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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…
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
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
mal_eficent's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is an incredibly detailed murder mystery, with a wealth of discussion about the culture of post war Japan and tattoo culture, and meticulous about how the crime was committed...Which made it almost too dry to be interesting at times. Listening to lists of information looses its charm after a while and Kinue was a...strong choice of perspective character. If not for the introduction of Kyosuke quite late in the book, it would have taken me a lot longer to finish. I still found a lot of the story very interesting, and was hooked again once things sped up later in the narrative.
I'd definitely recommend this to any fans of a good old fashioned murder mystery, with a single third person perspective and an amateur detective that can hold his own against any Poirot or Sherlock. If you're squeamish about gore or not into lots of discussion about women in a sexual manner, though, this might not be one for you.
I'd definitely recommend this to any fans of a good old fashioned murder mystery, with a single third person perspective and an amateur detective that can hold his own against any Poirot or Sherlock. If you're squeamish about gore or not into lots of discussion about women in a sexual manner, though, this might not be one for you.
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Mental illness, Death, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship
Minor: War and Sexual content
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