Reviews

The main idea of the story was good, the complexities of the magical realism part were a bit forced, in my opinion, as at times it made sense, but other times it didn’t, and was covered up by characters saying “I can’t explain it, I just know” and you’re expected to roll with that. If you do then fine, it’s a fun story of parallel universes. My only sticking point is the gratuitous sex. There is a fair amount of description of the bodies of minor characters, of which doesn’t add anything to the story. For example, going into detail about how the two underage girls touched eachother doesn’t then lead her to realise she as attracted to women… it’s unnecessary, and I can’t imagine why… I listened to the audiobook and eventually skipped 30 seconds once I realised where it was going.
That’s the only reason why I could rate this so high. It was otherwise a well written and unique story.

Content Warnings

tephy's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Some good things about the book. Murakami's style of writing is very magical and interesting you continue reading to see if any of his idea will be explained in the end. Some characters are likeable to a certain extent and that is the end of my praises. The book was extremely repetitive and the twist and turns that the book took to get to a certain scene rarely led to anything in the end. I don't have a problem with elements of the book not being explained but my god I need some answers with the authors obsession throughout the novel about breast! This was my first book written by Murakami and was extremely disappointed to see women written in such a way that their entere beings revolved around men wherever they are a victim of violence or simply have ovaries they are tied to this idea that men are the main factors that can either lead to their happiness or demise none of the women really had autonomy they only existed to stroke the main characters ego and have sex with him. The ending was also pretty anticlimactic and I am glad it's over.

toc's review against another edition

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3.0

A fascinating little twisty novel that starts with a young woman stepping into a world slightly different than her own. Instead of living in 1984 she now finds herself living in 1Q84. Not much has changed but enough to make her suspicious. Exactly *shy* she's there is a story that leads all the way to the end of the book…

I listened to the audiobook and the voice characterizations and readings were amongst the best I've heard.

ddalgibec's review against another edition

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underage sexual descriptions is a hard no

r0si3_'s review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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