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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i'm normally someone who loves lots of descriptions and setting detailed scenes - but this book had way, way too much of it. cut out the (very repetitive) descriptions of the sea, sky and ships and 1/3 of the book would be gone. also, i know the central theme is sailing / the sea / ships, but a totally excessive amount of nautical jargon is used, to the point that it's very frustrating and impossible to research every single one.
otherwise, it has some beautiful prose and a dark, intriguing story, but the above issues made it difficult to stay engaged and a bit of a slog at times. the character of fusako was also underdeveloped and underutilised.
otherwise, it has some beautiful prose and a dark, intriguing story, but the above issues made it difficult to stay engaged and a bit of a slog at times. the character of fusako was also underdeveloped and underutilised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Incest
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Suicide attempt
medium-paced
Teenagers in fiction tend to be weird, the protagonist and his clique guys are full on “you should be locked up” level of weirdness. Great and disturbing prose, but not as compeling as works on similar themes.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well I have mixed feelings for sure. I enjoyed reading this, however there were a lot of parts that had me roll my eyes or staring at the ceiling going?????
To start off, I had a tiny bit of an issue here and there with the writing and I'm not actually sure if it's a problem with the story itself or the translation. I don't know, sometimes the text just felt a bit awkward, especially in the first half.
Now the characters, I think this was jam-packed with fragile masculinity issues (and if I understood correctly that's a result of Mishima's upbringing as well which put the whole story in perspective and thus made it more understanding) and holier than thought. It was very... Idk, distracting. It's a definitely a product of it's time. The mother was actually very nice and depicted in a great way, the sailor also became more and more likeable and humane as the story progressed. The children however were very weird. I can't really explain just how much the children made me go????
Also I figured where we would end up pretty fast, but I was actually quite disappointed to not see the actual murder happen.
To start off, I had a tiny bit of an issue here and there with the writing and I'm not actually sure if it's a problem with the story itself or the translation. I don't know, sometimes the text just felt a bit awkward, especially in the first half.
Now the characters, I think this was jam-packed with fragile masculinity issues (and if I understood correctly that's a result of Mishima's upbringing as well which put the whole story in perspective and thus made it more understanding) and holier than thought. It was very... Idk, distracting. It's a definitely a product of it's time. The mother was actually very nice and depicted in a great way, the sailor also became more and more likeable and humane as the story progressed. The children however were very weird. I can't really explain just how much the children made me go????
Also I figured where we would end up pretty fast, but I was actually quite disappointed to not see the actual murder happen.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No way 13 year old boys talk like that