Reviews tagging 'Death'

Audition by Ryū Murakami

20 reviews

soobooksalot's review

dark tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Alcohol

sspaghettiboness's review

dark sad tense medium-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

5.0

I am always in total awe when I read Murakami’s works, and this novel was absolutely no exception. The way he unfolded the story of a man going from widower to head-over-heels in love was well paced, and littered with painfully accurate descriptions of those feelings. The way you first meet someone and become completely enamoured, the way a person will dig so deep to quell any possible notion of them being anything other than perfect. That heart fluttering moment of trying to decide when to best touch their hand for the first time, or when do you go in for the kiss? 

But this is not a love story. 

It was extremely painful to read, at many points. So many other characters were constantly pointing to the faults in Aoyama’s mental gymnastics to prove his beliefs right. It made me want to stick my hands into the pages and just slap his face. 

The last two chapters are, of course, a dazzling masterpiece of macabre. This is the second time I’ve noticed Ryu using this particular method of violence, which I found very interesting. I don’t want to say more and give it all away, but, the last chapter had me white knuckling the book. 

I could go on and on about how much I love Ryu, probably forever, but I digress. Yet another amazing read. I wish more of his works were translated into English. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Gore, Torture, and Violence

owlribbon's review

dark tense

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, and Death

chloseencounter's review against another edition

mysterious tense 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? Yes

1.5

I really wanted to enjoy this novel considering the movie adaptation is a cult classic. I have never seen the movie adaptation, though I understand there are some large changes from the book but I wanted to read it first. The concept was interesting enough but honestly 3/4 of this book was just a romance novel and even though I knew it was going to switch up I got pretty bored listening to this manipulative man talk about how in love with this young girl he was. Before the “plot twist”, if you can call it that, there was a sex scene that felt as if it was written by a teenage fan fiction author. In fact I’ve read fan fiction much less cringe worthy. The ending was lack luster, I saw it from a mile away even without having seen the movie. I still have a few books by Ryu Murakami on my TBR so I hope to enjoy those better. I’ll give the movie a try soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Death, and Animal cruelty

gasolinecupcake's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

I think the movie does the storyline more justice. But the book is still a great read. 
The movie is my favorite movie of all time so maybe I'm a bit biased

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body horror, Pedophilia, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

-An animal dies -There is a whole chapter which is dedicated to sex that the characters have. It's pretty descriptive

sphinxofblackquartz's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse and Death

akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

I support women’s rights, I also support women’s wrongs.

Similar to Piercing, this book focuses more on the build up to the climax than on the actual climax itself. It’s a well written critique of misogyny in modern Japan, and while I started feeling sorry for Aoyama his attitude towards women reflected by himself and Shige made me worry less about him over time. 

I really enjoyed it! I preferred Piercing both story wise and also gore wise, but I’m glad I read this and I’m excited to watch the film too!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Misogyny, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Incest, Cursing, Death, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, and Emotional abuse

corviddays's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Gore, and Violence

aegireads's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

binks_brew's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Do not come to this book for a cover to cover horror or for something viscerally horrifying. Ultimately, it is more about making you feel uncomfortable, off put, and eventually maybe even feel bad for the antagonist. 

After spending time focusing on himself since his wife's untimely passing, Aoyama decides he is ready to find another wife. His friend decides to create an audition for as fake movie to allow Aoyama to have the best chances of meeting someone who fits his criteria. Enter Asami; gorgeous, young, captivating, but mysterious enough to give pause. Perfect for Aoyama. 

If you've read other works by Murakami, you know where this is headed from the beginning. Personally, it was very slow and a lot of description compared to action. I find that a lot of Japanese and Korean works from this time are this way, but this one was particularly slow even compared to others.  Overall the plot and idea are good, though predictable. 

However, if you read this I would recommend watching the movie. It seems to move along a bit faster, but also is just a good cult movie. You can find it with English subtitles easily. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: Misogyny