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fringedyke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Suicide
clovetra's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
i have such varying thoughts on both of the novellas included inside this book, so i'm going to separate my thoughts;
kitchen was.. alright! i got quite bored and felt there was no underlying story or message. none of the characters appeared interesting to me except eriko. i understood there was supposed to be a message or theme to grasp, but i couldn't. sure grief was there, but it felt almost secondary, and there was just no overarching purpose to the story, and i found it such a slog. i enjoyed some parts, such as when mikage is at work or as she converses with eriko, but other than that, i did not enjoy this story. on its own this story is a strong 1/5 for me.
i loved moonlight shadow. i would've much preferred if this was the longer one out of the two novellas. it felt like everyone was character was well-written, and i thoroughly enjoyed the story and the voice employed. the theme of grief and holding on was very prominent here, and written wonderfully. the ending was sweet, and i enjoyed how grief was portrayed here. i also love the presence of urara, she was a great addition to this story, as well as hiiragi. solid 3/5
honestly, even though i quite enjoyed moonlight shadow, it's only 40 pages out of a 150 page book. kitchen took up way too much of this novel to rate this book highly.
overall i think my issue was how kitchen felt lacklustre, vague, and said nothing about the themes i could see it was trying to portray. moonlight shadow came and brought my overall opinion of the book up, but because it was less than half of the book, i still would say i didn't enjoy myself here, which is a shame because i was looking forward to this read. oh well! lets hope the next banana yoshimoto book i read is one i enjoy </3
Graphic: Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Death, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Blood, Stalking, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail
yelloweyedbeta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
“as i grow older, much older, i will experience many things, and I will hit rock bottom again and again. again and again i will suffer; again and again i will get back on my feet. i will not be defeated. i won't let my spirit be destroyed.”
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism
dmellifera's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death and Transphobia
Moderate: Mental illness
writingcaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Transphobia and Violence
thomasina'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? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Mental illness, Transphobia, and Death
Minor: Murder
elsam03's review against another edition
Moderate: Transphobia
mattnid's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Murder and Violence
vaekay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Deadnaming, Murder, Stalking, Death of parent, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Cancer and Alcohol
adawada's review against another edition
2.75
The themes of grief in this book have been written very well, especially in the second story. What I couldn’t believe was
I thought that the ways of grieving, both alone and collectively were interesting.
What I didn’t like was that most of these characters, in both stories, felt very one dimensional and just blended into each other too much.
Now, what I absolutely hated about this book is the transphobia. There was so much misgendering in the first story which was also at the heart of jokes between the main characters. There was trans shaming in the second story. The idea that both characters just seemed to decide on a whim to either “become women” or “cross-dress” is so appalling. I get that the book was first published in the 80s and that was predominantly the thinking of the time (one could argue that it still is in some cases) but what I don’t get then is that the book still gets so much praise despite the transphobic language.
It wasn’t the worst book. It was my first time reading Yoshimoto’s work and I must say that it didn’t inspire me enough to pick up anything else by her.
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Outing, and Transphobia
Minor: Self harm