Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

In the Miso Soup by Ryū Murakami

45 reviews

tealdavis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Well written. Interesting themes. More gorey than I expected. I think maybe I came into it with slightly misplaced expectations of what the book was trying to be. Definitely graphic at times but felt bluntly authentic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Just know that it becomes somewhat detailed at points that may be deeply unsettling/ uncomfortable for some.

darniy's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, and Sexual assault

erin2802's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Horrifying and gruesome are good words to use, especially one part in particular. A commentary on the loneliness of regular people and their moral ambiguities. Frank is a terrifying character and the calmness and stoic nature of him makes him all the more creepy. Kenji is no saint either, he did not do the things that Frank did, but he was complicit in his actions. Though after experiencing something so traumatic, I don’t know what anyone would do, I suppose it was a matter or survival? All in all, an interesting book, it did what it set out to do, which is to horrify and intrigue the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Stalking, Vomit, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual harassment

liamowens24's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Rape, Animal death, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, and Body horror

jan_coco_day's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ryu Murakami is the superior Murakami. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Hate crime, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, Torture, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

joelle99's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this but I kind of liked how it deviated from the normal pace of a thriller. I liked the social and psychological themes explored from the angle of night life in japan. However, this book still falls into misogynistic tropes and is still a patriarchal point of view despite the author clearly trying to criticise the objectification of women in sex work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Sexual content, and Violence

bethany01's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

joy_ong's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Rape, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Torture, Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

eena's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment

booksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Oddly terrifying and fascinating. I am unsure if I think the mental illness representation further harms the mental health community (I'm in that community) or not. In some ways it shows the harm of forces institution, and how it does not help if the patient doesn't want to change. This book was very fatphobic. The only fat person in this whole story is an American... and it doesn't sit right with me. I think this book is a meditation on the fasination people have with foreigners, how classism is so prevalent in wealthy and less wealthy countries, lonliness,  and how we are all fascinated by death. Either way, this book had me empathize for the bad guy... That's a hard feat when murder is involved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Stalking, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Rape, and Drug abuse

Please take care of yourself and read the content warnings.