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bookishblond's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely mesmerizing novel, with a unique and disturbing storyline. Rio's struggle with the "black organ" that dwells in her and causes her to stab a fellow student when in elementary school is especially haunting.
Hopefully this isn't a spoiler, but at one point, our protagonist accompanies an old friend on the Shikoku eighty-eight temple pilgrimage. I had never heard of this, and reading about a fictionalized pilgrimage inspired me to do further research, and now the pilgrimage is high on my bucket list.
I would love to give this novel five stars, but everything wrapped up a bit too nicely for my liking. Overall, I loved this book, and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
Hopefully this isn't a spoiler, but at one point, our protagonist accompanies an old friend on the Shikoku eighty-eight temple pilgrimage. I had never heard of this, and reading about a fictionalized pilgrimage inspired me to do further research, and now the pilgrimage is high on my bucket list.
I would love to give this novel five stars, but everything wrapped up a bit too nicely for my liking. Overall, I loved this book, and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
princeeskeleton's review against another edition
2.0
** a 2.5 star review **
The initial concept of the story really interested and I thought it was going to be a really deep and gripping story, but ultimately it was just bland.
The author made a lot of points that could have expanded into interesting plots but left them unexplained or rushed to completion which made for a story that felt underwritten and unedited. The characters were dull and didn't interest me and I found myself not liking Rio/Chizuru or any of the side characters at all really.
The setting of book was intriguing as I am really interested in learning more about Japanese culture, and I found the descriptions of certain aspect of Japan to be well done. Although I felt, still, that these descriptions could have been pushed further as I wasn't totally immersed in the setting due to some poor descriptive writing.
Ultimately this book was a big disappointment for me and overall was just an okay-ish reading experience.
The initial concept of the story really interested and I thought it was going to be a really deep and gripping story, but ultimately it was just bland.
The author made a lot of points that could have expanded into interesting plots but left them unexplained or rushed to completion which made for a story that felt underwritten and unedited. The characters were dull and didn't interest me and I found myself not liking Rio/Chizuru or any of the side characters at all really.
The setting of book was intriguing as I am really interested in learning more about Japanese culture, and I found the descriptions of certain aspect of Japan to be well done. Although I felt, still, that these descriptions could have been pushed further as I wasn't totally immersed in the setting due to some poor descriptive writing.
Ultimately this book was a big disappointment for me and overall was just an okay-ish reading experience.
harridansstew's review against another edition
4.0
This was my book of the month selection and I really was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The style and plot is so different from anything I've ever read. Despite the premise, it didn't revel in heavy phycological undertones, but had real momentum and simplicity. I kept picking it up for a reason. Recommend.
emjay24's review against another edition
3.0
This is a more literary book, about woman, Rio, who comes to terms with her childhood self. Growing up in Japan, the daughter of a National Treasure violinist dad, and an American mom, she was teased until at 12 years old she snapped and killed her bully. Thereafter she grows up in a children’s detention institution and at 18 starts a fresh life over in the US under a different name. When her father dies when she is 38, she returns to Japan to confront her other self. I didn’t like Rio that much, but I did enjoy the descriptions of settings and customs throughout the book, both in Colorado and in Japan. The book reminds me of art.
wordsmithreads's review against another edition
4.0
Let one area heal, another is stressed, and so on, and we can only hope that once we make it back to the original place of pain, we are fresh enough to endure more.
Wow. Kelly Luce knows how to write something that snags you early and keeps you hooked. I was pulled under within the first couple pages when she introduced Rio/Chizuru's anger:
I flagged SO many passages in this book that to write them all out would be impossible. Some of my faves:
What a thrill to pluck a patch clear, to turn the dirt and fill it with air, to witness the order of plants in rows, obedient and helpless, wanting nothing more than to flourish.
Sal doesn't know all of me. Maybe this is true of all husbands and wives; surely there are inaccessible places in each of us.
As if a body is all I am. It makes me feel claustrophobic. By using my body, I can escape it.
I can't say if Luce does a good job accurately portraying the Japanese culture, because I am not Japanese. But it felt very real. It felt researched, it felt realistic, it felt like all of this was happening and I was reading someone's diary. The shame and the guilt and the other emotions that Rio bottles within herself, that she thinks she can escape if she never returns to their geographic origin — this book is miraculously written.
I devoured the back half of this book, and while I was a little disappointed with the final ending, I am satisfied with the story. We all have trauma, but none of us have to be defined by that, or by anything other than what we decide to be defined by. We are multiple river parts, not just one body of water.
Wow. Kelly Luce knows how to write something that snags you early and keeps you hooked. I was pulled under within the first couple pages when she introduced Rio/Chizuru's anger:
I noticed at young age ... a dark presence in my chest, a blackness, clinging to the back of my heart. Mostly, the thing lay dormant and I could put it out of my mind. But occasionally it swelled like an infected gland. These were the times I felt hurt or angry, the sensations so closely linked that I never separated them until a therapist pointed out the difference. My anger was an organ.
I flagged SO many passages in this book that to write them all out would be impossible. Some of my faves:
What a thrill to pluck a patch clear, to turn the dirt and fill it with air, to witness the order of plants in rows, obedient and helpless, wanting nothing more than to flourish.
