Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

4 reviews

floatinthevoid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

storygod's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Dysphoria

yuyuv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

_inge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I knew this would be a tough read. I usually avoid books which feature bullying as it is, and I was warned of particularly vivid descriptions of bullying in this novel. I didn’t think it would be this vivid and this disturbing, however. I skimmed some passages because they were too much to handle. There’s a lot of trigger warnings for anything relating to bullying in this. 

I didn’t feel a connection to any of the main characters, as them being bullied was the center of this novel. Aside from Kojima’s interest in art and both of them enjoying reading fiction, we don’t actually see them do anything beyond being bullied or discussing what bullying has done to them. I don’t even think the protagonist is named, as everyone simply calls him ‘Eyes’ when he’s bullied. Bullying therefore takes over their entire personalities. 

This does mean there’s space for some really interesting conversations about what it means to be bullied or to bully. Some ideas on this really helped me shape my own feelings about having been bullied in the past.

I love that we got a conversation between one of the bullies and the protagonist as well. I’m not sure if I agree with the ‘happy’ ending; I wonder if the protagonist genuinely felt disturbed by his eye too and wanted it fixed because of that, or if his sole reasoning for wanting it fixed was being bullied for it.

I wish we’d learn more about Kojima too. Since the protagonist doesn’t see her again I hope she didn’t harm herself in any way. The ‘happy’ ending for him therefore didn’t feel as happy as a whole, as Kojima might be struggling.

 

All in all this was a difficult read. It’s definitely not for everyone, and I’m unsure what to think of this myself. It’ll be interesting to see if I think back on this in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria