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pimmles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Alcohol
Regarding the "minor" transphobia tag, not 100% accurate, more intersex-phobia details ahead:stevienielson's review
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content
ivy123's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Ok, so I have so many thoughts about this no idea how I will get them all out for my book club or be happy with any one rating.
Firstly I want to say I have seen the movies but a long time ago so all I really remembered was a girl is assaulted and killed, thrown down a well, and coming back for vengeance with a videotape. With that limited information, it felt like discovering the story all over again while reading the book.
So getting down to what I liked about this book.
- I liked the mystery of the novel, following around the main characters and his sidekick as they followed clues to find out how to avoid death around Japan was very interesting.
- the writing style worked really well for me as well. Sometimes with translated works, things are lost in translation but I found for me it was perfect.
- the utilization of technology as something to be afraid of and the hints at the spreading of the media being like disease were also things I think we can find relevant in today's society even with a more dated medium like VCR.
SPOILER
However, there were a lot of things I also didn't like or wanted more of.
- For a start, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects to this novel. I wanted more appearances by the spirit even if just to remind the main characters of their impending doom or a scene of her exiting the TV like in the movie.
- The main character and his sidekick were also unlikeable, however, I feel like that was the intention of the author. They were both misogynistic to the point I wanted them both to die and only wanted the main character to stay alive for his family's sake not because of him. Also, the way the main character is still friends with his friend who likes to talk about how he raped women was hard to swallow and the attempt at a small redemption at the end did not seem justified in relieving him of his personality.
- Lastly, the way in which sexual assault is discussed in the book was tough for me to read. As someone who does not like reading this in books, I thought I could deal with this as I assumed it would be a brief mention and the actions labeled as reprehensible. However the way, it was almost brushed under the carpet as something that happens did not sit well with me. At one point one of the characters even suggests a woman wanted to be raped so she did not die a virgin before backtracking this as unlikely. Even when they find the person who assaulted and murdered the girl in the well no justice is had it just moves on to the next clue. I understand this is a reflection on the way the characters think about women as written they are not meant to be likable but I still struggled with this as I feel if you were not able to figure this out the novel could be sending some very unhelpful messages.
In regards to a lot of the twists in this novel, I would say half had good pay off and half were unnecessary. Why did we really need the medical twist with Sadako and Ryugi's plot twist after his death was not enough to redeem him or excuse his behavior. So in conclusion really liked this book but also really did not at the same time. I am considering reading the other books in the series as I do wonder what would happen next with the tape spreading but I do feel this can be read as a stand-alone and you would not be missing out on not continuing.
Firstly I want to say I have seen the movies but a long time ago so all I really remembered was a girl is assaulted and killed, thrown down a well, and coming back for vengeance with a videotape. With that limited information, it felt like discovering the story all over again while reading the book.
So getting down to what I liked about this book.
- I liked the mystery of the novel, following around the main characters and his sidekick as they followed clues to find out how to avoid death around Japan was very interesting.
- the writing style worked really well for me as well. Sometimes with translated works, things are lost in translation but I found for me it was perfect.
- the utilization of technology as something to be afraid of and the hints at the spreading of the media being like disease were also things I think we can find relevant in today's society even with a more dated medium like VCR.
SPOILER
However, there were a lot of things I also didn't like or wanted more of.
- For a start, I wanted more of the supernatural aspects to this novel. I wanted more appearances by the spirit even if just to remind the main characters of their impending doom or a scene of her exiting the TV like in the movie.
- The main character and his sidekick were also unlikeable, however, I feel like that was the intention of the author. They were both misogynistic to the point I wanted them both to die and only wanted the main character to stay alive for his family's sake not because of him. Also, the way the main character is still friends with his friend who likes to talk about how he raped women was hard to swallow and the attempt at a small redemption at the end did not seem justified in relieving him of his personality.
- Lastly, the way in which sexual assault is discussed in the book was tough for me to read. As someone who does not like reading this in books, I thought I could deal with this as I assumed it would be a brief mention and the actions labeled as reprehensible. However the way, it was almost brushed under the carpet as something that happens did not sit well with me. At one point one of the characters even suggests a woman wanted to be raped so she did not die a virgin before backtracking this as unlikely. Even when they find the person who assaulted and murdered the girl in the well no justice is had it just moves on to the next clue. I understand this is a reflection on the way the characters think about women as written they are not meant to be likable but I still struggled with this as I feel if you were not able to figure this out the novel could be sending some very unhelpful messages.
In regards to a lot of the twists in this novel, I would say half had good pay off and half were unnecessary. Why did we really need the medical twist with Sadako and Ryugi's plot twist after his death was not enough to redeem him or excuse his behavior. So in conclusion really liked this book but also really did not at the same time. I am considering reading the other books in the series as I do wonder what would happen next with the tape spreading but I do feel this can be read as a stand-alone and you would not be missing out on not continuing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Suicide, and Medical content
emmsiej95's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
A decent book. I've seen the American and Japanese adaptations, and I feel they both have better characterisations, but still.
The discussion of Ryuji being a rapist and Asakawa being fine with it? That was so off-putting. At the end, when Ryuji is dead and Mai claims he was a virgin? Am I supposed to be forgive him? It was weird and I hated it.
Sadako's hatred fusing with smallpox's hatred is hilarious,aand I will be thinking about it forever.
Sadako's hatred fusing with smallpox's hatred is hilarious,aand I will be thinking about it forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Infertility and Medical content