Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

8 reviews

thebookwasb3tter's review against another edition

It was maddeningly slow, I found the main character to be  awful and self absorbed, the women were written as sex caricatures, and the dialogue made me cringe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Grief, Suicide, Bullying, Mental illness, and Self harm

thecactusprincess's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Death of parent, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

zvy_02's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Sexism, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying and Gaslighting

rebeccajben's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

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

1.0

No more Sofia book recs. This was garbage. I thought murakami was supposed to be good….????? His depictions of mental illness are deeply disturbing and problematic, and his obsession with sex is just EXHAUSTING. This took years off my life. 293 pages I’ll never get back.

P.S. it should be noted that Sofia did not enjoy the book she just made me read it bcuz she did and she feels the same way I do. #redeemed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexism, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, and Misogyny

Moderate: Bullying

jarshi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I am always astounded by Murakami's ability to write these really compelling monologues about loneliness and suffering. And even though he uses his characters as glorified mouthpieces for his own ideas about society (which I find somewhat pretentious), I respect him as a writer and find his incorporation of magical realism to be entertaining and interesting.

As someone who reads a lot of Japanese literature, I feel like I can’t escape Murakami because he’s probably the most popular and accessible Japanese author out there. And whenever I read his books, I feel that I’m finally starting to understand Murakami as a writer and what he wants to convey…

…and then… he will write… the most insane unnecessary shit you have ever read in your entire life and I feel the rage of a thousand suns within me. Seriously, what is his deal?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Minor: Ableism and Bullying

magca's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Bullying

lostinthelibrary's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to give Murakami another try as this book was chosen for a book club I am part of but I can now say that he is not for me. All of the aspects that I disliked about The Wind Up Bird Chronicles: meandering plot, annoying characters, cringey sex scenes; they were also present here. It gets an extra .5 stars because of the lack of magical realism elements. Really it was pretty bleak with, as with WUBC, the main redeeming feature being the descriptive writing style and in-depth character searching monologues. Sorry Murakami, I tried.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

Minor: Bullying

beccasbookcase's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide