Reviews

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

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angie_isyagirl22's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-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

3.25

I appreciated what mieko Kawakami was doing however I didn't like the philosophy of the girl victim and I felt their friendship was just really shared trauma that gave the illusion of friendship there wasn't really proper friendship there in my opinion but it's not a bad read and rate it 3 stars

desireeslibrary's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. The wildly disappointing ending and Momose's monologue really killed it for me.

cassandra05's review against another edition

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4.5

4.5 ⭐

bookonarooftop's review against another edition

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4.0

this book was so emotionally intense and disturbing that I had to put it down from time to time.

I haven't read anything by this author before but I loved her story-telling and characters. I believe that the story would hit close to home for many and that's what makes this book a powerful read.

Tackling down bullying, and school violence isn't an easy task and unless it's done delicately, it might miss the mark. This book didn't fail and described all these issues quite masterfully.

So I will always recommend it.

Now my kind of review

- I talked about this book with Lauren and I remember telling her that I couldn't relate to some things because of my character and my school experience.

- we had kids who thought, they could bully others; "cool kids" who'd laugh at you based on your clothes, family, etc. I never went along with their jokes, I never sat quietly and let them bully others. I was vocal about these issues, I was fighting battles that weren't mine. I thought and I still think that's what you should do. You should not sit there and watch how others get bullied. I grew up believing that everyone thought the same way.

- after meeting some of my friends I realized that this isn't case. Some people can close their eyes on sufferings of others; they would prefer to sit silently and do nothing

- I don't know what kind of people I hate more: ones that bully others or ones that just watch.

- I also don't know who we should blame. Parents who raised their kids into ignorant fools or society that teaches them to mind their own business

[funny incident: when I got to Korea, we listened to a lecture by police. They warned us: when you see people fighting, don't get involved. Even if you can help and save someone's life, don't get involved. Call police. I was shocked. We asked them: what if someone gets hurt before police come? They said: if you get involved, we'll arrest you. I remember thinking wtf. And then I realized that's society we're turning in]

So if you're like me, parts of book annoying, but worth the read

yomy's review against another edition

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4.0

"Because we're always in pain, we know exactly what it means to hurt somebody else."

I have never felt understood like this before.i felt related to the characters from many different parts. Also it made me look at things differently especially what Momose said made me rethink about how I see cruelty and empathy.