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A review by ashleyhubbard
Return to Hiroshima by Bob Van Laerhoven
4.0
I received a copy of Return to Hiroshima in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are, of course, my own. I’d like to thank Blackthorn Book Tours for including me on this tour.
Return to Hiroshima is a dark story that takes place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I actually don’t read a ton of crime fiction despite devouring true crime. However, I am a big “fan” of war history and was really drawn in with the synopsis of this book.
And, honestly, it’s more than just crime fiction. It’s somewhere in between crime, historical fiction, noir, literary fiction.
Starting with a series of characters that slowly come together as the book progresses, there are a lot of layers here showing a country’s horrifying past. Set in the mid-1990s, Japan’s economic depression and the history of the nuclear holocaust looms heavily.
We are given insights into Japanese society well (pretty impressively given the author is European) from what I can tell and have read.
The book is delivered in short chapters, alternating between the unique characters. This style reminded me very much of one of my favorite reads this year, There There.
It’s good that we are given these smaller pieces to bite off and chew because this is a challenging read, in a good way. It’s dark, gritty, gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. But, it’s so worth it. For something so dark, the writing is truly beautiful.
Return to Hiroshima is a dark story that takes place during the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima. I actually don’t read a ton of crime fiction despite devouring true crime. However, I am a big “fan” of war history and was really drawn in with the synopsis of this book.
And, honestly, it’s more than just crime fiction. It’s somewhere in between crime, historical fiction, noir, literary fiction.
Starting with a series of characters that slowly come together as the book progresses, there are a lot of layers here showing a country’s horrifying past. Set in the mid-1990s, Japan’s economic depression and the history of the nuclear holocaust looms heavily.
We are given insights into Japanese society well (pretty impressively given the author is European) from what I can tell and have read.
The book is delivered in short chapters, alternating between the unique characters. This style reminded me very much of one of my favorite reads this year, There There.
It’s good that we are given these smaller pieces to bite off and chew because this is a challenging read, in a good way. It’s dark, gritty, gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. But, it’s so worth it. For something so dark, the writing is truly beautiful.