Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - La Bibliothèque des rêves secrets

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

La Bibliothèque des rêves secrets by Michiko Aoyama

23 reviews

anjalisb's review against another edition

slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The fatphobia in the book really ruined the stories for me. Fatphobia is just unnecessary and unpleasant. The fatphobia also gets more graphic and nasty with each characters story. I also found this book to be really repetitive - it is the same storyline a number of times over with characters "finding" a positive spin on their lives.

Content Warnings

hyperashley's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was just fine. It didn't quite live up to the expectations I had for it. Because of the title, I was expecting to spend much more time in the library than we actually did (I was expecting this to be a more optimistic/less bittersweet version of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, one of my favorite books of all time). As the book went on, I found the writing style increasingly more endearing. Each of the short stories focuses on a different main character (I was happy that they were somewhat interconnected) facing a relatable existential problem, each of which I connected to on a personal level, even if their situations were not identical to mine. The overall message seems to be that you don't have to wait for some distant, vague goal to be achieved in order to be happy, you find happiness in the present. I really liked the exploration of this message. Although I liked each of the short stories and found them relatable, I wasn't too invested in any them, thus this hit more towards the middle of the road for me. Another big downside to this book is the amount of fatphobia directed towards the librarian; it was frankly something I found quite irritating as it appeared in every single story (I am aware that Asian beauty standards aren't the most inclusive, but that is not an excuse).

I also didn't like in the first story that all of a sudden the main character realized the reason she wanted to improve her cooking was to make a MAN happy. I really liked that she was doing it for herself, but then that line had to be thrown in there to ruin it for me.

Overall, I liked the message about seeking present happiness, but disliked my lack of investment and certain details of the stories. I rated it 3.25 instead of 3 stars because I found each character's situation so relatable and I like how they were explored and (for the most part) addressed.

Content Warnings

geekmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.75

This was sweet and charming and a gift to avid readers or users of libraries. I also appreciated how very Japanese this book was while at the same time speaking to universal experiences and offering or overt social commentary about things like the nature of work and the perceived value of people who have different roles in society.

I would have given a higher rating if the descriptions of the librarian weren’t so fatphobic - they made her sound grotesque and I didn’t really get it.

Content Warnings

cozyscones's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

wowsmeows's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

"In a world where you don't know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now"

This book follows five individuals, all in different stages of their lives but all feeling trapped by their current circumstances. Each of them find themselves visiting their local library and end up finding the inspiration to change the trajectory of their lives.

Each chapter focuses on one of the five characters, which does start to feel a bit repetitive as each storyline more or less follows the same formula. That being said, it is a cute and cozy concept and I think the author did a great job of showing that all you really need in life is to find something you're passionate about and run with it.

My only complaint would probably be how terrible all of the male characters are. At best they are complely useless, and at worse they are ignorant. I don't know if this was an intentional social commentary from the author, but it felt incredibly frustrating and down right misogynistic. Because this is set up to be a cosy and inspiring read, every character ends up getting their happily ever after, and their shortcomings aren't really fully addressed.

Overall this book was a cute, fun read and it did make me think a lot about life and the power we all have to change our own destinies. I'd definitely read books from this author again, but hopefully with more fleshed out and well-rounded male characters.

Content Warnings