Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Heaven

It took me very long to get back to this book after the scene in the gymnasium as it was just really hard for me to get through.
Upon return a year later, I had almost forgotten what I had read before. I wish it was a constant experience instead.

However, I was rather disappointed by Kojima’s ending. She didn’t get as much of a ‘retribution’ or ‘fixing’ as Eyes. And the ‘I never saw her after that’ felt very… flat, albeit shocking. I required more explanation.

It was really beautiful in parts and I appreciate Kawakami’s ability to weave complex character dynamics within seemingly “simple” settings. But I think the layers of complexity may have been complemented by more elaboration and plot than just all the brutality at times.

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sunflowersarepretty's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

wth?

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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

Oh boi, this was a heavy one. Heaven follows our two main characters in middle school as they deal with severe bullying, and how their trauma brings them together in a desperate, and often dysfunctional, friendship.

Such a raw portrayal of brutal human experience, of abuse, and what people can do to each other.

I rarely felt compelled to pick this one up, partly because of how difficult many of the scenes were to read, but also because it didn't fully grab my attention. For such a short book it did take me a little while to read. I can't really say I 'enjoyed' it, but it did definitely have an impact and is very skillfully written.

Please don't underestimate the content warnings with this one

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conspystery's review against another edition

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challenging 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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I’m conflicted about this book. It’s deceptive in how shallow it appears, especially towards the beginning; the writing style is subdued and polite almost to the point of clinicality, and the main character’s plight seems painfully simple. But it’s so much more than that. Kojima’s character arc is particularly fascinating, and so are her impacts on the narrator-- she’s presented sympathetically and ironically at once in her ideas about how best to deal with bullying. Momose is her narrative foil, the embodiment of the opposite extreme of these ideas. Heaven dives deep into the philosophy of bullying, and neither of the two main ways it’s presented are particularly appealing; Kojima is too willing to accept needless suffering, and Momose is too willing to fall into nihilism and hopelessness to care about anything, let alone other people.

I think this book’s point is to balance these ideas about pain, to emphasize the importance of understanding that some suffering is out of our control while also asserting morality wherever it can be applied and standing up against needless pain when possible. It notes its own false dichotomy with how the main character responds to the ideas he’s shown. The way it makes this point is a bit meandering at times, with lots of scenes which feel like they compound the issues in the novel far past its main theme, and often deeply disturbing to read in its detail. Yet there are genuinely beautiful moments in this book as well, and the simple but precise writing highlights them in contrast with their darker, more uncomfortable counterparts. Overall, I liked what this book had to say about the importance of balance, and I also enjoyed the uncompromisingly sublime scenes (like at the very end of the novel.) The discomfort of the rest of the book was necessary to an extent, but some of it-- especially the scenes which were not explicitly, directly connected to the furthering of the philosophical content of the novel-- was a bit much for me.

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faithemm's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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lotus440's review against another edition

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fast-paced

3.5

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adriaxlife'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
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

kind of a heavy read, i would recommend to check trigger warnings before reading.
i had to stop a few times when certain scenes where being descriptive. also, what was that ending? it feel flat and i’m still thinking what was the meaning of “heaven” all about.

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