Reviews with content warning for Murder - Kitchen

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

79 reviews

theroadjones's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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astareads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad slow-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

This was an interesting read, the flow and style were something that I've come to equate with Japanese literature, it was dreamlike and bordering on magical realism. The stories were touching, although the fact that two were focused on the same main character and the third on someone else was confusing and made it a bit hard to get into the third story, although I turned out to like that one the best. The ending left me feeling hopeful.

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leweylibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I was going to, and I'm so glad it was one I read on the way to Japan! The writing was so profound, and I just adored the characters, even if they were kind of hot messes lol. Both stories talked a lot about family and personal growth and change, and I basically highlighted the entire book with quotes I liked lol. Also, I know the way the trans character is written if a bit controversial, especially now, but for when this book was written it's absolutely wild that this character was even written in the first place, and she's still one of my favorites.

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risemini's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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lynn_x5452's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

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james1star's review

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emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.0

I picked this up as a ‘blind date with a book’ and was pleasantly impressed. It’s quite a strange one consisting of two short stories (the first split into two parts so three chapters in total), the first about a young woman Mikage who recently lost her sole family member, her grandmother. Yuichi who knew her grandmother asks Mikage round with the possibility of moving in wi yh him and his mother Eriko, who’s a trans woman. The second story follows Satsuki who recently lost her high school lover of four years Hitoshi as she tries to look to the future. Out running she meets a strange woman called Urara who says a once in a hundred year event will take place, Hitoshi’s you get brother Hiiragi is another strange but lovable character we meet.

The prominent motif throughout is grief, the many forms and how it impacts oneself. This sensation is heavily explored and Yoshimoto does a great job at realising these characters and thus how they’re impacted by the death of loved ones. Her storytelling isn’t particularly imaginative but is very real and flows well. The characters are for the most part loveable but what’s done best is how we’re attached to them as a reader in an emotional way. Some sentences maybe went on too long with many passages but her nuance/craft could’ve been lost in translation. Being written in 1988, I thought the inclusion of a transgender character was rather ‘modern’ and greatly appreciated, Yoshimoto’s work was hailed as very contemporary in Japan so this is great. That being said, some parts made me a little uncomfortable where there’s an emphasis played on Eriko (and later Chika)’s ‘masculine’ features, with some outdated terms like ‘transsexual’ with deadnaming and Yuichi has a ‘she was/is a man’ ideology. But this was about it and overall I was impressed by this book. It’s not a favourite but definitely decent and one I’d recommend, the author does an amazing job at making grief a very real and important emotion.

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