Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

43 reviews

clar_a's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deadnaming

lynn_x5452's review

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Murder, and Hate crime

james1star's review

emotional 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? No

4.0

I picked this up as a ‘blind date with a book’ and was pleasantly impressed. It’s quite a strange one consisting of two short stories (the first split into two parts so three chapters in total), the first about a young woman Mikage who recently lost her sole family member, her grandmother. Yuichi who knew her grandmother asks Mikage round with the possibility of moving in wi yh him and his mother Eriko, who’s a trans woman. The second story follows Satsuki who recently lost her high school lover of four years Hitoshi as she tries to look to the future. Out running she meets a strange woman called Urara who says a once in a hundred year event will take place, Hitoshi’s you get brother Hiiragi is another strange but lovable character we meet. 

The prominent motif throughout is grief, the many forms and how it impacts oneself. This sensation is heavily explored and Yoshimoto does a great job at realising these characters and thus how they’re impacted by the death of loved ones. Her storytelling isn’t particularly imaginative but is very real and flows well. The characters are for the most part loveable but what’s done best is how we’re attached to them as a reader in an emotional way. Some sentences maybe went on too long with many passages but her nuance/craft could’ve been lost in translation. Being written in 1988, I thought the inclusion of a transgender character was rather ‘modern’ and greatly appreciated, Yoshimoto’s work was hailed as very contemporary in Japan so this is great. That being said, some parts made me a little uncomfortable where there’s an emphasis played on Eriko (and later Chika)’s ‘masculine’ features, with some outdated terms like ‘transsexual’ with deadnaming and Yuichi has a ‘she was/is a man’ ideology. But this was about it and overall I was impressed by this book. It’s not a favourite but definitely decent and one I’d recommend, the author does an amazing job at making grief a very real and important emotion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Minor: Deadnaming, Murder, Alcoholism, Car accident, Mental illness, Hate crime, Cancer, Death of parent, and Transphobia

ynotlime's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Hate crime

recycled_personalities's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Progressive for it’s time. Seen through a mordent lens, it could be better in its representation. Great examination of grief.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Medical content, Bullying, Grief, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Abandonment, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, and Hate crime

lynxpardinus's review

emotional reflective sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Death, Transphobia, Hate crime, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Violence, and Medical content

Minor: Stalking and Animal death

bookedbymadeline's review

relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

Read this as part of my book club’s March pick. It wasn’t on my TBR before and I didn’t know much about it going in. 

What I liked:
•Short and quick read

•Interesting looks at loss and grief

•I enjoyed the second story much more which is why I gave it 3 ⭐️s

•Even though “Moonlight Shadow” was shorter I somehow felt more emotion and connection with those characters than with the characters of the “Kitchen” novella
•I finished it 😂

What I didn’t like:
•Characters felt one dimensional and writing was just okay; I felt bored at times and found myself speed reading the last 30 pages of Kitchen
•Transphobic af-lots of misgendering and deadnaming-
Eriko is a trans woman and her son described her life story by saying that after her wife died she asked herself “what do I do now?I want to be cheerfully uplifted so I’ll become a woman” as if that’s something you just decide on a whim?!
•Also her son outed her to the MC upon the first time they meet. Throughout the book they make jokes at Eriko’s expense where they continue to misgender her. I’m not sure if this was intentional by the author or if it’s a translation issue but the trans rep is poorly portrayed.

•Won’t be a memorable read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Transphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism and Body shaming

Minor: Deadnaming

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Deadnaming, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Murder, Animal death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Car accident, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Body shaming

leanneymu's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the writing style, and the dream-like mood of these two short stories. Word of warning though, there is a trans character in the first story, and although she is treated with affection by the other characters, they do frequently refer to her in language that would not be respectful in the modern times. If you are sensitive to dead naming or characters mis-gendering one another, this might be a book to skip. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Murder, Death, and Deadnaming

bonnie_xx's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming and Transphobia