Reviews

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

atomicookie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

jos13readingdiary's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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

2.75

Some interesting quotes and takes on gender roles in contemporary Japan and the socially imposed hierarchy on women. Besides that it was mostly yawns. The length of this book could have been shorter and the story would have stayed the same anyway. Most of the side quests, for example Reiko’s expedition, were really unnecessary and nonsensical. I came for a thriller or at the very least a wacky read, but finished unsatisfied even after hundreds of pages describing food that tastes like “walking along a path with fallen leaves crunching underfoot”. Whatever that supposed to mean.

This book really tested my will to not have DNF’ed it.

ellajw18's review

dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

stephxsu's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

mykai33's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

maybe I just had an expectation of more and it didn’t meet it. the book was an easy read and there were moments in the book that were definitely interesting, but it felt like a lot of plot points fell nowhere. 

bamzel_86's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

ehouchen's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

gralicia's review against another edition

I'd heard the hype and really wanted to give this book a try! I love Japanese fiction, vague true crime content and the concept looked really interesting.
I just couldn't get past the fatphobic language and brazen fat-shaming. I thought I would just ignore it the first time, but then they literally compare (and speculate on other people's) weights and give unsolicited weight loss advise to the MC who thinks it's great! 
Big trigger warning for anyone who struggles with eating disorders, self-esteem issues or just hates fatphobic content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

bookmanomkar's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

misskirstyjade's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0