Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Heaven

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

86 reviews

jovanas_cloud's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It was underwhelming and anticlimactic.

I feel Kojima is the biggest contributor to the things I didn't like in the book. Her philosophy of Heaven, her philosophy on why they're being bullied, her reasons for being dirty, etc. To explain further, I don't understand what she wanted to say with renaming the painting because the actual name felt underwhelming. Her philosophy that they're being bullied because they're allowing it, is true to some extent because they never tried to fight back (which was easier for her to fix). The reason for being dirty, would be a great topic if she got some kind of help.

I understand she misses her dad but not performing basic hygiene like showering, washing clothes or just not being dirty in general because she's trying to be closer to her dad who is dirt poor and away working hard, IS A HUGE PROBLEM. It is such a serious problem that she even starts starving herself by the end of the book. I just refuse to believe that her mom didn't intervene in all like she must've smelled her at one point.

Another nonsensical thing I would like to bring up is the nihilistic conversation between the MC and Momose. First of all, not only is so dumb but the big words and theories these 14 year olds are using just seems very unlikely to happen. Like yeah it makes sense that a bully doesn't see why it's wrong to bully others but to have such big philosophy and so many points??

The culmination - I was just waiting for something big and dramatic to happen, it was always so close until it happened and the consequences were anticlimactic.

All that happened at the Whale park with Ninomiya bullying them to strip and have sex, and after that Kojima never interacts with the MC again because he wants to get surgery for his eye?? Again she is clinging to the past and to what's comforting to her even if it makes her and other's miserable. She's disappointed because he's doing something to have an easier and more comfortable life when she could do the same more easily and cheaply too.

The last chapter was really underwhelming. I was hoping to get some more results with what happened at school, with Kojima, Ninomiya, and Momose, but got nothing of that sort. Just MC moving forward with his new sight.

I love bullying and trauma bonding works Kawakami somehow managed to get nothing done. The friendship felt rather shallow most of the time, except the gym scene

where they were wiping MC's blood after he got kicked so hard in the head multiple times because he was a ball.

If only Kawakami went deeper and harder, this would've been much better.

Content Warnings

moongelli's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

3.25

"middle schoolers at their worst"

near-dnf but completed since it was a short read, i saw it to the end.

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nee_shelf's review against another edition

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hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

pipe_dream's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Content Warnings

melaniegrace91's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

alissa_lopez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely beautiful, heart breaking, soul stirring book. It has been quite a long time since I have read a book like this. Mieko's writing is so beautiful and descriptive. One of very few books that I read bit, by bit, so that it would last longer.

Content Warnings

tangerinejellies's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Not completely sure how to feel about this book, it was a very heavy read and some of the characters’ outlooks on the world were quite unsettling, though not impossible to understand. They’re kids who still have a lot of maturing to do, and don’t necessarily understand the world around them that well yet, so I can see how they’d think like that, which all the more adds to the sort of pain I felt reading this, witnessing the hardship of navigating the dark parts of the world and trauma and violence and things like that at such a young age. Rough.

Content Warnings