Reviews with content warning for Self harm - The Book of Form and Emptiness

I have a soft spot for books that contain characters with mental illness, and Ozeki worked magic with Benny's character. Very few authors are able to portray the harrowing details of living with mental illness, and she absolutely hit the mark.
Benny and his mother's story is one of grief, struggle within society, expectations one puts on oneself and society's expectations; as well as all the things including growing up, community and belonging.
I loved this book so much and I really didn't expect to. It had been sitting on my tbr shelf for so long because I feared it's size but it was worth it. It's definitely not going to be for everyone, but between the crows, jazz music, B-Man and all the other intricate details of this book; this was my book to a T.
I will absolutely be picking up more by Ozeki.

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giralka's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad 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

I think this book has a similar tone to Johnathan Saffran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in which both the characters are grieving the loss of their fathers through a tragic event. The coping mechanism kicks in differently for the two of them. The story here also focuses on the mother’s grief of losing a husband while also trying to keep it together for Benny’s sake. I like that we can see that she’s clearly struggling to cope and to get better.

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itsbumley's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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cymbopogon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

I'm still not sure whether I liked this book or not.

It was much darker and heavy with psychological issues than I was expecting.

I did not particularly enjoy having insights from the Book + interruptions from Benny + Tidy Magic (Kondo method but by a zen nun) in addition to the book itself.

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desheebasara's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book already had me crying by page 14, it was really not what I expected and surprised me in a positive way.

It lost me a little bit in the middle, but not in a way that made me put it away.

I really really enjoyed Ruth Ozeki‘s writing style, pretty sure I have never read anything like it!

Content Warnings

michaelion's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Very respectful of people with different minds. Very kind. Very well reseaeched into the intersections of people's lives and how their mental illnesses or impairities can / may be affected by outside factors. Very very, very real, living, loving book. 🥰

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