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cansinnoh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
jalien's review against another edition
2.0
I usually adore Yoshimoto's writing, but this was a little bit too crazy for me. N.P. does have the same feel as her other books, which I love, but there was so much talk about incest.. The topic was discussed in such a casual way because "love is love" or something like that. It just didn't sit right with me and made me really uncomfortable all the way through. I really hoped the whole incest part was some kind of symbolism, but after a long google search (and reading the afterword) I concluded there isn't. It's just gross.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
enjaromirjagr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Incest
dvnngyn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It’s a long read to me despite the length of this book. Didn’t meet my expectations, intriguing plot but the writing gets draggy at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pedophilia
youkirmv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
aeski's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed being in the world but it wasn’t my favorite of Banana’s books. I thought the incest theme was strange and the teen-adult romantic relationship was very normalized. As always with Banana’s books, it was a quick and easy read with powerful messages.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Suicide
sleepyriv's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Drug use, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent, Abortion, Death, and Grief
s4ily's review against another edition
dark
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
sara_dawn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Incest
Moderate: Suicide attempt
james1star's review
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
TW: this book and review contains mentions of suicide and incest
I don’t know what to say about this book. It’s well written with characters and a ‘plot’ that makes you carry on reading, it’s engaging to start but then… I dunno? ‘n.p.’ follows the story of Kazami as she’s recounting around 6 months of a year whilst also thinking back to things (sort of). The central storyline consists of a book by the Japanese author Sarao Takase who shortly after completing the 89th story died by suicide and then the three people who have tried to translate the final story into Japanese (as it was written in English) then decide to die by suicide too. Kazami is roped into this world by the book’s latest victim Shoji who was her boyfriend. In the present day she’s reintroduced to Takase’s twin children Otohiko and Saki, then later to someone else involved with the family called Sui but revealing her connection is kinda a spoiler. Other things happen and it’s decent-ish, I liked seeing the MC becoming friends (kinda) with them but also a large chunk of this book was a little frustrating sort of.
The book does have some positives with Yoshimoto’s writing being somewhat like a dream - it’s very strange to describe but it’s very intriguing. Parts of ‘n.p.’ are also very funny in a not witty or humorous way but just so bonkers I guess that I did quite like. The premise is also very fascinating and as soon as I got this I wanted to give it a read but held off to the beginning of July. But around halfway through I felt a little let down and it’s not that I had very high expectations but more I didn’t know where it was going or more importantly why. The discussion of incest and the ways certain characters try to minimise or romanticise it was very uncomfortable, and the more things fitted into place and the book developed I did want to remove myself in some essence… does that make sense? Like a few books I’ve read recently where suicide is a primary focus/motif, I wasn’t very pleased with the discourse on this matter. The character’s attitudes seemed rather blasé and it frustrated me when an inappropriate/unconcerned level of attention was given to the topic - I get suicide is viewed differently in East Asia then the ‘West’ but I don’t know, it’s a strange one to ponder. As I went on reading I was still enjoying the act of reading it but not necessarily the story or engaging with the characters. That being said, the ending was very good and I liked the ambiguity to it.
I do and don’t recommend this book. That that as you will.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Incest, Death, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Grief, Alcoholism, and Infidelity