Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

1 review

afi_whatafireads's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

4.0

"Weakness matters, she said. It has real meaning. If weakness matters, then so does strength. And I don't mean weak people using the idea of strength to justify their weakness.


Well... that ... was.......... unsettling.

I would like to warn everyone beforehand, for anyone who cannot stomach and will be triggered by
Extreme Graphically Explained Bullying, Sexual Harassment, Body Assault, Suicidal Thoughts, Extreme Anxiety & Depression , my advice is to stay away from this book. You've been warned.

I understood why this book was longlisted for The 2022 International Booker Prize. It was a read that definitely left me just staring at the wall, screaming my heart out in pain and it had left me pondering what the heck have I just read. This is my first read from Kawakami, and I'd have to say, her writing is just splendid. The writing is super straightforward, but every single line, every connotation and everything that had been written was planned out well. Its a manifestation of good literature with a topic that is quite a norm in our society, which makes it 100 times MORE unsettling as these types of bullying happens in real life. Even thought it was a read that was less than 200 pages, I was extremely mentally exhausted after finishing the book. It was that emotionally draining.

Short Summary
Heaven tells the story of a nameless boy who has a condition which led him to being bullied constantly by his classmates. There, he met another classmate, a girl, who's also being bullied. Two victims of constant verbal and physical assault, when met together, a form of bond was created. This is a story of the after effects of bullying, the discussion of fate and whats right and wrong and mostly, the issues on adolescent that is real and raw.

Personal Thoughts


"I'm telling you, they would never understand. I think they need to learn, but not from me. It has to be a consequence of their own actions. Otherwise, they'll never understand. They need to learn about themselves from what they've done to me. That would be enough to justify my life."


Kawakami had delivered a story that was so very raw. Its a tale of a friendship that is unlike the stories I've read that centred the theme of Bullying. You'll get three perspectives of bullying, which is I would say what is the aftereffects of a victim mindset from victims of bullying. The first type is the type that accepts that everything that happened, and every torment targeted at them is deserved. The second type is the type that questions why does things keep happening to them but they let themselves be tormented, for they are afraid for the repercussions that comes from retaliating. And lastly is the perpetrator themselves, that picks on someone different for no reason but only for their own joy.

Its honestly hard to read some of the scenes in the book. Kawakami didn't shy away from the gruesome things that had been done to the boy. It was heartbreaking and I felt sorry for him. Its a topic of discussion where victims of bully will not only have lower self-esteem, they will often feel as if their existence is not something that is significant, which will lead to suicidal thoughts. The fact that the POV are from 14 year old children left me speechless at times, on how it reflected the real world; where the weak is picked on, and the stronger ones got away with it. The bystanders are also equally guilty as they did nothing as to not be the next person to be bullied. Kawakami had splendidly portrayed something that the society constantly face, and for an adolescent to ever have such thoughts, its both disturbing and showed how cruel humans can be.

The relationship of the boy and the girl, Kojima, is peculiar and out-of-sorts, but somehow, they find solace with one another. Its not a friendship that is like lovers, which makes it more interesting as it did not come with the best ending that someone hoped. In fact, Kawakami wrote in a direction that was disturbingly real, it made me just want to imaging another ending for both of them. Kawakami had also brought forward the topic of anxiety and depression that can stem even from a younger age, especially when they had been constantly abused and picked on. As a victim of bullying myself, I honestly am proud of how the boy tried to fight his inner demons in his own way, in which the victim mindset that he had changed to something bigger.

Honestly, as I am writing this review, I am still left with the sour taste of the things that had happened in the book. For a book that is less than 200 pages, it will rip your heart out , tore it apart and broke it into pieces. It will make you wish that no one would be subjected to the kind of abuse , and you'll definitely wish for the perpetrator to get a taste of their own medicine. Its interesting to delve into the mind of two sets of victims, the perpetrator themselves and how they feel about bullying in general.

Again, please proceed with this book with caution. If you feel like this book is too much, do opt to sit out from it as its not something that everyone can stomach.

Thank you to Pansing Distributions (@DefinitelyBooks) for generously providing me this gorgeous copy of the book.

Disclaimers: All my reviews are my thoughts of the book and according to my personal preferences. Even though I had received a review copy, it does not affect my review and honest thoughts for the book.

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