it. The tenderness in the writing and the relationship between the protagonist and Kojima was really beautiful, but the last half kinda lost me. Some parts made me love it again. The writing is amazing, but some parts were just to difficult for me to read, which I really think is the point, but it made me love the book less. I did have to stop during one of the last chapters and read some reviews and check content warnings just to make sure the story didn't involve some stuff I really can't read. I think this is a story I will think about a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

firuz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder