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chyneyee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
One-Sentence Summary: The death of a pawnbroker drives two young people to dark and sinister life.
Despite the confusion due to the lacking of transition stage and too many characters involved in the story, I found the writer's idea is unconventionally brilliant. It keeps pushing the readers to continuously pursue the truth with detective Sasagaki. It's just getting darker and keep readers wondering who Yosuke's murderer is. The entire story mainly focuses on the life of the young people, and the reader is wondering how their lives related to Yosuke's death. There weren't many hints can be extracted by the readers because the writer left the truth until the last page. There were so many plot twists throughout the story. It can be anything beyond our imaginations because the writer is telling another unrelated account which the reader can't connect the dots to the main plot.
Book Review: Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino.
Despite the confusion due to the lacking of transition stage and too many characters involved in the story, I found the writer's idea is unconventionally brilliant. It keeps pushing the readers to continuously pursue the truth with detective Sasagaki. It's just getting darker and keep readers wondering who Yosuke's murderer is. The entire story mainly focuses on the life of the young people, and the reader is wondering how their lives related to Yosuke's death. There weren't many hints can be extracted by the readers because the writer left the truth until the last page. There were so many plot twists throughout the story. It can be anything beyond our imaginations because the writer is telling another unrelated account which the reader can't connect the dots to the main plot.
Book Review: Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship
arahuaj's review
dark
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
I'm a fan of Keigo Higashino's books but this book is the first one that angers me so much that I just want to finish it quickly. It's not because of the writing. The writing itself is impeccable as always. The plot is easy to follow. What angers me is the characters!
I know that sometimes hurted people hurt other people. Sometimes I can sympathize with someone whose past is dark/sad and understand why they do a certain thing. But not the characters in this book. It frustrated me so much how evil people in this book could be. And the worst thing was that they got away with all their evil acts! They ruined so many people's lives, they don't deserve my pity.
This book is told in multiple POVs of side characters. If you hate reading unrelated side characters details, I think this book is not for you. It's not a problem for me personally because I like reading about people's lives.
If you're going to read Keigo Higashino's work for the first time, I would not recommend this book. If you like complex crime tricks I would recommend Detective Galileo Series (The Devotion of Suspect X, Salvation of a Saint, A Midsummer's Equation). If you like reading/guessing people's motive and slice of life stories, I recommend Detective Kaga Series (Malice, Newcomer) and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store.
I know that sometimes hurted people hurt other people. Sometimes I can sympathize with someone whose past is dark/sad and understand why they do a certain thing. But not the characters in this book. It frustrated me so much how evil people in this book could be. And the worst thing was that they got away with all their evil acts! They ruined so many people's lives, they don't deserve my pity.
This book is told in multiple POVs of side characters. If you hate reading unrelated side characters details, I think this book is not for you. It's not a problem for me personally because I like reading about people's lives.
If you're going to read Keigo Higashino's work for the first time, I would not recommend this book. If you like complex crime tricks I would recommend Detective Galileo Series (The Devotion of Suspect X, Salvation of a Saint, A Midsummer's Equation). If you like reading/guessing people's motive and slice of life stories, I recommend Detective Kaga Series (Malice, Newcomer) and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Pedophilia
aisclaradm's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A slow-moving, dense read, with some of the most fascinating characters I've ever read. A dozen different characters' stories intertwine, weaving a complex story that leaves hints and clues throughout the book. The ending is phenomenal, and the story is intensely dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Abortion and Addiction
snailmaiil's review
challenging
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Sexism
Lots of scenes of abuse against women and teens.equleart's review against another edition
informative
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? No
3.5
Whoever put 'Thriller' on the cover of this book did not read it. That was the slowest of slow burn murder stories. 30 years of occurences matter-of-factly told through a series of non-characters and always upfront about what is happening.
What was and is happening is never in doubt over the course of the book and the obvious, only conclusion you are presented throughout ends up being what happened, and it honestly doesn't feel like thrill or a thrilling reveal was ever what Higashino was going for.
I do have to say that it was original structurally, and even though all the stakes are kinda low, the story has a feel that's almost Kafkaesque. It has this never realy delivered-on ominous dread thing going on while never straying from mundanity and that's kinda cool.
That said, I would've liked a clearer thread tying everything together, like the 'main' detective, because it feels like a short story anthology but doesn't get in-depth enough for the length. At 300 pages, this would've been pretty good, but not at its 700.
What was and is happening is never in doubt over the course of the book and the obvious, only conclusion you are presented throughout ends up being what happened, and it honestly doesn't feel like thrill or a thrilling reveal was ever what Higashino was going for.
I do have to say that it was original structurally, and even though all the stakes are kinda low, the story has a feel that's almost Kafkaesque. It has this never realy delivered-on ominous dread thing going on while never straying from mundanity and that's kinda cool.
That said, I would've liked a clearer thread tying everything together, like the 'main' detective, because it feels like a short story anthology but doesn't get in-depth enough for the length. At 300 pages, this would've been pretty good, but not at its 700.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
chrisljm's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
This is probably the best mystery (and Keigo Higashino) novel I’ve read so far.
Journey Under the Midnight Sun is told through multiple POVs and so you get to unveil the mystery alongside different characters. The interchanging POVs and large cast was a bit hard to keep up with, but the storytelling was incredible. Despite the story taking place over a span of 20 years, with Higashino taking you alongside the cultural and technological developments of 70/80s Japan, it never felt like a drag. Every event that happens plays a part in the overall story, and it felt so great seeing it all piece together. The story/characters are fucked up, but the end of every chapter had a way of enticing me to continue. The book was gripping from start to finish.
The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that you can definitely tell the female characters are written by a man. And despite how much I enjoyed the story, I completely understand the criticisms of Higashino’s use of sexual assault as a plot point. And if I’m being honest, I was truly enjoying the book until I got to the sexual assault parts, where I then had to pause and accept the fact that this is where Higashino was now taking the story and overlook my issues with that in order to keep enjoying the book.
The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that you can definitely tell the female characters are written by a man. And despite how much I enjoyed the story, I completely understand the criticisms of Higashino’s use of sexual assault as a plot point. And if I’m being honest, I was truly enjoying the book until I got to the sexual assault parts, where I then had to pause and accept the fact that this is where Higashino was now taking the story and overlook my issues with that in order to keep enjoying the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abortion
charliewoelkchen's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
autumn_melon's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
elevatot's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
6/4/2021 - just finished the audiobook version read by David Shih.
Neglected to give this book a star rating because I haven't yet parsed through everything I want to process. That said, I'm inclined to give it at least 4.75/5 stars for enjoyment. Time will tell whether that rating will stand the tests of time, or I need to recalibrate my standards. (I've only just reentered the literary realm, the tropes of legal procedurals past, my sole guides.)
Neglected to give this book a star rating because I haven't yet parsed through everything I want to process. That said, I'm inclined to give it at least 4.75/5 stars for enjoyment. Time will tell whether that rating will stand the tests of time, or I need to recalibrate my standards. (I've only just reentered the literary realm, the tropes of legal procedurals past, my sole guides.)
- Audio - I hope he narrates all the Japanese novels I listen to. I feel like a snob, but I really appreciate his pronunciation of all the characters and places. If you're not too familiar with Japanese it might be a bit difficult to keep details straight via audio alone.
2022.09.09 - 4/5 for enjoyment
Is depicting the current state of things w/o negative consequences endorsing it? Is it enough to accurately characterize an issue w/o condemning it as such? Do victims need to be portrayed as more than victims?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Abortion, Car accident, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Trafficking
nicolelouc's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death and Pedophilia