Reviews

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

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katewallis123's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

hanakow's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny

4.0

yukirarin's review against another edition

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4.0

Kind of not what I expected when I saw "a novel of food and murder" but an enjoyable read nonetheless. A lot of this book could have been trimmed down, mostly because of the extremely food porn-esque descriptions of food. If you were a true foodie you'd probably love it, for me it didn't do that much besides being kind of lengthy but that may just be me not being much of a foodie. I'm a if it's placed in front of me I'll eat it kind of girl for the most part.

I did enjoy the parallels between Rika and Kajii in their world views and their views of society and how they as women function in it. I don't personally know where I land on the spectrum here. While I wish I could say yes, feminism, women let's go and just let our bodies be whatever we want, I can't deny myself wanting others to find me acceptable and maybe even desirable. Maybe especially being in an asian country with similar traditional views on a women and their bodies, I cannot bring myself to really let myself eat as much as I wish and just get big if I want to. This book did manage to confront me on my own views, and my own image of myself as a woman in an asian society. All in all, a good read but only if you really have the time for it.

vidhyaa's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

pebblegosling's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

4.0

kiwisandher's review against another edition

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5.0

I cannot recommend this one enough!! A thoughtful examination of misogyny and female friendship interwoven with stunning descriptions of food.

There's a recurring motif of the responsibility of self-care and the challenge of discovering what healthy looks like for you in a society of extreme standards that's emphasized so cleverly through the plot and metaphor. Just truly a lush read with captivating characters.

I do think a Japanese reader or just someone more well versed in Japanese culture would pull even more from it, but the themes are absolutely universal and the plot is juicy.