Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

9 reviews

hannah_and_her_stories's review

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Rape, Infidelity, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Dysphoria, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

alexisgarcia's review

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

i thought this was such a cool idea for a book and thought it was executed really well. i love any book with found family elements, especially when it involves an older person. the relationships formed and described were the backbone of this story imo. the only thing i struggled with was the ending. it wasn't exactly what i imagined or thought fit well with the story but it wasn't bad. also i really want the author to release a book that fully tells the story that the main character was writing. i loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual content

carolinalopezwatt's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death

miak2's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

 
"How does it feel to remember everything? To have everything that the rest of us have lost saved up in your heart?" p.85

What a unique concept for a dystopia book - objects are disappearing, but not in a literal sense. If hats disappear, it's not that they physically vanish, but any memories or knowledge of them disappears from the mind, and people go on about their lives as if hats never existed. I could tell that the concept gave Ogawa some difficulty too. After all, how do we imagine what it's like to not know music or books? Specifically, I recall that fruits disappeared, but Ogawa went on to mention them a couple of times in passing afterwards anyway.

That said, this book really explores one question: is it better to remember all the things you can no longer experience, or for it to be as if you never knew them at all? One is perhaps more fulfilling, but it comes with the risk of being discovered by the Memory Police. And the other, well, what sort of life is it when the objects you know are slowly dwindling down?

I liked that, alongside the main story, was a story that the main character was writing about a different kind of loss. It really put into words how the narrator felt trapped in her own body, even if she didn't appear to realize it. I also think it's very interesting that there aren't any named characters in the novel, the closest being the nickname R. Really makes you think...

The friendship between the old man and the main character was truly special. I loved every second that they interacted, and I really felt the familial love they had for each other. R, however... I liked what he represented, but I didn't feel particularly attached to him and I didn't care for the adultery storyline introduced with him.

I'm feeling mixed about the ending of the book. Without saying too much, it was a little underwhelming. But that's perhaps because I entered it with expectations for it to more closely resemble 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale. I think the ending was fitting for the story being told, albeit somewhat dissatisfying. Nevertheless, I think there's a lot of fantastic things about this book and I'm very glad that I read it! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content and Rape

kstericker's review

challenging mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Police brutality

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

sassyshark's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Eating disorder, Gore, and Medical content

darbo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

"I don't know. Maybe there's a place out there where people whose hearts aren't empty can go on living."

The book has a slow start, and it may feel slow all throughout for some due to its mundane, everyday tasks, but it picks up eventually and just leaves you baffled and shocked at every turn. Especially so the ending. I truly love this and wholeheartedly recommend this to any dystopia and Orwell fans out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, and Death

nila's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

My feelings on the book hasn't quite landed yet. On one hand, it's an original and interesting story, but on the other hand there's a vagueness to the plot that I'm not sure I like... The whole book is beautifully written as well, so it's still a joy to read it, but I just wanted more answers 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content

wear_sun_screen's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Death