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deathfulwitch's review against another edition
i honestly didn’t mind the non existent plot as much as i minded the objectification of women and the endless sexualization of women’s trauma. added to that, the perversity of the sexual scenes in this book (and there are a LOT of those), where women and their adult bodies are compared to children, was alarmingly disturbing to me, as it should be for everyone. oh and, nothing in the book told us that naoko’s first time was consensual so mc is an offender. such a nice guy.
also, the perpetuation of harmful narratives e.g. that women are no longer beautiful when they turn 30 (because everyone knows that’s when their transformation into gollum is finalized), that “it is only natural” for a woman to satisfy a man even if she doesn’t really want to be intimate with him, etc. made my reading experience even more unbearable, to say the least.
in conclusion, the message in this book is terrible, i do not understand how it became so popular, and tonight i will be putting myself in rice so i can heal from it.
p.s: the only good point i can think about is that the writing was beautiful.
Minor: Sexual assault and Misogyny
ansolutisti's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
arifairy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Misogyny
cephon's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
Graphic: Misogyny
lagaialettrice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cancer, Suicide, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
froggoz13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The writing style is good and descriptive in a pleasant way but the dialogues are often quite direct. Overall I did want to continue reading the vook and find out what would happen next but I did not particularly enjoy reading it.
Graphic: Suicide, Alcohol, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Death of parent
Minor: Lesbophobia and Adult/minor relationship
claukv's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Minor: Lesbophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Body shaming
dqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Suicide
fanny_bobanny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
2.5
Disclaimer: I read the books translated in Greek so I don't know if some things are that bad in the English or other versions.
I should have quit reading this book the first time it came to my mind. Almost everybody commits suicide and that's not the worst part. I understand all the "existential crisis" that all the characters are going through but they could be a lot less of "pick me, I'm special" persons, it's exhausting the whole "nobody understands me because I'm so quirky/ weird/ depressed/ different" kind of thing. Also what is going on with all the sexism in the book and all the problematic lines e.g. "I'm going to rape you". I get that the book was written in 1987 but wow. Lastly, I didn't like the way it ended but I get that some people might like it because it leaves room for a different life for the character after all the things he learned from his friends "not being strong enough" and committing suicide but I just didn't like it. I will try to read 1 or 2 books of his just to understand if it's this one I have a problem with or i don' t like the writer.
I liked the way he described the environment, the food, the smells and I'm sure it's much more beautiful in the original language. Also, it was really easy to read.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Suicide
akami's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, Misogyny, Death, and Mental illness