Reviews tagging 'Rape'

My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura

8 reviews

biobeetle's review

challenging dark tense 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? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Child abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Violence, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

pkatrinaanne's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death, Bullying, Mental illness, Suicide, Child death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

killianmgov's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I’ll probably put more later but this was a super interesting read, and it for sure got you asking questions about what makes one’s self, but tbh I could just be a lil too dumb for it because I felt very lost at points where I could tell I was having things explained/should have been more clear 


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i was really engaged the entire time while reading this book, but i'll be honest,,, i also really was confused during it,,,,, even when it was clear that some things were being explained for me. i'm happy to read books that do not have everything explained to you--whether that be in the conclusion of the story or throughout, severance by ling ma being an example of this and one of my all time faves--but either i was not quite smart enough for this book (LOL, but seriously) or it's just a personal thing for the stylistic choices in storytelling and narration.

i will say,,, the other thing i didn't love is that this felt really close to a book that just relies on gaslighting for the twist, and while this definitely wasn't quite that,,, i think with the added points from above I would land this at a 3/5 personally

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Stalking, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

florisugent's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

hue's review against another edition

dark

1.0

The multiple POV with no clear view when it changed made an already muddled story even more hard to follow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

kibernick's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

The first third of the book gripped me. The rest was a little messy. Maybe that’s the point. Very transgressive but I didn’t feel it was impactful or added much to the story, guess it’s because when you throw so much at the reader at once, they become desensitized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Violence

ladawson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, Addiction, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief

etyoung64's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I don't want to give any spoilers for this book, only to give as much information about content warnings as possible, but this is a book best gone in completely blind. Prior to me finally reading this book, I knew nothing about it and read no reviews or anything. What I got was a completely wonderful surprise and I'm glad I didn't get the book ruined for myself by reading reviews. In my opinion the author completely flips the script of what a murder mystery is, of what a crime book is. And the reader isn't let in on the "trick" until nearly the end of the book, I'd say about more than half way through (the final third, maybe?). 

Without getting into too much spoiler territory the story asks the question: what does it take to transform a seemingly normal person into a killer and could it be something so simple as a mere suggestion? Let those sink in for a second and that's all I'm going to say about the overall theme of the book. Those are the questions the author challenges the reader with from the very get go. I nearly finished the book in one sitting (I started it Tuesday after I bought it and finished tonight a few minutes ago), that's how engrossing and fascinating I thought the story was. Nakamura doesn't bog down the pace of the book with a lot of graphic/gruesome details and for me it didn't need it. Much of the worst violence is implied but not overly graphic. I think if he did that it would detract greatly from the tension the author wanted to instill in the reader as you went along. 
I don't remember reading a book like this, or it's been a while. It's so unique. Maybe the one that would come closest would be Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates, which was an awesome book as well, but what My Annihilation didn't give details to and the author didn't want to bludgeon the reader with, Zombie holds nothing back in the violent details and it makes for a more frightening (and in some cases, sickening) read. But what Nakamura was going for in his book was a more cerebral story in concept and execution, and his execution was brilliant. The ideas and themes that Nakamura wanted to address in this book, taken from the afterword: "Questions about what it means to be human, and what it means to exist in the world, are central to me and in this book, I wound up exploring these questions at length". 

I believe "your mileage may vary" on whether he succeeded in his task, but I believe he did. I'm still feeling struck by what I read and it was a wild, strange and, in the end, an emotional roller coaster ride.

That phone call at the very end.....Oh, man.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Death of parent

What I mentioned above in the graphic section are in the book and for me, the author gives only enough information to service the plot of the book. This is a psychological crime novel and themes of violence and abuse will be included in order to establish criminality/criminology or the reasons criminals do what they do, and in my opinion it's done not to shock or exploit the characters or topics of mental illness, but do it in a matter of fact way, from the character's POV. The book mentions

ECT, as a means to "erase" memories of traumatic events

and describes the procedure as it is done to a couple of characters. Again, I will say that there may be content in this book that some will find upsetting. Since this book is by a Japanese author and it's about the psychology of crime, the author mentions the real life case of Tsutomu Miyazaki as it applies to the "getting into the head" of a killer.