Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Audition by Ryū Murakami

71 reviews

scifi_rat's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Plot: 3★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4.5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/1.5★
Characters: 2★
Worldbuilding: 3.75★
Ending: 0.5★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Infidelity

darbz89's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content

pranphetamine's review

dark tense medium-paced

3.75

A slow build with enjoyable writing. It felt like reading a screenplay. The ending was…a lot. It all happened so quickly and I was left feeling uncomfortable and confused. I think if

things weren’t so abrupt at the end and it unraveled a little more, or if she had more dialogue about her motive

, then this would’ve been a higher rating for me. This isn’t for everyone (I heard the film adaptation also left many feeling very disturbed), but definitely an effective horror book nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia

spooky_coochie's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

has a few great moments really dissecting how ridiculously high standards are for women and how men will completely disregard a woman's personhood in favor of their fantasy. Aoyama can only think of women as a dichotomy of good and bad, despite being told - "nice person, bad person, that's not the level this girl is at," and his eventual concession that she "was not a nice girl, but that was how he decided to think of her."

And OF COURSE the final third goes hard.

But I hate to say, Takashi Miike's film adaptation really elevates the source material. For starters, the tension building doesn't really work as well in the book - probably because we're really only in Aoyama's mind, and not getting things like flashes of Asami waiting by the phone or feeding vomit to a tongueless bag man (who is not present in the book at all).

It's fine that the violence and horror isn't as overt in the book, but it is so very unsubtle about Asami's motivations by the end. As Aoyama is being poisoned, he stops a moment and spells out Asami's entire psyche - oh, she must hate men because of her abuse and therefore wants to remove their feet just like her stepdad who molested her blah blah blah. It goes on for a page or so explaining everything in no uncertain terms. Like, thanks, I gathered that. And it's so unnatural, too - why would he have this moment pondering her entire schtick and thoroughly psychoanalyzing her when he's minutes from getting gored? Perhaps the bluntness is partially a translation issue, but even then, I think Miike draws this out much better. The film's not exactly subtle in how it connects the dots between Asami's past and her violent tendencies, but it's a bit more artful than this.

Anyways, I hate to say but I'd probably like this better had I not already seen the film adaptation. In comparison, this feels like...a half-baked treatment of the film script. Which obviously isn't the case, but...

also, and this is of course not Ryu Murakami's fault, I really cannot get over how atrociously bad this release's cover art is!!!! My other thought is that, based on how he's written women in the books by him I've read, Haruki Murakami totally would have fallen for Asami's shtick and had his feet removed lol 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Pedophilia, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, and Misogyny

thespencerj's review

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, and Sexual content

Minor: Murder

madamepurpura's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Suspenso delicado que poco a poco va creciendo.

Murakami nos ofrece una mirada sobre la sociedad japonesa y las relaciones entre hombres y mujeres. Que se espera de ellos y que se espera de las mujeres desde la mirada hombruna diría el libro. 
Y sobre todo, cómo todas estas cargas que se imponen y auto imponen para “encontrar la felicidad” solo llevan a la soledad y hay una soledad que puede llevar a las individuos a hacer cosas muy, pero muy dañinas.
Me ha gustado que ese recurso de cojeras, pies, silla de ruedas (está parte más directa imposible)que  todo el tiempo está rodeando a Aoyama y Asami, presagia lo que va ocurrir… 

Aoyama was the one auditioning for Asami. And oh boy he got the part.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Body horror

sariion's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, and Animal death

CW: Sexual Content

kamurphy919's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, Torture, and Death

fairygodfish's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.75

I spent 5/6 of the book waiting for something to happen but I didn’t feel bored during it. That poor dog.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

themadbloodstone's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

While I do appreciate this novel, the two things that nearly brought me to give up on it was its slow pace and prose that felt longer than it should. However, it is not to say that it did not serve a purpose. You forget that you are reading a Ryū Murakami book and find yourself thinking you’re reading a little romance between lonely Aoyama and mysterious dream girl Yamasaki Asami. You, the reader, even glances over the explicit red flags the iconic villainess has left behind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Torture, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Misogyny