Reviews with content warning for Rape - Sotto il sole di mezzanotte

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Sotto il sole di mezzanotte by Keigo Higashino

21 reviews

_shilpita_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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mirrorofneptune's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

A very long, well-thought-out mystery spanning decades. Less a question of who is the perpetrator and more about their motives and means, and whether they’ll eventually be found out. The author explains a lot of the mystery but also leaves some details up to readers to notice and interpret, which I enjoyed.

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jackiedreadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Loveable characters? No

1.75

I love Keigo Higashino but I hated this book, and not because it was too dark. The device of telling the story of the main characters through side characters was an interesting idea, but it also meant new characters were introduced up until literally the very end, dozens of random, flat, disposable characters with dropped side plots coming and going with no rhyme or reason.

I was also absolutely unable to suspend disbelief in any way that

children committed a series of unsolvable murders in such a perfect and calculated way

or that

they kept killing people in Yukiho's way for TWENTY YEARS and no one ever caught on except for one "obsessive" cop.

Give me a break. I would have been less disappointed if the whole book had been a dream, it's the only thing that would make any sense whatsoever.

I admire the ambition of this book and the creativity through which he tried to tell it, but that's about it. It was a rare Higashino flop that I am shocked I even finished.

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hoppyread's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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’ll start by saying, if you’re looking for a mystery where the joy comes from trying to solve it yourself, this isn’t the one for you. I don’t think the point of it is to figure out what happened as much as it is an exploration of how far the criminals are willing to go and why.

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.

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daepyonimst's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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thaomi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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stories_of_the_soul27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book made me feel a lot of things. Firstly I really like a story where antagonists are the main characters. Secondly so much of this book was tragic. Thirdly I was very angry at the said antagonists.

Keigo Higashino thinks a lot while coming up with a story and to me this book felt like the darkest one he has written so far. The acts being committed throws so much light on the two antagonists that you are left to wonder about all the little details the author has mentioned about these two.

I can’t help being angry and sad at the same time. It was how Sasagaki described them as : full blown deadly poisonous flowers who should have been nipped at the bud. And this makes me think about how Higashino sensei portrays crimes in his book, about how each crime has a deep backstory to it and that pushes people to the edge and often times it just keeps pushing people to be the nastiest version of themselves and mostly about how the effect of a single crime isn’t limited to just one person but ends up engulfing a lot more people on the way.

I don’t know what genre to call this book specifically; is it a thriller or mystery or detective one. But what I can say is that, it most definitely is a great book to study the psychology of two people. So much of what happens in this book ( and I tell you that a lot of things happen ) throws so much of light on their characters and it’s brilliant the way it is done. Ryo and Yukiho’s minds are twisted and dark. They were the smartest, the cruelest and the most cunning. It felt like they did it all for the sake of love, guilt, having everything after so much was robbed from them but mostly because maybe they wanted to take a long walk under the real sun.

P.S.: However I am still left here wondering who among them was the goby and shrimp. And just a few snippets of their conversation with each other was needed because honestly I want to know more about them.

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blue_fox13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This one is a MASTERPIECE by Keigo Higashino, spanning over two decades with multiple Povs and a bag full of characters! But my oh my!! This book will give you the heebie jeebies in the best possible way. The way each of the chapters are connected with the central characters (R&Y) will BLOW YOUR MIND! This book is a slow burner which will keep you on your toes till the very last page.
Thoroughly enjoyed this epic murder mystery.

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sabstract's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

A really well written slow burn mystery if i do say so myself with an incredible intricate plot spanning over 20 years, everything and everyone was weaved together in such a mind blowing way. there were points that got me gasping in shock and disgust and it was just a really emotional and sad story.

Considering the book spans over 20 years do expect a large host of characters, many of them were unlikeable and gave me a sense of unease which was great in the context of a gritty mystery crime thriller novel. so do bear that in mind if it concerns you!

Most readers would probably have no trouble guessing the ‘who’ in the criminal case as it was definitely alluded to throughout the book and was not a total mystery but i think it’s worth reading especially if you enjoy understanding other aspects of criminal cases like the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’.

Would have given it a 5 if it wasn’t so long, got impatient and even bored at times as there were plot points that were just unnecessarily detailed and had no real bearing on the main storyline… it definitely took me much longer to get through the book than i expected but i thoroughly enjoyed it nevertheless! definitely recommend if you are on a break or holiday and need a good long crime escape.
!! also heed the trigger warnings !!

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candiemarsh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Well, that was frustrating. It took me a longgg time to find my way around all the characters appearing in the span of 20 years for the conclusion to be as such. I do feel some feeling towards the main character but wow the amount of lives ruined?? Plot-wise it was really thought out and explained well. I'd recommend absolute focus and commitment to this book, which I was unable to provide at this time and may have somewhat hindered me to fully enjoy it.

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