Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

12 reviews

grunbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a book that you will devour. Yes, that is an intended pun.

The use of food in telling this story pulls you in, and I struggled to put it down. I also struggled to stop my mouth from watering! I’ve seen some comments on the slower parts being too filler like. For me, every page has a kind of story of its own. I don’t think there’s a word in this book that is accidental, or coincidental. The translation is written beautifully. This with the story makes this a book I think I’ll return to again! 

I would be curious to discuss this at a book club, as I find myself wondering Kaiji is a murderer. I think she is.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body shaming, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Blood, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Murder, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Fatphobia

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

katewallis123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

sterredinah's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Infertility, and Pedophilia

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). 

---

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

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Misogyny

Moderate: Murder and Suicide

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder

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

onewoman_bookclub's review

slow-paced

3.5

I pre-ordered this one months ago and definitely thought it was going to be a 5 star read for me. First, the good: I loved the detailed descriptions of food, the commentary of diet culture and fatphobia in Japan, and the general atmosphere of the book. However, it was unreasonably long. The same ideas could've been accomplished in 100-200 pages less, and that's what kept me from loving this book. I was begging for this one to end, even though I liked a lot about it and thought it had a lot of interesting things to say.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Murder, and Misogyny

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

Moderate: Infidelity and Infertility

letter_planet's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexism, and Misogyny