Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Insel der verlorenen Erinnerung by Yōko Ogawa

10 reviews

espressoreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is amazing.  I loved the concurrent story arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Admittedly, it’s a little too neatly written, but I loved every word of this book. The parallel stories, the ending, the reflection of our actual lives today, and the ever present Japanese them of ephemera. I’ll be thinking about this one a long time, which is a little ironic given its subject matter 😂 Would love to see this made into a movie. Since it seems a lot of these dystopian settings are on isolated islands, Hollywood cops probably reuse a set from a previous dystopian movie set on an island 🤣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithsophsx's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Gore, Torture, Medical content, and Murder

Natural disasters (earthquake, tsunami). Enforced memory loss, unreality.

hannah_and_her_stories's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Dysphoria

alanakuni's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

this book made me enjoy reading again after a big slump. i was really sucked into this world and grew fond of the narrator and her story. definitely would read again and i already recommended it to two friends! a good mysterious story that makes you think about loss and grief. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Kidnapping

kobra's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Animal death

seasidess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

It's a devastating story about people leaning on each other in the midst of tragedy. 

I read it in Portuguese and I thought the scenery description was great, also the main characters are very sweet and lovable. It's desolating how there's a complete lack of control to change what happens to that island and to them. Who's making that people starve to death and why? What happened to the rest of the world? How were they controlling everyone's mind? That's what frustrated me the most when reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Rape

aaryan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Omniously Beautiful. Never have I ever read something like this. Probably the most gorgeous dystopia I've ever read. It carved a hole within me. Very very sensory in its storytelling. The world and aesthetic the story is set in, the emotions are immaculately wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Death of parent

urreadtome's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Torture and Toxic relationship