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james1star's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Haven’t done a bullet point review in ages so here’s one:
- The limbs of heavily tattooed woman, Kinue, are found by the young doctor Kenzo in her bathroom but the door and window is locked… from the inside
- What ensures is the investigation by Kenzo as he assists his detective brother into who, why and how she was murdered and also why her torso was taken
- It’s a classic murder mystery but that’s not all…
- Akimitsu weaves in a lot of Japanese culture too, it’s set post-WW2 with a country still coming to terms with being on the loosing side and having been hit with 2 nuclear bombs and so the country and her people are trying to rebuild and return to normal with many doing things they don’t want but need to do for survival which was probably the book’s best part
- He also places a lot of love and admiration for traditional Japanese tattoos which was good, the contrasts and meaning in the different designs, mentioning folk and heritage elements too and this I really liked
- BUT it’s not supposed to be focus of the book… the mystery/investigation is and this part I did not like
- It’s very boring, convoluted and drags on and on, it’s like Akimitsu enjoys pulling the reader on this red herring-filled, long-winded and SLOW ride thought all the various people who might have killed Kinue and their reasons why
- The characters are all annoying tbh, I didn’t really like them and because of the dragging nature of the plot I was just wishing for it to end
- Overall it was a mid book, I found the ending alright but not worth all the time it took to get there
- I wouldn’t really recommend it but at the same time I do appreciate it so yh…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death
Minor: Classism, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Suicide
uranaishi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Misogyny, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Body shaming, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Police brutality, Self harm, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts
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