Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Have to think on this a bit more, definitely challenging at times funny, at times sad, always mysteriously bizarre. Could have done with 100-150 pages less though, I feel and not lost anything except for those pages that were dragging along a bit.

His depictions of female characters are at times hard to swallow and there are certainly elements that feel familiar from other books of his.

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grace_ocb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a wild ride. It felt like a fever dream throughout and the magical realism was both enchanting and terrifying. I was fascinated by the narration and all of the larger-than-life characters. I finished the book and immediately had to go read theories on the story and breakdowns of what had happened. I found the ending perfectly fitting and very satisfying in a way I wasn’t expecting. Definitely one of the more challenging books I’ve read lately and totally worth it.

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verbamatic's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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maia313's review against another edition

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reflective 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

3.75

After having finished this book, I have mixed feelings.
As with all murakami books, the magical realism, the feeling of being in a dream is ever present, but this felt slower paced than some of his other books.
The beginning had me invested, and the ending I found exciting and well written- however I did get slightly stuck in the middle, where it seemed a bit too slow for me and it took me longer to finish. Again as is common with Murakami, lots of things are left unanswered, Chekhov's guns are not fired, which can feel unfirfilling to some- this aspect, due only to the style of his works, I don't mind, although in this book I did feel like it was building up to something that didn't necessarily arrive.
This book also had long interludes from stories told by other characters, some of which I liked and found really interesting, especially those by lieutenant Mamiya, although some I found myself skimming and wanting to get back to the main story. That being said, the main character's interactions with these outside characters is something that really makes the book.
Overall I did really enjoy reading this book and it's one I think about after having completed it. The slow middle is evened out by either side of it to make it not my favourite book by his, but very enjoyable nonetheless and one I would recommend to someone who is willing to invest time into a book and doesn't need to have incredibly fast paced action!

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mary_juleyre's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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