Reviews tagging 'Death'

Out by Natsuo Kirino

68 reviews

kass32's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Torture, Rape, Death, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

dakotahrey's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

Man this book was so good. Started off 2023 with a bang. It was dark and dare I say, erotic? Masako will definitely be a favorite character of mine from now on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, and Torture

kellywa2711's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

dakotahreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder

purplemind's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 Nonostante la sua lunghezza, questo è un libro che si divora; o, forse, è il libro a divorare te, obbligandoti a voltare continuamente pagina per scoprire cosa succederà poi. Nonostante la quantità piuttosto elevata di personaggi rilevanti per la trama, nessuno di essi viene lasciato al caso, anche grazie al fatto che il punto di vista della narrazione varia da capitolo in capitolo. Oltre che un eccellente thriller, Le quattro casalinghe di Tokyo è anche un’affascinante finestra sulla società giapponese post-bolla economica, specialmente per quanto riguarda le varie categorie femminili che cercavano di navigarla. Peccato per il finale un po’ affrettato e che non chiude tutte le parentesi narrative aperte per lasciar spazio a due scene

di stupro

che, più che scioccare, lasciano, a mio parere, un po’ perplesse.
 (traduzione ottima, con le adeguate spiegazioni che potrebbero essere utili a qualcuno poco esperto di Giappone) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Ableism, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

alexalily's review

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

colpenbewley's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

It took a little while for me to get used to the writing as you can tell by the phrasing that it is translated. However, I did enjoy the story to a point as I found the plot quite hard to predict and I enjoyed the dynamic between the female characters.

Where the story lost me was the violence and sexual repression and this being enjoyed and embraced by the women themselves. I found it staggering that a woman has written this.

The darkness of the novel and the violence did not bother me. But the way this was supposedly welcomed by the women just struck me as odd, unlikely and made me dismissive of the novel as a whole. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Violence, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Stalking

Minor: Alcoholism

ivoryplum's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.25

I really wish that I liked this book more. I thought that more would have happened, but once things started to happen, it felt lukewarm. It made sense where things were going, but it felt like there was a lot of build-up with no climax. The realism is there, but not the engagement.

The mystery/thriller genre is flooded by male authors who often sexualize and objectify female characters, so I was excited to read a novel written by a woman because I hoped it wouldn't have been present or at least minimal. While the sexual violence against the women in the book was present, the framing of it felt more horrific rather than tantalizing. It's something I'd rather avoid all together when it comes to reading M/T, but I'm just glad it wasn't romanticized, which is unfortunately the bare minimum.

If you're looking for a dark story with complex characters, this novel would be perfect for you. But I would advise in looking at the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

The book contains graphic depictions of murder and dismemberment, which should be noted since it's a central point of the plot. It also contains domestic abuse, which was the catalyst for the murder. One of the antagonists, an adult man (30-40 years old) is known to have sexual relationships with minors. He doesn't appear much and he isn't a major character, but at one point

he *is* allied with the main character for business purposes

. He written to have had sex with a teenager, but it wasn't explicitly shown. At the end of the book,

the main character is raped and she forgives her rapist

.

lisahoeflinger's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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

2.5

Slight spoiler: Slow tension built throughout the story. I didn't feel as if the tension was really strong enough to pull me through the book. The answers I wanted I didn't receive. Too many holes in the plot. With all of the description given to each character, I don't feel as if the characters were fully developed. The ending: Not all of the character story lines were wrapped up. Raping a woman only to reveal she "loved" him? The ending didn't make sense and was just for shock value. What exactly did she "love" about him. He was just like her? Sad. This had potential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Grief, Fatphobia, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Addiction

nikkkimarrry's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Sexism, Murder, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicidal thoughts