Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Out by Natsuo Kirino

13 reviews

darkmattersoybean's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, and Blood

rinnavv's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Torture, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

mondovertigo's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Blood, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Toxic relationship, Rape, Torture, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, and Trafficking

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

savvylit's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Out is a multilayered thriller with unlikeable characters hiding around every seedy corner. Each character in this novel is problematic - some extremely so and others only somewhat. Despite their bad decision-making, I found myself consistently rooting for three of the four main female characters of Yayoi, Masako, and Yoshie. I was incredibly impressed by how Kirino excelled at portraying the dark side of humanity and how seemingly ordinary people do awful things out of pure desperation. Firmly an anti-capitalist book, the disturbing acts in Out are almost all entirely motivated by the need for money to survive. Kirino deftly captured all the myriad ways that money can dictate the lives of people from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances.

Overall, Out was an incredibly enjoyable thriller that captivated my interest from the first section. This book was violent, gory, and disturbing; but it all seemed to be leading towards fascinating points about desperation and solidarity. I absolutely loved it! ...Until the final section, titled "Exit." In that section, there is an excruciatingly violent scene that readers are forced to experience not once, but twice. The only word that I can think of to describe that scene is 'gratuitous.' Not only that, but one of the main characters thinks, says, and does some surprising and heinous things. There's a bit of a twist in her entire outlook that surprised me in a terrible and disappointing way. I think that the majority of Out could have been considered feminist until Exit, when readers become deeply immersed in an entirely anti-feminist conclusion.

I read this book as part of @occuhazard.bookclub.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Gore, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Blood, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

perkyanda's review

dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.25

This one was hard to rate because I really loved a lot of it…And then it went off the rails and had

this horrible weird ending that didn’t seem to fit with the whole beginning part of examining female interpersonal relationships and what can drive normal people to commit gruesome crimes. Like sexual Siam was a smaller theme earlier so I guess it’s not shocking that’s where it went, we saw it in multiple characters early on, I wasn’t expecting it to be the denouement.||

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Excrement, Gore, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Dementia, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual content

yungblonde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Gore, Blood, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

linguaphile412's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, Rape, Body horror, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

celbl8o's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Rape, and Sexual content

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) 

---

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

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.

---

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