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eyeseyed's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Child death
minzzi's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Hajime is a selfpitting, sex obsessed asshole who is incapable of seeing the women he says he loves as full human beings and because of that he ends up treating all of then like shit ( just look at what he did to Izumi and Yukiko. And Shimamoto was so obviously depressed and all he could think about was how much he wanted to have sex with her. What an idiot). However, I fell like that was the point of his character, you are not supposed to like him.
Shimamoto, on the other hand, was so interesting to me (again, finding her interesting is probably the point of the book). All though most of her character is just "beautiful mysterious lady", I think you can extract much more from her. She is a ghost (metaphorically or literally, depends on your opinion), a omen of the past, here to hunt Hajime and remind him what his life could have been while at the same time trying to give her life some sense of normalcy.
Sadly, a don't know anything about Japan's internal politics and economy, so a lot of the political criticism and references to historical events went over my head.
Shimamoto, on the other hand, was so interesting to me (again, finding her interesting is probably the point of the book). All though most of her character is just "beautiful mysterious lady", I think you can extract much more from her. She is a ghost (metaphorically or literally, depends on your opinion), a omen of the past, here to hunt Hajime and remind him what his life could have been while at the same time trying to give her life some sense of normalcy.
Sadly, a don't know anything about Japan's internal politics and economy, so a lot of the political criticism and references to historical events went over my head.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Stalking
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
ogik's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cancer