Reviews tagging 'Grief'

ノルウェイの森 Vol. 1 by Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami

173 reviews

kymberly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

i teared up at times reading this. i can't believe i waited so long to read this even after searching for this specific cover

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Self harm

ccpetrikas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Toxic relationship

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Grief

bexdot's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

3.5 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

rushh's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Suicide, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Medical content and Infidelity

aeterna's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Mental illness, and Sexual content

daisiesandbees's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Grief, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Pedophilia

Minor: Addiction

artsyfartsybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

This book was so deeply moving in the most exquisitely beautiful way. Murakami has an incredible talent for weaving the pain, grief and loss we face in our ordinary, everyday lives as humans into such a profound, lyrical story that it makes you reconsider the "banality" of normal life - there is so much depth to us, even when nothing seems to be happening (I don't know if this makes any sense, but it struck me quite deeply). There was a great sense of melancholy running throughout this book, which is to be expected given the subject matter (suicide and mental illness). What I found most striking, however, was the grief faced by the loved ones of those suffering from mental illness, and how they struggle to cope not only with the loss of those close to them but with confronting the "sickness" themselves. I really can't do this book justice in a short little review, I feel like there is just so much more to explore and uncover, but that could take me ages! This is the sort of book that really teaches you something about life and encourages you to reflect, pause and reconsider. Anyway, Murakami's writing is simply exquisite, it is beautifully descriptive and captures the emotional experiences of the characters with such profound subtlety. Also, I just love all the characters, especially Midori and Reiko, they were so much fun! I would really recommend this book to anyone and I know that I myself will be revisiting it for many years to come. '

NB the one criticism I had of this book was all the graphic sex scenes. It doesn't necessarily take away from the quality of the novel, but it is quite confronting and I believe it didn't add much to the story. I'm fine with authors discussing sex in their novels, but it doesn't need to be done in such detail every time (I think perhaps I understand it in the scene with Naoko, but none of the others, especially the one with Reiko at the end). Anyway, this isn't to dissuade anyone from reading the book because it's still brilliant, but just be on guard for graphic sex scenes if this is something you are sensitive to.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, and Mental illness

lynn_x5452's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed the writing style and the story itself but Murakami tends to portray women very oddly, or even altogether poorly, in his works. This holds true with Norwegian Wood. If you can move beyond that and you enjoy moody literary fiction, you'll enjoy this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny and Toxic relationship

mollyp's review against another edition

I couldn’t read anymore of this, I was struggling to read it as it was and then the sex scene with a thirteen year old and the description of someone with mental health issues as being rotten on the inside where the final straws for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Homophobia