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

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Sotto il sole di mezzanotte by Keigo Higashino

2 reviews

stories_of_the_soul27's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

elevatot's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

6/4/2021 - just finished the audiobook version read by David Shih.

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?

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