Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Kafka on the Shore

Very entertaining to read. The two stories are perfectly woven together, the characters are interestingly described and have rich personalities. The smallest details, such as the way someone holds and moves a pencil, create an incredibly realistic image of the scenery.
However, the book opens a lot of questions and never answers them.

What happened that resulted in children losing their consciousness? Why was Nakata the only one who lost his knowledge? How did Kafka's father know the future? How were the two main characters connected: was the boy named Crow Nakata's soul that lived in Kafka? And this is only a part of all the questions I had after reading it.
Also, the incest parts were totally unnecessary. The 50 y.o. woman sleeping with a minor did not add anything to the plot. Moreover, she was his mother, and apparently she knew that since the beginning, or at least, had suspicions it must be her son. When Kafka met his sister, he thought about her being his sister, but quickly ruled it out, as did we. She also said she knew both of her parents. The plot doesn't answer these things.

I don't think these are questions the reader can answer themselves. They're left there on purpose, some context is there to mislead and confuse. Even so, this book is worth rereading.

Content Warnings

romncndle's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book , although there were disturbing scenes, you would know not to glamorise them as the main character's flaws were definitely a part of the story.

loved how both lives of both characters intertwined in the end, the resolve was not messy and this became my favourite book of 2021 so far.

I like how most of the things in this book are up to personal interpretation and there is not definite right or wrong opinion and idea.

this book feels so refreshing to read despite it being slow paced and at certain moments dark and emotional. I really love this book, it may not hit the same for you but I personally really enjoyed this book and would definitely reread this.

Content Warnings

orlagal's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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