Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Audition by Ryū Murakami

9 reviews

f18's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I can't be the only person who finds Ryu Murakami hilarious. Cmon fix your votes for tone/mood!

I saw the movie Audition years ago, and found it underwhelming. In part, because I had been overhyped on how gory it would be but reading the book reminded me of other issues I had with the story.

After watching Love & Pop, Audition, and both reading and watching Piercing I think that what I really wanted from this book isn't what Murakami is interested in exploring in his work. I did enjoy this more than Piercing.  Aoyama wasn't exactly likeable but he was far less grating than Kawashima who made me constantly want to throw the book across the room until around the halfway point when the comedy of errors plot kicked in. Piercing I found funny straight away which made it a much more entertaining read. Murakami's works are ultimately focused on internal psychology though, and in a way I always seem to have mixed feelings about.

Having forgotten the plot since watching the film (other than the most basic outline) I was really expecting Asami to be lying to Kawashima about her past trauma and have been setting him up from the very beginning to fall for her in order to get him close enough to torture. Being reminded that no, actually her trauma had just made her a yandere was a disappointment. Aoyama assumed the homeless child would be capable of murder and I would have loved for him to assume that Asami had turned on him because of her past only for her to reveal it had all been a lie. While people's lives inform their actions of course (cycles of violence exist) its frustrating to see the idea over and over again that its a given that a tough past will turn someone into a monster.

Regardless, the ending was brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Blood, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, and Gore

Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Grief, Pedophilia, Death, Incest, Child abuse, and Alcohol

drug abuse specifically in the form of giving someone drugs without their consent

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Sexism, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Alcohol, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Medical content

scifi_rat's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4.5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/1.5★
Characters: 2★
Worldbuilding: 3.75★
Ending: 0.5★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Infidelity

owlribbon's review against another edition

dark tense

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, and Death

cozyscones's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Torture, and Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, and Grief

cviii's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

i think this might be the worst book i’ve ever read. the only reason i didn’t rate it lower is that i can imagine ways it could have been worse. also there were a few bits of prose that i liked. 

the antagonist had potential to be interesting and complex but she isn’t, she’s predictable and her motivations are explained via exposition from the narration. side characters hint at ways she might be more interesting (suggesting she’s lying about her background, describing her almost as if she’s a supernatural entity), but in the end she comes across like a very tired cliche. 

the protagonist is also pretty boring. he’s not exactly likeable (going along with a plan to trick young, aspiring actresses into thinking they’re auditioning for a movie when they’re really auditioning to be the protagonist’s future wife is pretty messed up) but he does have some decent qualities. not really enough to make me concerned with whether he’ll live to see the end of the novel but enough to keep me from actively rooting for him to die. 

the writing style didn’t work for me for the most part, aside from a couple lines of prose, as mentioned above. a lot of the book comes across as exposition which i didn’t enjoy much. i’m not sure how much of my issues with the writing can be explained by nuance getting lost in translation so i don’t hold this against the book too much. 

one thing i’ll give the book credit for is that it can easily be read in one sitting, maybe two, so you’re not investing much effort in reading it only to be let down in the end. i wouldn’t recommend reading it but you won’t lose much by giving it a couple hours of your day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Physical abuse

readingsofaslinky's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Cancer, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Bullying, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Stalking

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book starts out a little slowly and then definitely builds up a sense of dread. A friend once told me that you don't know if you're in a horror story or a romance until you've already made at least one bad decision and that idea really summarizes this book. The end is very violent and intense. I would have rated it harder if

there wasn't a very graphic and unnecessary torture and murder of an innocent dog. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Torture, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, and Grief

There's a very graphic scene of a

dog being tortured and killed, and a man having his foot cut off.

There's one sex scene and it's reasonably graphic.

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

I support women’s rights, I also support women’s wrongs.

Similar to Piercing, this book focuses more on the build up to the climax than on the actual climax itself. It’s a well written critique of misogyny in modern Japan, and while I started feeling sorry for Aoyama his attitude towards women reflected by himself and Shige made me worry less about him over time. 

I really enjoyed it! I preferred Piercing both story wise and also gore wise, but I’m glad I read this and I’m excited to watch the film too!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Incest, Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse