Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami

44 reviews

joelles_bookshelf's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I picked up this book primarily because I saw on Tiktok that it was on a list titled 'Books that make you feel Unsettled'. I found it in my university library and decided to read it because I wanted to feel unsettled and have a genre change. The book was slow initially but a good kind of slow, a slow that makes you sink into the plot and the characters. Suddenly in Part Two of the book, everything happened so fast. 

I enjoyed it but I was slightly dissatisfied at the ending. I wasn't really sure what to make of it or how to feel after reading it. I would like to check if there is an in-depth analysis online as I felt somewhat empty. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but if so, they were successful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Mental illness

There is attempted sexual assault, but nothing happens. It also wasn't really a jump scare situation as they were in the Red Light District but just to be safe.

erin2802's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Horrifying and gruesome are good words to use, especially one part in particular. A commentary on the loneliness of regular people and their moral ambiguities. Frank is a terrifying character and the calmness and stoic nature of him makes him all the more creepy. Kenji is no saint either, he did not do the things that Frank did, but he was complicit in his actions. Though after experiencing something so traumatic, I don’t know what anyone would do, I suppose it was a matter or survival? All in all, an interesting book, it did what it set out to do, which is to horrify and intrigue the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Stalking, Vomit, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual harassment

ohsnapsabrina93_'s review

dark emotional tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Vomit, Blood, Gore, Violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, and Suicide attempt

liamowens24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Rape, Animal death, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, and Body horror

heyjudecrochets's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Mental illness and Self harm

sisa_moyo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

This is Murakami at his most dark and twisted. This is about an American Frank who comes to Japan to tour the red light district through the services of Kenji, the tour guide. But as the night darkens and the 2 walk through the streets of Japan the mood and tone get darker, deadlier and murderous.
I think Murakami excels most in these shorter books. Compared to his longer book Coin locker babies which at times felt like it meandered into tangents a bit, this felt more whittled down and straight to the point.
In the miso soup is well written in my opinion, the descriptions of Frank, of Japanese night life are so vivid you can clearly picture it, and also feel the creeps from Frank. There was wonderful commentary on America vs the other, of Japanese condition, loneliness and poverty that made the book a spectacular read. 
I think while the ending was vague and extremely open ended I quite enjoyed it, the lack of concrete, blatant resolution keeps one thinking about the book long after it, about what happened to each character afterward. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Gore, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Self harm

jordanpmck's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Animal death, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Cannibalism, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Rape, and Classism

mnstr_qn's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't know where to start with this book. It was like watching a car crash. This is not my first Murakami novel, and their writing is intense, their stories extreme. I'm sure it's even more terrifying in it's original language. I wouldn't recommend it unless you can stomach some seriously dark stuff or you have a therapist you meet with regularly or both. 
What is it about? A seedy underside of Japan, mental illness, and murder, played out under a cat and mouse game between the two main players.
Real talk, spoilers -

I don't think Frank was a man. I think "he" was a woman in a fat suit. It's never addressed in the book, but there are some weird hints.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

natalieanya's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Mental illness

perpetually_isolated_being's review

dark mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore