Scan barcode
A review by daytimebelle
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was so difficult to read.
The writing is straightforward but also heavy, like every word is weighted with the burden of the characters’ pain. The unnamed male protagonist, known only as “Eyes” because of his lazy eye, and his classmate Kojima, who is similarly outcast, find solace in each other’s company. But their bond is more about shared suffering than anything resembling happiness.
It’s not a story of two people helping each other rise above their circumstances. Instead, it’s about how they sink deeper into their misery together, finding comfort in the fact that someone else understands. There’s a kind of beauty in their connection, but it’s a beauty that comes with a lot of hurt. It made me think about how sometimes, we hold on to the things that hurt us the most because they’re familiar.
The adults in this book are almost invisible, absent when you want them to intervene, and ineffective when they do show up. It’s a reflection of how isolating and overwhelming the world can feel when you’re young and struggling. There’s no easy rescue, no last-minute save. The kids are left to deal with their pain largely on their own, and it’s heartbreaking.
This doesn’t offer any neat resolutions or uplifting moments. It’s not a book you read to feel good. Instead, it forces you to confront the reality of how cruel people can be to each other, and how that cruelty can shape a person’s view of the world. The ending, without giving too much away, is like the rest of the book—unsettling, unresolved, and heavy with the weight of everything that’s come before.
Reading this novel left me with a lot of mixed feelings. There’s a sadness that lingers long after the final page, a reflection on the ways we cope with our pain, and how sometimes, we don’t really cope at all—we just survive.
—------------
LET ME JUST SAY everything that came out of Momose's mouth is just infuriating. It’s like he’s trying to justify his cruelty with the most nonsensical, twisted logic, and it doesn’t make sense no matter how you slice it.
He went on about how suffering is arbitrary, like it’s just something that happens without any real meaning behind it. Seriously? Just because something might seem random doesn’t mean it’s okay to do it. The pain he inflicts is real, and waving it off as meaningless is just his pathetic way of dodging any responsibility. It’s as if he’s trying to convince himself that if it’s arbitrary, it’s somehow justified. Spoiler: it’s not. His reasoning is so shallow it’s almost laughable, except it’s not funny at all.
Also, according to him there’s no real right or wrong here—just life happening. What a load of nonsense. By denying any sense of morality, he’s just avoiding the guilt he should be feeling. This is the kind of thinking that lets people justify all kinds of terrible behavior. Just because he refuses to acknowledge the ethical implications of his actions doesn’t mean they’re not there. He’s still wrong, and no amount of mental gymnastics changes that.
He also had the nerve to act like bullying is inevitable, something that’ll just keep happening no matter what. That’s such a cop-out! He’s basically saying, “Well, this is just the way things are, so why bother changing?” It’s lazy, it’s defeatist, and it’s completely wrong. He’s ignoring the fact that people can choose to be better, to stand up against cruelty instead of just accepting it. But of course, if he admitted that, he’d have to face the fact that he’s in the wrong, and clearly, he’s not interested in doing that.
IN SHORT, NAGSAYANG LANG SIYA NG LAWAY KASI WALA NAMANG SENSE LAHAT NGSINABI NIYA CHEEE!
The writing is straightforward but also heavy, like every word is weighted with the burden of the characters’ pain. The unnamed male protagonist, known only as “Eyes” because of his lazy eye, and his classmate Kojima, who is similarly outcast, find solace in each other’s company. But their bond is more about shared suffering than anything resembling happiness.
It’s not a story of two people helping each other rise above their circumstances. Instead, it’s about how they sink deeper into their misery together, finding comfort in the fact that someone else understands. There’s a kind of beauty in their connection, but it’s a beauty that comes with a lot of hurt. It made me think about how sometimes, we hold on to the things that hurt us the most because they’re familiar.
The adults in this book are almost invisible, absent when you want them to intervene, and ineffective when they do show up. It’s a reflection of how isolating and overwhelming the world can feel when you’re young and struggling. There’s no easy rescue, no last-minute save. The kids are left to deal with their pain largely on their own, and it’s heartbreaking.
This doesn’t offer any neat resolutions or uplifting moments. It’s not a book you read to feel good. Instead, it forces you to confront the reality of how cruel people can be to each other, and how that cruelty can shape a person’s view of the world. The ending, without giving too much away, is like the rest of the book—unsettling, unresolved, and heavy with the weight of everything that’s come before.
Reading this novel left me with a lot of mixed feelings. There’s a sadness that lingers long after the final page, a reflection on the ways we cope with our pain, and how sometimes, we don’t really cope at all—we just survive.
—------------
LET ME JUST SAY everything that came out of Momose's mouth is just infuriating. It’s like he’s trying to justify his cruelty with the most nonsensical, twisted logic, and it doesn’t make sense no matter how you slice it.
He went on about how suffering is arbitrary, like it’s just something that happens without any real meaning behind it. Seriously? Just because something might seem random doesn’t mean it’s okay to do it. The pain he inflicts is real, and waving it off as meaningless is just his pathetic way of dodging any responsibility. It’s as if he’s trying to convince himself that if it’s arbitrary, it’s somehow justified. Spoiler: it’s not. His reasoning is so shallow it’s almost laughable, except it’s not funny at all.
Also, according to him there’s no real right or wrong here—just life happening. What a load of nonsense. By denying any sense of morality, he’s just avoiding the guilt he should be feeling. This is the kind of thinking that lets people justify all kinds of terrible behavior. Just because he refuses to acknowledge the ethical implications of his actions doesn’t mean they’re not there. He’s still wrong, and no amount of mental gymnastics changes that.
He also had the nerve to act like bullying is inevitable, something that’ll just keep happening no matter what. That’s such a cop-out! He’s basically saying, “Well, this is just the way things are, so why bother changing?” It’s lazy, it’s defeatist, and it’s completely wrong. He’s ignoring the fact that people can choose to be better, to stand up against cruelty instead of just accepting it. But of course, if he admitted that, he’d have to face the fact that he’s in the wrong, and clearly, he’s not interested in doing that.
IN SHORT, NAGSAYANG LANG SIYA NG LAWAY KASI WALA NAMANG SENSE LAHAT NGSINABI NIYA CHEEE!