Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Heaven

It was... Something. Very painful to read i had to stop and stare at the wall many times while reading it. i will never get over chapter 8.

It's defenetly deep and thought-provoking

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bibbletje's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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amy_rr's review against another edition

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challenging sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

The story explored some challenging moral dilemmas around bullying and victimhood that I found very interesting. The plot was in some ways predictable but I thought the ending was satisfying enough despite this.

Personally I found the audio narrator, in this edition, to be somewhat irritating at points, particularly when he tried to put on a more feminine voice for the female characters; it had an almost comic effect which was distracting from the tone of the book.

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bookishpip's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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hannah_go03's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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pipe_dream's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

carojust's review against another edition

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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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