A review by m4rtt4
All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

reflective 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

2.75

I really loved Breasts and Eggs, but this book did not do it for me. I usually like books with vague plots, but this one lacked the (emotional) depth that needs to happen inside the characters (if the outside is excluded). I can often come up with a bunch of adjectives to describe a book, but this one I can only describe as reflective (out of the choices given). Some scenes were (and still are) vivid in my mind, the protagonists nightly walks above all.  A proofreader's pov was an interesting take on reading books as well. Struggled to get through this, but I thought it'd get more intense and/or deep on the way (it almost did). Such a perfectly tied ending was not very necessary for a story of this kind. I'm not giving up on Kawakami though, I'll still check (and read) her future works! Not every book can be as good.


(also, Fuyuko's "only time she had sex" was a straight up rape and no one addressed it. I hated the scene, but I hated it's handling even more.)
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