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nakedsushi's review
3.0
I picked up All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe a few months ago because I liked Brave Story, a novel geared towards younger audiences. All She Was Worth was Miyabe’s first adult book that I’ve read and one of the few mystery novels I’ve read this year.
All She Was Worth starts off with the disappearance of a woman and follows an on-leave detective as he tries to find her and uncover the unusual circumstances in which she disappeared. Although that’s the main mystery flowing through the book, I didn’t find it that engaging. I already guessed what had happened to her and the characters of the book felt so distanced.
The story takes place in present-day Japan and the Miyabe does thorough albeit sometimes dull job of describing Japanese consumer culture. There were points in the book where I felt the author was being too didactic and the things the characters were saying sounded artificial. It was almost like reading a guide-book about Japanese culture.
The payoff of a good mystery book is the “aha!” moment when everything just clicks. Unfortunately, that never really happened in All She Was Worth because the reader will know exactly what happened by the first half of the book. Most of the book is proving and finding evidence of what happened.
I was egged on to read the book by my curiosity concerning the motives of fugitive character. It was disappointing to see the story ending so abruptly and not answering any of the questions I had. The ending felt like a cliffhanger of a show that never got to run its next season.
All She Was Worth starts off with the disappearance of a woman and follows an on-leave detective as he tries to find her and uncover the unusual circumstances in which she disappeared. Although that’s the main mystery flowing through the book, I didn’t find it that engaging. I already guessed what had happened to her and the characters of the book felt so distanced.
The story takes place in present-day Japan and the Miyabe does thorough albeit sometimes dull job of describing Japanese consumer culture. There were points in the book where I felt the author was being too didactic and the things the characters were saying sounded artificial. It was almost like reading a guide-book about Japanese culture.
The payoff of a good mystery book is the “aha!” moment when everything just clicks. Unfortunately, that never really happened in All She Was Worth because the reader will know exactly what happened by the first half of the book. Most of the book is proving and finding evidence of what happened.
I was egged on to read the book by my curiosity concerning the motives of fugitive character. It was disappointing to see the story ending so abruptly and not answering any of the questions I had. The ending felt like a cliffhanger of a show that never got to run its next season.
kernamalia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Agak kaget pas liat buku ini first published nya tahun 1992. Pantes latar di bukunya '80 an semua. Mantep, seru, cuma sayang banget di pertengahan tuh mulai bosen karena ga ada hal yg baru yg diperlihatkan, ending juga mengecewakan, kayak "lah, udah gitu doang??"
trus yg bikin kecewa juga adalah gimana detail penyelidikannya kurang detail. Maksudnya kan ini latarnya '80 an pasti cara penyelidikan polisi dengan alat yg masih minim tuh menarik banget. Sayangnya ga ada ada di buku ini. penyelidikannya lebih ke nanya nanya orang doang gitu.
trus yg bikin kecewa juga adalah gimana detail penyelidikannya kurang detail. Maksudnya kan ini latarnya '80 an pasti cara penyelidikan polisi dengan alat yg masih minim tuh menarik banget. Sayangnya ga ada ada di buku ini. penyelidikannya lebih ke nanya nanya orang doang gitu.
didnot_finish's review
3.0
2.5
It was pretty good. I got weighed down in the middle with all the stuff on loan sharks, debt and bankruptcy. The ending left a little to be desired; I needed, like, ten more pages.
But there were some good twists/surprises and I thought the translator did a good job making the prose very readable.
It was pretty good. I got weighed down in the middle with all the stuff on loan sharks, debt and bankruptcy. The ending left a little to be desired; I needed, like, ten more pages.
But there were some good twists/surprises and I thought the translator did a good job making the prose very readable.
oreomilksake's review against another edition
3.0
Sangat menarik! Buku ini membuat pembaca seakan-akan adalah detektif yang membantu Inspektur Honma dalam menyelasaikan kasus hilangnya Shoko Sekine. Sayangnya, cerita berakhir "gantung", yang bikin saya cukup kecewa.
Cerita dimulai dengan datangnya Jun—sepupu dari istrinya Honma—ke tempat tinggal Honma untuk meminta bantuan mencari tahu hilangnya tunangan Jun—Shoko Sekine.
