Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

46 reviews

clare072's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, War, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Genocide, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion and Adult/minor relationship

nochnitsa's review against another edition

I chose this book to be my first proper Murakami because, as description said, it's a collection of all the typical Murakami elements, and of course the cover is absolutely stunning. The cover is also the only thing that could make me regret not finishing or liking this book. I'm over a 100 pages in, and so far, despite lots of things happening and many many words, it feels like the book lacks real substance. What really makes me uncomfortable though (and it is the main reason for me dnf-ing this book) is the way Murakami writes women or about women. Associating a teenager with a woman who propositioned him phone sex? Talking about violent rape and forced prostitution like it's a weather forecast and then having a wet dream about the sane woman woman? Sounds a tiny bit disturbing to me, no thank you very much. I doubt I'll ever give Murakami another try after this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Minor: Pedophilia

gotothecorner's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Murder

Moderate: Abortion

12caro9's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment and Abortion

enoby's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Incest

sampai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

tessorlando's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle has a lot of mystery in its unique story, and I really enjoyed the character May. I struggled with the descriptions of gore and violence and found those parts of the book tedious to get through.

I was weary of the relationship between May and Mr. Okada in the beginning but (to my relief) found it to be very platonic and endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, Genocide, Domestic abuse, and Body horror

Moderate: Abortion and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

apollonium's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Torture, War, Murder, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abortion, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Child death

mmatti300's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was very good, and I am consistently blown away by the eloquence that can remain in translations. However, there are certain aspects of murakami that I am not sure I’ll ever be comfortable with. This novel wavered between being aggressively horrific, touching, charming, and utterly confusing. I found myself getting bored at parts, accidentally skipping whole paragraphs because I could not being myself to care. Yet in other parts, I was hooked constantly waiting for the next sucker punch of a line. While there is not the strange obsession with ejaculation common in some of his other works, there are elements in which “men writing women” shines through, particularly in discussing menstruation. I don’t know if I’ll be able to remember much of this book in 1 month but I am glad I picked this up and gave murakami another shot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

traciereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Incest, Pregnancy, and Vomit