Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

3 reviews

readersbutterfly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

So much of this was hard to read, which may be in part due to the translation. I think this book actually dragged on quite a bit, but it has made me think a lot about how women in Japanese society actually grow up. There is so much idolization of Japan’s culture, so much skimming over weird subtext in anime, blatant misogyny. While this is fiction, fiction holds a grain of truth. I think that’s what is unnerving about kirino’s writing. However wild she may dive, it never seems too wild. Graphic book, trigger warning for everything! I will also add that I did enjoy the emboldening of sex workers, even if they came from wildly different perspectives. Too often this world has been trained to think of them as as revolting whores or lustful accompaniments to men’s revulsion. But this paints women’s sexuality as their own, as sex work being a basis of freedom and accompaniment and success for others, truly, and points out how misogyny is known to the sex worker too, and the only difference between disgust with a sex worker’s johns and a sex worker’s own disgust, is that the johns can get away with killing them for it easier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Trafficking, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ceciliabereadin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

4.0

This book needed to be 100 pages shorter but other than that, I found it so interesting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

moonlightmelody's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

This book is not for the lighthearted. It covers sexual abuse of sex workers, hatred of women (internalized and societal), and just generally awful people. If you're not okay with any of that I'd avoid reading it.