Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

55 reviews

allisonmarie1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

ahanky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Genocide, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

desireewoodwhite's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m honestly torn on this one. 

 

Nao’s story—and her family’s—had me hooked. Her raw, unapologetic writing style and the layered storytelling were absolutely mesmerizing. I couldn’t get enough of it. 

 

But then there’s Ruth… like, why? I was seriously tempted to skim her chapters entirely. And let’s be real—I don’t think I would’ve missed much. 

 

You can tell Ozeki is incredibly talented, crafting so many distinct voices and characters. But Ruth? She just fell flat and pointless, almost draining the life from the narrative. 

 

Sure, Ruth’s sections added some insight into Nao’s life and her father’s story, but honestly,

Ozeki could have done that in a much more compelling way—like introducing raw emails from her father. We’ve already got letters and diaries, so why not throw in emails as a modern touch?

 

And sometimes, the book felt like it was trying too hard to be clever, without much payoff. 

 

In the end, Nao: 5/5, Ruth: 2/5. I guess that averages out to a 3.5/5 (though don’t quote me on my math).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: War

thecatmouse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

uuuuuffffff this book was a lot…
you get swept off with the first two parts, the back and forth of the narration (even though why is Ruth so detestable? really hope the author wasn’t depicting herself fr cause girl that character was boring and flat as hell), the mystery is a page turner 
and then 
it gets so grim… for basically no reason
the topics were heavy but for the first two parts it made sense, after that well suicide, bullying, WWII, a tsunami were enough, rape and prostitution? a bit much if i may 
although the introduction to zen theories and practices was so informative, yeah the ending about quantum physics bored me so much I almost didn’t finish the book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and War

miiii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

oddio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming

jesus_wept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Classism

nishalovesbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

TW: Many references of self harm and suicide 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

saltysnails's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

outernetbex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

it’s always really hard for me to put into words how i feel about books after i read them. the situations in these books are so specific to the characters, and yet somehow the messages and sentiments that the author is able to convey feel so universal. i think it’s a beautifully written piece, that somehow touches on so many different aspects of the human experience. like others have said, the last chapter or so was kind of strange/out of place, but i don’t think it really takes away from the rest of the novel. so compelling and memorable. i have a feeling i’ll be thinking about it for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Torture

this book has a lot of trigger warnings, but i personally don’t think that they are handled well and not written for glorification or gratification. it’s just the nature of writing about dark themes.