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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
2.5/3 stars. I think this book was trying to land a lot of concepts that the author just didn't have the skillset to accomplish gracefully. If you squint hard enough, you can see where he had tried to pull certain thoughts together -- -- but it was usually pretty clumsily done and often came off as tactless. If this story had been left in the oven a little longer, I think it could have been great. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is, even if I wouldn't necessarily call it good.
Spoiler
looking at Sadako being intersex as an "in-between" space, something that blurs the binary, and how her being intersex was meant to be a thematic linchpin in a story that's trying to explore the blurring of various binaries (spirituality/science, life/death, truth/lie), Asakawa's struggle with these in-betweens leading him to have conflicted and ugly feelings about Sadako being intersex, about not being a "real woman"...etc.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
really good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well done and worth a read, but odd in a lot of ways. Crazy how long it takes to get to the realization that anyone who’s seen the movie most associates with it, which makes sense, but! Anyway Suzuki’s prose and talent for making the mundane disturbing and deeply confining rules but some of his writing choices (almost everything with Ryuki???) baffle me.
Loveable characters:
No
This didn’t feel like a horror at all. I got my hopes up when they played the tape, but that was the peak. It was mostly a murder mystery. Pretty disappointed, not going to lie.
dark
tense
fast-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes