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jacob_dion's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Torture, War, and Death
Moderate: Abortion, Violence, Cursing, Car accident, Incest, Rape, and Vomit
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, War, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Rape, Sexual assault, and Car accident
Minor: Incest and Suicide
directorpurry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Animal death, Blood, Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Gun violence, and Rape
Moderate: Abortion
maybealexisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Blood, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism and Xenophobia
jckurtz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: War, Violence, Gore, and Rape
balancedmultitudes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
His depictions of female characters are at times hard to swallow and there are certainly elements that feel familiar from other books of his.
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
grace_ocb's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
verbamatic's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, War, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
maia313's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Graphic: Violence, Rape, and War
Minor: Incest
mary_juleyre's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, and War
Minor: Racism