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hoppyread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read this one so quickly despite the length, and was genuinely interested in knowing what happened next. The writing and translation read very smoothly.
Story-wise, I was surprised that we were given basically the crimes and circumstances from the characters involved rather than following the detective as he tried to solve them. I don’t read many mystery books, so I wouldn’t know if this is typical. I was expecting a lot more of the detective, but I didn’t mind following the many side characters instead. It felt very easy to meet each new character because Higashino introduces them in such a natural way with enough information to keep them feeling unique and realistic. Sometimes with many character perspectives it gets confusing, but here it wasn’t. I also appreciated how we never got the perpetrator’s perspectives, only those of the outsiders.
I should have read content warnings, though, because I was very disturbed by the sexual violence, personally.
Overall, I found the story very compelling. I could recommend this to people as long as they check the content warnings. I’m definitely interested in checking out some of Higashino’s other books.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide, Stalking, Pedophilia, and Death
angelie_jelly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
chyneyee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Despite the confusion due to the lacking of transition stage and too many characters involved in the story, I found the writer's idea is unconventionally brilliant. It keeps pushing the readers to continuously pursue the truth with detective Sasagaki. It's just getting darker and keep readers wondering who Yosuke's murderer is. The entire story mainly focuses on the life of the young people, and the reader is wondering how their lives related to Yosuke's death. There weren't many hints can be extracted by the readers because the writer left the truth until the last page. There were so many plot twists throughout the story. It can be anything beyond our imaginations because the writer is telling another unrelated account which the reader can't connect the dots to the main plot.
Book Review: Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship
asianfiles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Murder, and Sexual content
jhbandcats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The book is told over a period of twenty years with each chapter moving the plot along a couple of years or so. What I especially liked was the detailed descriptions of computers and related technology as an chronological indicator. The book begins in 1973, and computers - the kind with the software on cassette tapes - and video games begin showing up several chapters later. By the end we've gotten to fancier computers we know we're in the 1990s.
If you're looking for an intelligent, absorbing, well-written tale, this book is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Caveat: If you're not too good with multisyllabic names and your memory isn't top notch, it helps to read on a Kindle or tablet so you can keep looking up people (whom you should certainly know already!)
Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicide, and Sexual assault
aisclaradm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Abortion and Addiction
chrisljm's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
The only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that you can definitely tell the female characters are written by a man. And despite how much I enjoyed the story, I completely understand the criticisms of Higashino’s use of sexual assault as a plot point. And if I’m being honest, I was truly enjoying the book until I got to the sexual assault parts, where I then had to pause and accept the fact that this is where Higashino was now taking the story and overlook my issues with that in order to keep enjoying the book.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abortion
autumn_melon's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
elevatot's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
Neglected to give this book a star rating because I haven't yet parsed through everything I want to process. That said, I'm inclined to give it at least 4.75/5 stars for enjoyment. Time will tell whether that rating will stand the tests of time, or I need to recalibrate my standards. (I've only just reentered the literary realm, the tropes of legal procedurals past, my sole guides.)
- Audio - I hope he narrates all the Japanese novels I listen to. I feel like a snob, but I really appreciate his pronunciation of all the characters and places. If you're not too familiar with Japanese it might be a bit difficult to keep details straight via audio alone.
2022.09.09 - 4/5 for enjoyment
Is depicting the current state of things w/o negative consequences endorsing it? Is it enough to accurately characterize an issue w/o condemning it as such? Do victims need to be portrayed as more than victims?
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Abortion, Car accident, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, and Trafficking
nicolelouc's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death and Pedophilia