Reviews with content warning for Murder - 1Q84

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

63 reviews

kerrence30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

The main idea of the story was good, the complexities of the magical realism part were a bit forced, in my opinion, as at times it made sense, but other times it didn’t, and was covered up by characters saying “I can’t explain it, I just know” and you’re expected to roll with that. If you do then fine, it’s a fun story of parallel universes. My only sticking point is the gratuitous sex. There is a fair amount of description of the bodies of minor characters, of which doesn’t add anything to the story. For example, going into detail about how the two underage girls touched eachother doesn’t then lead her to realise she as attracted to women… it’s unnecessary, and I can’t imagine why… I listened to the audiobook and eventually skipped 30 seconds once I realised where it was going.
That’s the only reason why I could rate this so high. It was otherwise a well written and unique story.

Content Warnings

angela_iseli's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

allyem_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

Y'all I just can't do it. Not only are there a multitude of triggers in here (including suicide, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, animal death, murder, and religious trauma) it's also uncomfortably slow and the weirdness is not enough to keep me invested. Plus I feel like this was Murakami at his most Murakaminess, and you couldn't read a single page of this book without getting at least two mentions of women's bodies in a derogatory way. I need to stop for the sake of my sanity.

Content Warnings

3eggomelet's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

Yes, I read the whole thing. I ordered all three books in Japanese and referred to them throughout my reading.
The premise and concept of this book carried me through. I wanted to know what would happen. I'm not gonna say it wasn't worth it, but I would recommend against reading this if you're not already super interested.

Content Warnings

flitch's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

I found this to be an enthralling read, but ultimately a let-down. Much of the early symbolism felt meaningless by the end of the book, and many of the intriguing plotlines were simply abandoned. For a novel with a strong female lead - who I loved! - the misogyny was overwhelming. The obsession with breasts really detracted from my ability to enjoy the story.

I loved the surreal qualities of the story, especially the interplay between the intentions of the characters and the nature of reality. The writing itself is beautiful and thought-provoking.

I absolutely hated

the introduction of underage rape as a plot element, made even worse by the bizarre supernatural explanation "absolving" the perpetrator. Almost DNF after a sympathetic character described an assault and the resulting infertility in graphic detail front of the victim. Entirely unnecessary and disgusting.

Content Warnings