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rieviolet's review
nFrom the synopsis the story sounded really promising and interesting but what I read of the book itself turned out to be quite disappointing.
The writing style was just all over the place, I don't know if it's a matter of the Italian translation, but nevertheless I really did not enjoy it. At times, the writing style felt quite "choppy" with fragmented sentences, and then it moved on to too long and articulated ones that I had to keep re-reading to undestand.
The dialogues left much to be desired too, for example the ones between Kemari and her friend Choko; I understand that they are very young but it was just a cringefest.
Then, there are long explanatory sections about the changes in Japanese society/economy that read more like non-fiction (and a not very good one at that), that are not well integrated into the narration.
I think that the story goes a bit too far in terms of strangeness, both with characters and situations. It's really not a matter of
suspension of disbelief, at times you are just left thinking that
it is just over the top and that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Also, there were bits just too graphic and detailed (for me at least), for example sections with body horror (a character losing an eye that then liquefies and rolls all over the ground, a body run over by a train and then picked up to be put into a box) that I really struggled to get through.
There is little actual depth to the characters, aside from their strange characteristics/behaviours. I just felt quite detached
and did not care much to keep reading and find out more.
Also, I have to mention the way the character of Tatsu was handled. The author really did not miss any chance to remind us that the character is fat and her face and body are plump and rounded, she even goes as far as describing her moving around as "rolling", really? Is she not a person but a ball? It was just overall unpleasant.
The writing style was just all over the place, I don't know if it's a matter of the Italian translation, but nevertheless I really did not enjoy it. At times, the writing style felt quite "choppy" with fragmented sentences, and then it moved on to too long and articulated ones that I had to keep re-reading to undestand.
The dialogues left much to be desired too, for example the ones between Kemari and her friend Choko; I understand that they are very young but it was just a cringefest.
Then, there are long explanatory sections about the changes in Japanese society/economy that read more like non-fiction (and a not very good one at that), that are not well integrated into the narration.
I think that the story goes a bit too far in terms of strangeness, both with characters and situations. It's really not a matter of
suspension of disbelief, at times you are just left thinking that
it is just over the top and that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Also, there were bits just too graphic and detailed (for me at least), for example sections with body horror (a character losing an eye that then liquefies and rolls all over the ground, a body run over by a train and then picked up to be put into a box) that I really struggled to get through.
There is little actual depth to the characters, aside from their strange characteristics/behaviours. I just felt quite detached
and did not care much to keep reading and find out more.
Also, I have to mention the way the character of Tatsu was handled. The author really did not miss any chance to remind us that the character is fat and her face and body are plump and rounded, she even goes as far as describing her moving around as "rolling", really? Is she not a person but a ball? It was just overall unpleasant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Moderate: Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Cancer, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Murder
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