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

emotional 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

3.5

I dont know how exactly to rate this book 

I loved seeing Fuyuko’s development throughout the book and I think it did a good job at portraying loneliness and the difference between every individual’s human experience. 

It touches upon a plethora of subjects such as misogyny, loneliness, suicide, relationships, spirituality, SA and rape. I would even say that maybe it touches upon too many subjects? While many scenes in the book that treat a specific topic has a reflection of its counterpart later in the story, some points are still left open ended. 

I do feel like womanhood could have been explored more thoroughly, being only mentioned
when Fuyuko enters the bookstore and her conversation with her old friend. But then again, those two are counterparts of each other. In the bookstore, Fuyuko reads about all the things a woman supposedly needs to feel fulfilled, like getting married and having children, but when meeting Noriko we see how it is not a guarantee for happiness?
There is no real conclusion or moral to the portrayal of both sides of the coin. Kawakami shows us all these different paths and choices, but doesn’t label one as the best or the better choice. She just shows us the endless ways of being human, of being a woman.

While I can appreciate the literary value of this book, I did not connect with it as deeply as I hoped. It was very slow paced and felt very long despite it being only 220 pages.

It did made me cry so kudos for that
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