Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - What You Are Looking For is in the Library

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

78 reviews

dexlud's review

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.5

What You Are Looking For Is In The Library is a beautiful piece of translated fiction that consisted of 5 self-improvement stories that are set partially in the local community library with the main librarian Ms. Komachi. This book was beautifully written and translated and I need these Honeydome cookies they keep talking about. They sound delectable.

This book just made me feel so warm and welcome and I loved hearing how books helped improve these 5 people’s lives. Go in expecting vibes and love, and you’ll have a good time!

Content Warnings

iaproton's review

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hopeful informative mysterious relaxing sad

2.0

More slice of life than magical realism. Some mild to moderate life problems,husband not helping around the house and fighting about it, called into HR for being angry and treated like a doormat ,not liking one's job,being put in a different lower status job after having a child...

Mostly relaxing audio until you get to the 3rd main character and her child that likes to scream ''no.''

Most of the book is the main characters' thoughts with some dialogue every so often.Problems are solved simply and too quickly, it is nice to see some personal growth but it almost happened overnight.

The book has about 20 different characters which makes it quite difficult to follow occasionally.

There are multiple narrators. The one toward the last quarter of the book has a really terrible falsetto.

Wanting to find out more about the librarian was what made interested in finishing. She isn't mentioned often and every time uneccesarily in a fatphobic way.

I wouldn't give it a 2nd listen ,whereas DallerGut Dream Department Store I would as it has more magic and whimsy with less misery taking up 3/4 of the book.

There aren't many cats depsite the cover.

I was hoping that the last chapter would be dedicated to the librarian solving the mysterious aspects , but there was no such chapter.Very disappointing.

Content Warnings

goldenwing's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.75

Content Warnings

isabellew27's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

kestrel's review

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

It was fine. All five stories had a feel-good, basic life lesson. I enjoyed four of them and found them sweet.

I actively disliked the third story, the one about a woman grappling with her career and motherhood. What we won't do is blame a woman for a man's false incompetence. He's an adult and can put the dots together and realize how he can help his wife.

Also, I would rather not have read fatphobic commentary from five different POVs. The librarian was compared to a polar bear, the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, and Genma Saotome. Like, come on!

Content Warnings

quejk25's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

ghoulishshark's review against another edition

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4.0

This is exactly what I needed right now and made me want to work in a library so badly. The only reason I’m not giving this a higher rating is because the judging of the librarians weight was 100% not needed and I started to roll my eyes when a new character met her.

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filmcritic23's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

readingsponsoredbybts's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-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

4.25

Content Warnings

lucylou's review

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.25

Loved the short stories, and how each person’s inner thoughts are portrayed. My only gripe is 3 of the 5 characters initially describe the librarian in an insanely fatphobic way, detracting from the scene and overall book a lot.

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