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dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization
dark
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
I wanted to give Murakami another try as this book was chosen for a book club I am part of but I can now say that he is not for me. All of the aspects that I disliked about The Wind Up Bird Chronicles: meandering plot, annoying characters, cringey sex scenes; they were also present here. It gets an extra .5 stars because of the lack of magical realism elements. Really it was pretty bleak with, as with WUBC, the main redeeming feature being the descriptive writing style and in-depth character searching monologues. Sorry Murakami, I tried.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization
Minor: Bullying
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Haruki Murakami really irritates me as an author because he clearly has the ability to write beautiful, intense passages but seems to simultaneously possess a desire to make every single female reader feel as uncomfortable as possible. There were events in this book that made me visibly cringe and overall is incredibly problematic. Unfortunately, I think my time attempting to connect with Murakami is now over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood