Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Podziemie pamięci by Yōko Ogawa

34 reviews

bonnienoire's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Dementia and Gaslighting

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual assault

nabaraditi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I have mixed feelings about this book. Every dystopian novel whether its Hunger Games or Divergent, the low status people tend to rebel for their freedom and for the injustice to stop. But none of that happens in the book. It made sense to me given that its the memory thats fading here. If you don't remember, how can you remember to rebel. But then I thought that there are some people, for some unknown reason, for them, things don't disappear and their memories about things are intact. So, why didn't they rebel? Maybe in real life, we wouldn't rebel? And it's easier to live a life under a floorboard in hiding (like many did during the Holocaust)
Another thing that I kept wondering is how does this disappearing phenomenon work? Is it the government that's controlling it? It happens on its own then how is it just this island that's affected by it?
If I think about the whole book as a metaphor for people who have dementia, then it's beautifully written. The end where 

body parts start to disappear especially the leg, it made me think about the hemiplegia (a form of paralysis that affects on side of the body, often just one limb). It was one of the stories about a guy who threw his leg off the bed thinking its somebody else’s leg and ultimately threw himself off the bed.

 
The only reason I kept reading the book is to see where the plot is leading, how to book ends. And I’m neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the ending. The Ending seemed bittersweet 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death

Minor: Death of parent

kurisukurisu's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault

tiennguyen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Rape, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

lydiabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Death of parent

darbo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

"I don't know. Maybe there's a place out there where people whose hearts aren't empty can go on living."

The book has a slow start, and it may feel slow all throughout for some due to its mundane, everyday tasks, but it picks up eventually and just leaves you baffled and shocked at every turn. Especially so the ending. I truly love this and wholeheartedly recommend this to any dystopia and Orwell fans out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Blood, and Abandonment

jaceydemaree's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Police brutality

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

kmcdonell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Very beautiful and precise writing, and had clearly been translated very well. But a bit too subtle and abstract for me, the end took such bizarre turns I wasn't sure what to make of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault

nila's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

My feelings on the book hasn't quite landed yet. On one hand, it's an original and interesting story, but on the other hand there's a vagueness to the plot that I'm not sure I like... The whole book is beautifully written as well, so it's still a joy to read it, but I just wanted more answers 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

perfectplaces's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

“What’s gone is gone completely. I have no seeds inside me, waiting to sprout again. I have to make do with a hollow heart full of holes.”

-

i really loved this! it was so thought provoking and also subtly horrifying. 

the tone is absolutely excellent; it eases you into the world of the novel and the life of the main character and then so suddenly pulls the rug from underneath you again and again. i also really loved the story-within-a-story, though that’s where most of the triggering content is so it’s definitely skippable. 

either way i felt it was a rly good and compelling take on the dystopian genre. i saw ppl in the reviews saying they felt it was unrealistic how passive the people of the protagonist’s island were, but i felt that ogawa’s approach was both compelling and arguably more realistic; much more so imo than the idea that people would largely fight back. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Police brutality

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Emotional abuse

Many of the triggers (toxic relationship, emotional abuse) take place in the story-within-a-story. These have a different font (in the printed version at least) and are easy to skip without losing anything of the main story as they serve a largely symbolic role.