Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Kafka på stranden by Haruki Murakami

21 reviews

ford_defect's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, and Rape

Minor: Transphobia and War

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

star_witch's review against another edition

3.75

I honestly wished I had read the trigger warnings beforehand because it was brutal. Chapter 16? It scared me for life, it haunts me in my dreams. Life will never be the same.

Ofc we also have adult/minor relationship, with sexual content and Murakami sprinkled some incest there as well. It was... It was a time not gonna lie. Hated every second of it.

And yet, despite the fact that I absolutely hated some themes of this book and I definitely think that some things could have been altered and it would still capture the story the same way without traumatizing the reader, it was an unexpectedly good book. The writing style and the way the story was told managed to hold my attention. I couldn't figure out where the plot was going so that's why I kept reading even after some of the worst experiences I had while reading a book. The characters were unique, and while we definitely have some really problematic ones, imo

*cough* Ms. Saeki and Johnnie Walker *cough, cough*

, I overall liked them and their journey. One obviously stands out to me. Oshima.

Also serious question. What is Colonel Sanders doing in this book? And Johnnie Walker too.

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It is definitely not a book I would recommend to anyone. If you would like to read it I strongly advise you to check the trigger warnings before doing so. Don't make the same mistake I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Emotional abuse

lara_hattingh's review against another edition

I was unaware of the brutal violence and incest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Blood

cristiane's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Rape

Moderate: Incest, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

aseel_reads's review against another edition

reflective 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

2.0

so while I want to give this book high marks for literary merit and I recognise all the metaphor and symbolism, I hated reading this and I just don't understand why it was even created lol. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse

roaree's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.5

I really loved this book. It was mysterious and super mind-bending. I was confused for a while but in a good way, the situation was set up pretty well and readers don't get answers until the end. 

Of course, some of the relationships were disturbing and descriptions of some women were weird but you're always going to get that with a Murakami book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Incest

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Abandonment

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

girlfrom105's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully written, fantastic storytelling and world building, diverse and layered characters, cute cats and started couting how many cats showed up in the story but I had to stop eventually (counted 7 and then the empty lot thing happened and there were too many cats).  
I love the style, Oshima is one of my favorite characters (not just in this book just fiction in general), I hope to see more of Oshimas represented.
I love Murakami so much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent

kashila's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Grief