Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Village of Eight Graves by Seishi Yokomizo

6 reviews

hanniquinn's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I enjoyed this a fair amount but it wasn’t very gripping in my opinion. I cared little about most of the characters and parts of dialogue felt repetitive (though it being translated into English could play a part in that) 
The mystery itself wasn’t that entertaining and finding out the culprit wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped despite not guessing who it was. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Mental illness, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Stalking, Rape, Grief, and Animal death

btcarolus's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Violence, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

linguaphile412's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Stalking, Kidnapping, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

snowwhitehatesapples's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 Review can also be found at Snow White Hates Apples.

Unlike The Honjin Murders and The Inugami Curse where tragedy befalls families, we have instead, specific people poisoned to death in The Village of Eight Graves . The story also unfolds differently from the other two. Instead of active participation by Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, the story is recounted from the POV of Tatsuya who found himself unwittingly embroiled in the aforementioned murders which reminds the villagers of the horrific murders carried out by Tatsuya’s blood father (whom he never knew until much later) years ago, and before that, the betrayal and killing of eight samurai (hence the village’s name) in 1566.

In addition to the main plot, we get to read about Tatsuya’s experiences as he navigates his position within his newly-found family, the norms of a remote village and its inhabitants, a hunt for the samurai’s fabled treasure, and romance. Though, The Village of Eight Graves is, on a whole, more mystery thriller with elements of adventure, which differs it from a typical whodunit.

This makes reading the Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series refreshing thus far, because despite some similarities, there are greater aspects that make each unique. Nevertheless, I must admit that my interest waned a few times while reading Tatsuya’s POV. As much as I appreciated the provided details and context throughout, they also made the story long and feeling like an information dump at certain places. Going through all of that felt more like a chore because of Tatsuya’s anxiety and naivety too.

Still, I greatly enjoyed how deceptive and twisty the story is. It’s not easy to guess who is the real culprit is due to the execution, and there were times when I wondered if this book would take on a stronger paranormal route what with all the parallels between Tatsuya’s situation, his blood father’s murders and the legend of the eight samurai. All of this makes The Village of Eight Graves a satisfying read, for sure. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Murder, and Rape

Minor: Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

ginnyb412's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

slay

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Violence, and Vomit

justice for haruyo

feebles640's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse