Reviews

Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka

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niisound's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I wonder if I would've enjoyed this more if I hadn't seen the film adaptation first. Bullet Train is a rapid page-turner that's chaotic and fun. It has no trouble juggling a diverse cast and linking multiple perspectives together, but I expected a much more exciting climax. The story builds and builds, and even though the ending is scratches the itch growing throughout the book, it feels disproportionate. I didn't expect to enjoy the film adaptation more, but Bullet Train is definitely worth a read if not just to see how they're different.

lucyistoocool's review against another edition

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3.0

The movie was so much better I can hardly believe it. The book was shockingly anticlimactic and for once the extra details that comes with being inside the characters heads was cumbersome instead of enlightening. Still a decent story, though

artifiedlady's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

theuncommonread's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

4.5

febifebs's review against another edition

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funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

kyra_c_c's review against another edition

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4.0

This has been on my reading list for so long after it was in a Best Thriller list in the Guardian. I thought it was a really good and quite violent thriller, completely unbelievable but so, so fun. The characters were all very neatly drawn and were all interesting. I was a bit thrown off by some of the dialogue but that could be translation-related and it wasn't bad, it was just odd! I was sad when it finished but very satisfied with the ending. I can see why they made it into a movie, (shame they whitewashed the cast)