Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami

11 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

angeliteauraa's review

challenging dark tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Blood, Gore, Death, and Physical abuse

bethany01's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

eena's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

booksthoughtsandtea's review

dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Oddly terrifying and fascinating. I am unsure if I think the mental illness representation further harms the mental health community (I'm in that community) or not. In some ways it shows the harm of forces institution, and how it does not help if the patient doesn't want to change. This book was very fatphobic. The only fat person in this whole story is an American... and it doesn't sit right with me. I think this book is a meditation on the fasination people have with foreigners, how classism is so prevalent in wealthy and less wealthy countries, lonliness,  and how we are all fascinated by death. Either way, this book had me empathize for the bad guy... That's a hard feat when murder is involved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Stalking, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Rape, and Drug abuse

Please take care of yourself and read the content warnings.

dzidzigerica's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Vomit, Violence, Death, Blood, Body horror, Stalking, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Dysphoria and Fatphobia

Minor: Death of parent

delchouette's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Torture

cinderrunner's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Concept is interesting but the execution could have been far better. Im not sure how much of my issues with the book are due to the translation vs the actual writing. The language felt very odd and stilted. The story dragged a lot in multiple places. We spend far too much time in Kenji's head as he critiques and runs commentary on Japan. Felt less like a thriller and more like I was reading some bitter dude's interpretation on Japanese culture and history. Even after the biggest murder happens, the pace drops right back down and continues to slag. I was honestly bored for most of the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

jen_prouvaire's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

Not for the faint of heart. I'm still trying to process this book, and decide if I liked it or not

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Medical content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Vomit, and Fatphobia