Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Trama e personaggi spudoratamente tarantiniani, con un antagonista odioso come pochi. Alcuni passaggi hanno una ferocia quasi commovente. Peccato per un velo di surrealismo un po' fine a se stesso.
This one is a fast moving, propulsive thriller that takes place almost entirely on a bullet train out of Tokyo. It’s full of twists and double crosses, and plays out a bit like one of those hip 90s indie crime films that came in the wake of Tarantino’s initial success. It’s terrific fun, if more than a little daft - when you put it down you’ll stop and go “hang on a minute…”, but none of that matters when you pick it up again and continue racing through the pages. It also has that rarity in this genre, a satisfying ending.
A very enjoyable, if slightly bonkers, wild ride. Enjoyed it.
Took me a while to get through this one because I kept having to pause for book club books! But very entertaining - I loved that the setting was confined to the train and the humor that Tangerine and Lemon bring to the story. An enjoyable read!
This is a dnf for me, but I think the idea is fun and the writing fast paced and exhilarating. I just stopped caring as soon as the writer needed to delve into the backstory of his assassins. I think many people will be fascinated with the personal history of killers, especially the “assassin with a heart of gold” who ends up saving people as he’s on a criminal mission. Great reversal! But, other than that, I just don’t care about the backstories of sadistic, criminal masterminds, I guess. The section that stopped me was the kid crime lord who manipulates his teachers in conspirators (research on historical genocide—great! I learn how to be a better killer that way!) and then organizes his classmates into a mini-mob. Why does he do this? Because he can. Death and destruction just interests him. He likes proving adults stupid and himself superior. Eh. Whatever, I don’t care about the backstory nor the character arc of a maniac. I read a ton of serial killer narratives when I was a kid so I guess they don’t interest me now? I don’t know. Although a kid crime lord is a reversal for Western fiction, it’s not that unusual in Japanese lit culture. So, that’s where I stopped and just couldn’t get interested enough to keep going. Crazy people don’t really change do they? They’re just crazy, and that’s kind of an excuse to get away with anything in a novel. So it doesn’t interest me.
I understand the writer is making his name as “the guy who writes about assassins.” Good for him—it sounds super fun. But I had my Quentin Tarantino stage and I’m interested in popping my head in for a look-see, but nothing else.
I understand the writer is making his name as “the guy who writes about assassins.” Good for him—it sounds super fun. But I had my Quentin Tarantino stage and I’m interested in popping my head in for a look-see, but nothing else.
This was unhinged, chaotic and oh, so entertaining...