Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Tokio blues by Haruki Murakami

176 reviews

danielleboldry's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

such a brutal depiction of mental health, yet still so delicate in the way it is written. i am in love with murakami’s writing style, he paints a scene with such vivid detail, you feel it with every sense. 

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: a story about two troubled individuals, drawn together by some invisible, magnetic pull, who will find some way to weave in and out of each other’s lives, whether physically or mentally — is my favourite kind of story!!

i loved the way this book focused on the impact of human connection, and how differently people can serve your life, but how equally significant and necessary they can be. 

(although, there were a couple of parts that were very uncomfortable to read. don’t get me wrong i love a bit of disturbing fiction, but certain bits just didn’t sit right with me)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Grief

thislunarbeauty's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer

julia_rose's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked it and I think it’ll be a book that sticks with me. I can already tell it’s going to need a lot of processing to fully digest. For people who need plot I wouldn’t recommend, but I’m impressed how Murakami didn’t make me bored nonetheless.

I had my eyes peeled for the subliminal sexism the whole time and admittedly I didn’t spot what the fuss was about until the closing scene which was an eye roll moment for me. So minus points for that, but overall still one of my favourite reads of the year so far.


On the Trigger Warnings:

There are a lot of suicides for one book, but I wouldn’t consider any of them  described in graphic detail. For each one, the method of death is stated but not described after.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual violence

ur_moms_fav_child's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

klaralyle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

unbearably indescribably sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

jessiemcg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Bizarre, brilliant, tragic and unique. A fantastically written book but often times very literal. Very very very good (I didn’t realise just quite how heavy going this book is until I did the trigger warnings)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sinfell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It’s extremely difficult to understate how well this book approaches topics of grief and death, as well as how well Murakami grounds each character to reality, so much so that I feel as though I have not connected so much with another main character as I have with Toru. While this book, much like Murakami, does have dated and problematic cultural views, I think the sheer quality alone is enough to excuse it, if only to keep reading until completion. 
I have read several of Murakami’s stories, but I feel his more realistic works have their own sort of surrealism to it that any fantastical plot points feels completely unnecessary. 
Plus Midori is in this book, so that should be reason enough to give it 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

bella613's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I like the way Murakami writes, as if he must tell a story that really happened and not as if he's creating one. 
I didn't love this book the way I loved Killing Commendatore. It was not quite what I expected, especially after hearing it was this book that exploded Murakami into fame. But I did connect with it. As it is with Murakami, there are some uncomfortable sections of the book. But there are some uncomfortable moments in life, so... it's sort of beautiful that he captures it so intensely? 

I found myself most drawn to Naoko in this story. Midori as a character is someone I would probably not enjoy spending time with in real life, but added to the story in a mostly positive way. I didn't like Toru much in the same way that one might not like oneself. Listening from his pov felt like looking back on one's own life and seeing all the flaws and mistakes and self-centered choices that were made. But he was very real. That's one thing I also love about Murakami: his main characters feel undeniably real. He's not great at writing women, but since he usually writes from a male ego perspective, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as it seems to bother others. Read any contemporary romance and you'll see that most women are terrible at writing men, too. 

My favorite part of the book was probably the long letter describing the sanatorium and the following visit to the sanatorium.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

esv_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Car accident

countdraculahimself's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

disgusting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief

disgusting