Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - After Dark

Non Spoiler review - I just finished After Dark by Haruki Murakami after buying it yesterday. It was a quick read, and I did enjoy it, just not enough to rate it higher than 3 stars. For starters, the chapters involving the main character Mari’s sister were boring and hard to follow. At least, until we got insight into her situation—then the chapters about her were more interesting. Still hard to follow, though. My favorite aspect of the book was the dialogue, and there was lots of that. Mari’s exchanges with Tetsuya, Kaoru, etc. were very engaging. The desire to know more about her and her sister, Eri, kept me turning pages as more was revealed through conversation. I had an abundance of annotations characterizing each individual, and most of what I analyzed came from the dialogue. I do have a bit of a bone to pick with Murakami’s relationship with his female characters—for instance, he writes them in horrible, traumatic situations, and yet, both the narrators and the characters only comment on their physical appearances/beauty. Other than that, I have no complaints. This was my first read by Murakami. It wasn’t good enough to inspire a deeper dive into his work, but was concomitant in deterrence. 3 stars.

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squidsbooks's review

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adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

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lupolucas's review

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lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

1.0

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flowerssss's review

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mysterious 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

4.25

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ashleyend's review

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mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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lissybeth91's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a very strange read, teetering just on the edge of total realism, and with no real explanation of the bizarre incidents. But it's an enjoyable story, in spite of (or perhaps because of) this. I enjoyed the tone, and the main characters were all likeable.

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whosjessanyway's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

I am struggling to rate this book. The atmosphere is fantastic. The night life, the loneliness of some characters was depicted perfectly. However, I kind of felt the need to get some answers that never came.

Spoiler

Why did that man did what he did to the Chinese girl? What actually happened to Mari’s sister? Who was the man without face?

The story felt a little bit disconnected at times but I don’t think I will forget this reading experience any time soon, and there’s also a lot of value in the ability to make a story stick with the reader.

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mjones123425's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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