Sal doesn't know all of me. Maybe this is true of all husbands and wives; surely there are inaccessible places in each of us.
As if a body is all I am. It makes me feel claustrophobic. By using my body, I can escape it.
I can't say if Luce does a good job accurately portraying the Japanese culture, because I am not Japanese. But it felt very real. It felt researched, it felt realistic, it felt like all of this was happening and I was reading someone's diary. The shame and the guilt and the other emotions that Rio bottles within herself, that she thinks she can escape if she never returns to their geographic origin — this book is miraculously written.
I devoured the back half of this book, and while I was a little disappointed with the final ending, I am satisfied with the story. We all have trauma, but none of us have to be defined by that, or by anything other than what we decide to be defined by. We are multiple river parts, not just one body of water.
lil_larn's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. I struggled to finish this book. I think the premise of the book is fascinating and could have been a great story. For me, the characters always felt so far away. As someone who likes to feel connected to the people in the story (regardless of whether I like them or not), this was incredibly disappointing.
At times, the plot also felt rushed and incomplete. I just felt like there were too many storylines attempted to be crammed into one book. I was also not a fan of the imagery. I felt it was too forced and offered insignificant details that were meant to be representative of some larger thought.
All that being said, I understand why people like this book. It has an interesting story; I just wasn't in love with the storytelling.
At times, the plot also felt rushed and incomplete. I just felt like there were too many storylines attempted to be crammed into one book. I was also not a fan of the imagery. I felt it was too forced and offered insignificant details that were meant to be representative of some larger thought.
All that being said, I understand why people like this book. It has an interesting story; I just wasn't in love with the storytelling.
avra_s's review against another edition
4.0
this book is pretty dark and i appreciated that. a side of a character you don't often get to see. great imagery.
tobyyy's review against another edition
4.0
Unread shelf project 2020: book 14.
Work from home 2020: book 7.
If I have nothing else, I have this. I have my runner’s body that carries me through spruce and aspen and violets and miner’s lettuce and the damp smells of growth and I can name these things, name myself, in parts: the tarsals as they rotate, muscle fibers contracting and propelling me over the dirt, plantar fascia absorbing shock as my scarred feet carry all this, whole, through the woods full of sweet blue air that soothes my lungs, a gift from the plants and an exhalation, my gift back.
P. 261
This was actually a pretty amazing debut novel. Initially my thought was to rate it a 3/5 but no, it really is closer to a 4/5. Searing, atmospheric, meaningful, deep, engaging. Sad, but beautiful. Honest, heart wrenching, but likable. All the feelings.
Work from home 2020: book 7.
If I have nothing else, I have this. I have my runner’s body that carries me through spruce and aspen and violets and miner’s lettuce and the damp smells of growth and I can name these things, name myself, in parts: the tarsals as they rotate, muscle fibers contracting and propelling me over the dirt, plantar fascia absorbing shock as my scarred feet carry all this, whole, through the woods full of sweet blue air that soothes my lungs, a gift from the plants and an exhalation, my gift back.
P. 261
This was actually a pretty amazing debut novel. Initially my thought was to rate it a 3/5 but no, it really is closer to a 4/5. Searing, atmospheric, meaningful, deep, engaging. Sad, but beautiful. Honest, heart wrenching, but likable. All the feelings.
marie_gg's review against another edition
4.0
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2017/01/pull-me-under.html
This fascinating novel made me long to return to Japan, while at the same time reminding me of the problems of that country.
At age 12, Chizuru Akitani, daughter of a famous Japanese concert violinist and an American woman, has an outburst in school and stabs her bully with a letter opener. Bam! That opening scene pulled me in immediately!
She's sent to live in a reform school of sorts, and her dad disowns her, as does her country of origin. Many years later, she's reinvented herself in the U.S. as Rio Sylvestri, registered nurse, wife, and mother. She's left her Japanese life behind completely...until she receives word that her father has died.
She decides to return to Japan for his funeral, and eventually the truths unravel. The novel is set in Shikoku, a small island off the island of Honshu, where I visited when I lived in Japan. She makes a temple pilgrimage on Shikoku, which sounds fascinating. She also realizes why she no longer belongs in Japan.
Beautifully written, this novel evokes Japanese fiction and the complicated spirit of Japan.
This fascinating novel made me long to return to Japan, while at the same time reminding me of the problems of that country.
At age 12, Chizuru Akitani, daughter of a famous Japanese concert violinist and an American woman, has an outburst in school and stabs her bully with a letter opener. Bam! That opening scene pulled me in immediately!
She's sent to live in a reform school of sorts, and her dad disowns her, as does her country of origin. Many years later, she's reinvented herself in the U.S. as Rio Sylvestri, registered nurse, wife, and mother. She's left her Japanese life behind completely...until she receives word that her father has died.
She decides to return to Japan for his funeral, and eventually the truths unravel. The novel is set in Shikoku, a small island off the island of Honshu, where I visited when I lived in Japan. She makes a temple pilgrimage on Shikoku, which sounds fascinating. She also realizes why she no longer belongs in Japan.
Beautifully written, this novel evokes Japanese fiction and the complicated spirit of Japan.
rainmisoa's review against another edition
1.0