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celina246's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
this had an old classic mystery feel, which i always love & find comforting and in the beginning i was hooked, even though the murder itself was slow to play out. the Japanese setting & traditions mixed in with the story gave it a cool edge too. the only thing that stopped me giving it a higher rating was that i didn't looove how the story ended up playing out - and i wanted to throttle the main characters often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Toxic relationship and War
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
As someone who has completely fallen in love with 20th-century Japanese mysteries, I was really looking forward to The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi. But, sadly, it didn’t meet my expectations…
While I found the views on traditional Japanese tattoos, the intertwining Japanese folklore and the historical contexts of the setting interesting, they also took over too much of the book. Many times, it felt as though the murder mystery was placed on the back burner just so those views could be further explored. This, in return, made the mystery too drawn out, resulting it in being incredibly underwhelming despite how clever the crime was.
Moreover, Kyosuke Kamizu, the boy wonder mentioned in the summary entered the picture much too late. Instead of being present around the beginning and solving the mystery with us, he comes in only at the final quarter of the book which makes all the revelations too convenient. It felt like he was merely inserted just so a major plot point could be concluded. In fact, the entire crime aspect felt like it was just there as an excuse to talk more about the art of traditional Japanese tattoos.
I think it’s such a shame because the crime itself is clever — a little predictable but still, clever. You have pieces of a gorgeous woman’s corpse found in a locked room. Her torso is missing and it’s the exact location of her equally gorgeous Orochimaru tattoo which she had only just revealed to a crowd of spectators days ago. There are several suspects but instead of a tense race to unveil the truth before the next victim appears, we end up with an incredibly slow and cumbersome investigation. Sure, this may mimic reality where not all cases can be solved and closed quickly but I think in a book, there should be a little leeway for the pace to be sped up so that the story becomes less exhausting and more of a page-turner.
All things considered, The Tattoo Murder reads more like a historical fiction with a side of crime than a thriller mystery set in 1947 Japan. It’d be best to read this with the expectation that it’s more focused on the beauty of traditional Japanese tattoos instead of the murder mystery.
As someone who has completely fallen in love with 20th-century Japanese mysteries, I was really looking forward to The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi. But, sadly, it didn’t meet my expectations…
While I found the views on traditional Japanese tattoos, the intertwining Japanese folklore and the historical contexts of the setting interesting, they also took over too much of the book. Many times, it felt as though the murder mystery was placed on the back burner just so those views could be further explored. This, in return, made the mystery too drawn out, resulting it in being incredibly underwhelming despite how clever the crime was.
Moreover, Kyosuke Kamizu, the boy wonder mentioned in the summary entered the picture much too late. Instead of being present around the beginning and solving the mystery with us, he comes in only at the final quarter of the book which makes all the revelations too convenient. It felt like he was merely inserted just so a major plot point could be concluded. In fact, the entire crime aspect felt like it was just there as an excuse to talk more about the art of traditional Japanese tattoos.
I think it’s such a shame because the crime itself is clever — a little predictable but still, clever. You have pieces of a gorgeous woman’s corpse found in a locked room. Her torso is missing and it’s the exact location of her equally gorgeous Orochimaru tattoo which she had only just revealed to a crowd of spectators days ago. There are several suspects but instead of a tense race to unveil the truth before the next victim appears, we end up with an incredibly slow and cumbersome investigation. Sure, this may mimic reality where not all cases can be solved and closed quickly but I think in a book, there should be a little leeway for the pace to be sped up so that the story becomes less exhausting and more of a page-turner.
All things considered, The Tattoo Murder reads more like a historical fiction with a side of crime than a thriller mystery set in 1947 Japan. It’d be best to read this with the expectation that it’s more focused on the beauty of traditional Japanese tattoos instead of the murder mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
bethjuliette's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
I thought this book was fantastic! It had a good old fashioned locked-room mystery, gruesome deaths and intrigue with nice backstories and some character development - for the better or for the worse is up to the reader, I suppose haha!
The only reason it’s not a 5* is that the ending dragged on a little… the final monologue from the genius they involved in the case near the end was very king and at times I struggled to understand and would have to read lines a couple of times over. It explains in great detail who was involved in the murders, why and how they were committed which is fantastic but it’s quite complicated and you need to be really switched on and engaged to be able to follow every part…
Overall a fantastic book with just the right balance of intrigue, suspense, confusion, violence and romance!
Overall a fantastic book with just the right balance of intrigue, suspense, confusion, violence and romance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship and War
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
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Mental illness, Death, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship
Minor: War and Sexual content
kaneebli's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: War and Sexual content
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