Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

193 reviews

storieswithannej's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

1.0

DNF at 57%

The scene with the 13 yo girl and what Reiko and Naoko said about this psychological illness not going to heal triggered me. Now every next line that Reiko would mention "snap!" I felt like something in me's snapping too, that I need to pause for a while because it suddenly felt too much. I felt my heart beat racing too and I need a breather. I can't seem to remove that image from my mind.
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kidraviaraj's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • 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

5.0

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deathfulwitch's review against another edition

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i really wanted to stick it out in the hopes that the book would take a turn and start dissecting and criticizing its own characters; their composition, their actions/motives, and their environment, but that moment never came and i lost hope so here we are. i get that some people will read this book and argue that it simply writes what is, and that it depicts people exactly as they are in life (and death). i don’t agree. if the goal here was to show authentic people and their struggles, we should not be seeing it through the lens of a misogynistic, self-serving and chauvinistic man, who so badly wants us to believe that he’s a nice guy. spoiler alert: he really isn’t.
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.
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mmari's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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oponyo's review against another edition

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

2.0

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theperfectblues's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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sammm_888's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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nastyreefer's review against another edition

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

3.75

Good book for the feeling of contemplation for loss, attachment to others, and fulfillment. Has odd sexual themes here and there but is otherwise related to themes of young-adulthood and mental illness, painting a good picture a chaos that comes from that combination. Very enjoyable portrayal of the late 60s era.
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hoppyread's review against another edition

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

2.5

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lagaialettrice's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • 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

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