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kenrya's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
jamieruwen's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Very gorgeous. Yoshimoto's prose is delicate, touching, uncomplicated and deeply emotional. One of the most sincere displays of grief, hope, and food I've read so far.
I hope this one day gets a more careful translation - I feel the language barrier somewhat stilted the emotional depth of the prose. Yes, Eriko is pretty frequently misgendered but I could not feel malice towards trans people in Kitchen, just like... it from late 80s Japan, what do you expect?
I hope this one day gets a more careful translation - I feel the language barrier somewhat stilted the emotional depth of the prose. Yes, Eriko is pretty frequently misgendered but I could not feel malice towards trans people in Kitchen, just like... it from late 80s Japan, what do you expect?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism and Eating disorder
notthatcosta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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? No
4.75
Considering I read this based on the cover art catching my eye on a TikTok I watched last year, I wasn't expecting to be so smitten with this book. The conciseness - two developed stories within 150 pages - was enough to make be adore this.
Considering that food is my primary source of joy, the way both stories explore grief and healing through food (albeit in different ways) was both very relatable and very touching. Knowing that this is a translation from a language with practically zero overlap with English makes the pertinence of the book all-the-more impressive.
The economy of Banana Yoshimoto's writing, and the way she creates two fully developed slices of life in such a short number of pages, is everything I look for in a novella. In fact, though I would have liked more time with these stories and these characters, in a sense that encapsulates the melancholy and tragicness of the stories themselves.
Considering that food is my primary source of joy, the way both stories explore grief and healing through food (albeit in different ways) was both very relatable and very touching. Knowing that this is a translation from a language with practically zero overlap with English makes the pertinence of the book all-the-more impressive.
The economy of Banana Yoshimoto's writing, and the way she creates two fully developed slices of life in such a short number of pages, is everything I look for in a novella. In fact, though I would have liked more time with these stories and these characters, in a sense that encapsulates the melancholy and tragicness of the stories themselves.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Death of parent
sarah984's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? No
3.0
"Kitchen" contains two novellas about recovering from the death of a loved one, and helping others cope with loss. Both stories were sweet and melancholy. However I did want a little more from the titular story (it dwelled a little too long on the will they won't they romantic relationship stuff and the most interesting character had way too little page time) and both stories are a bit weird about gender (which is sort of understandable since this was originally published in the 80s).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death, Transphobia, Death, Death of parent, and Hate crime
Minor: Deadnaming, Outing, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Alcoholism
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