Reviews tagging 'Death'

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

8 reviews

cturn's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

Characters - 8
Atmosphere - 6
Writing - 8
Plot - 9
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 7
CAWPILE score - 6.8

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Sexism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Infertility, Pedophilia, Suicide, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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? It's complicated

1.0

I truly disliked everything about this. Even if we approach it as a book that covers topics that I don't like or agree with, it could still be good — but this wasn't. It was so slow and so long. So much ick with all the body shaming and other TWs, I am sort of annoyed that I pushed through and finished the audiobook (sped it about to 2 to get through it). It was also kind of hard to keep all the characters in check, they all sounded the same 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Lesbophobia

hgullegrogan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

Through a winding tale of food, murder, love, and journalism, AY illustrates the complexity of human relationships and the chain reaction that small decisions can cause. I thoroughly enjoyed following Rika on her journey of grief, self-discovery, and culinary exploration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Fatphobia

Minor: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, and Death

kimib79's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This book started off strong and then just dragged on and on. It could have been 300 pages or perhaps fewer. Her married friend is bat crap crazy, fyi. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Minor: Blood, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

book_artiste's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-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

4.0

Enjoyed the inclusion of feminist themes and think they were insightful from the perspective of women in Japan, but otherwise there were no "hot-takes" or new information for me in terms of this theme. Really enjoyed, however, how the plot was so well linked to this theme and did well to address many different issues in a natural way (didn't feel forced/performative). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Mental illness

NOTE: mislabeled trigger warnings as graphic, these are mainly moderate to mild but be aware these themes exist in the book

heather_harrison's review

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Our protagonist Rika, a female journalist in her 30s, finds her life and her identity tipped upside in the task of interviewing accused murder Kajii. 

Butter delves into the concepts of misogyny, expectations of women, loneliness & isolation in society, and pleasure. 

The novel is long, and I found myself struggling in middle as the plot begins to thicken. The ending was delicious. 

This book touts itself as being inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer” - and it seems accurate and as well as stranger than fiction.  

With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate for my e-ARC of Butter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Infertility, Sexism, Grief, Infidelity, and Mental illness

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

I WAS (AND AM) OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK. I am going to make it my entire personality for a month 🙂‍↔️

The sheer misogyny in Japan was evident throughout this book and made me angry (but not surprised).

Relationships wise…

I’m not going to lie, Rika finding herself better away from Makoto got me excited 😂 I also LOVED Reiko’s borderline queer love for Rika 🏳️‍🌈 Say gay!

I also thoroughly understood how Rika could be pulled into Manako Kajii’s charms; there was something inherently interesting and inviting about her 😳 I obviously didn’t agree with her politics but felt myself feeling sorry for her and sympathising with her!

A truly 5 star read for me, thank you ✨ Off to do lots of research into the true story 🙊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Grief, and Toxic relationship

ly_didi's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Eating disorder