Setelah menyetujui permintaan Jun, Honma mulai mengumpulkan informasi terkait Shoko Sekine dan mendapatkan bahwa ada seseorang yang mengambil identitas Shoko.
Setelah segala data dikumpulkan, Honma menemukan informasi baru tentang Kyoko Shinjo yang dicurigai sebagai orang yang telah mengambil identitas Shoko. Setelah diselidiki lebih lanjut, terbukti bahwa Kyoko adalah orang yang mengambil identitas Shoko.
Saya benar-benar menikmati petualangan saya, membantu Honma dalam menemukan Shoko Sekine. Tapi sayangnya, petualangan saya berakhir ketika Honma sudah bertemu dengan Kyoko. Padahal saya penasaran dengan cerita dari sudut pandang Kyoko Shinjo, juga penasaran apa yang akan dilakukan Honma terhadapnya.
Tapi secara keseluruhan, buku ini OK.
Cerita dimulai dengan datangnya Jun—sepupu dari istrinya Honma—ke tempat tinggal Honma untuk meminta bantuan mencari tahu hilangnya tunangan Jun—Shoko Sekine.
Setelah menyetujui permintaan Jun, Honma mulai mengumpulkan informasi terkait Shoko Sekine dan mendapatkan bahwa ada seseorang yang mengambil identitas Shoko.
Setelah segala data dikumpulkan, Honma menemukan informasi baru tentang Kyoko Shinjo yang dicurigai sebagai orang yang telah mengambil identitas Shoko. Setelah diselidiki lebih lanjut, terbukti bahwa Kyoko adalah orang yang mengambil identitas Shoko.
Saya benar-benar menikmati petualangan saya, membantu Honma dalam menemukan Shoko Sekine. Tapi sayangnya, petualangan saya berakhir ketika Honma sudah bertemu dengan Kyoko. Padahal saya penasaran dengan cerita dari sudut pandang Kyoko Shinjo, juga penasaran apa yang akan dilakukan Honma terhadapnya.
Tapi secara keseluruhan, buku ini OK.
kokeshi8's review against another edition
1.0
Siento que perdí horas preciosas leyendo este libro que no llegó a ningún lado. Si bien no me molestan los finales abiertos, éste es horrible, casi un insulto a quienes dedicaron tiempo a terminarlo.
devvvika's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
siria's review against another edition
3.0
This is quite readable, though I'm not entirely sure why. I found the characterisations quite distant (possibly because of the translation), the mystery not terribly mysterious (mostly focused on finding out how the crime was achieved, not why or by whom), and the ending quite abrupt. Yet some of the book's central themes—the dangers of materialism, of the credit system and how people get caught up in it—are sadly just as relevant now as they were when this book was written in the early 90s. My favourite aspect of the novel, and certainly the one which kept me reading, was Miyabe's description of Japanese society. The description of the family registers used as forms of personal identification were fascinating to me, as were the various social norms and pressures which conditioned and restricted character actions.
serendipity421's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
katepowellshine's review against another edition
2.0
One of the most boring "thrillers" I've read. It's probably the translator's fault that the prose is clunky and explanations of Japanese bureaucracy are shoehorned into dialogue. But the characters are cardboard cutouts, and their reasoning often seems far from logical. Perhaps it's a cultual difference, but I've read plenty of other books by Japanese authors without having that problem. Our detective protagonist makes wild assumptions that turn out to be accurate. I just couldn't buy it. And because the bulk of the book is taken up with his investigative interviews, every interesting event occurs in summary. Nothing in scene. Yawn.
made_in_dna's review
5.0
A stunning look at Japanese society, economy (consumer lending culture in particular), culture and more in the 90s. Eye-opening and extremely well-researched (without being heavy or boring) by Miyuki Miyabe. Fiction that tells a very real story of one woman trying to disappear, and the police investigator trying to find her.
Riveting, well-written contemporary fiction by one of Japan's most popular and prolific female writers. I've heard this book is even used in some Western universities to study Japanese literature. Well worth your time. You'll race through the 300 pages in no time and want more!
Riveting, well-written contemporary fiction by one of Japan's most popular and prolific female writers. I've heard this book is even used in some Western universities to study Japanese literature. Well worth your time. You'll race through the 300 pages in no time and want more!