Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

4 reviews

iris_lrf's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

This is one of the worst best books you will ever read. Murakami will sprout some of the most deep, poetic words imaginable, but it will be right after the fifteen-year-old protagonist

fucks the ghost of his still-alive maybe-mother

. It is a perfect example of the magic realism genre, and by that I mean it makes absolutely zero sense.

The ending, too, is ridiculously vague. I suppose I should be glad there's a chance she wasn't his mother, but potentially incestuous vampirism sure is something I hadn't considered before. Also, what the fuck was that worm thing about?

 

I haven't read anything else by Murakami (and I don't intend to), but according to others, a gripping style, adamant homo/transphobia, and obsessive Freudianism are all staples of his works. And this book is no different: a modern (at the time) retelling of Oedipus Rex where the protagonist is newly fifteen, fully aware of the prophecy, and - I cannot stress this enough - actively choosing to pursue it. It's technically not pedophilia because Japanese laws are different than in the west, but still. Come on. What the hell. Oh, and his sister's in the prophecy too. I'll let you guess which part. You think this review is running a little long? You haven't even SEEN the number of content warnings I'm going to slap on this bad boy.
All that said, even with one protagonist whose only character traits are "Oedipus complex" and "teenage boy," another who is just a walking autism stereotype (I mean, a child in a man's body? Come on), and a whole cast of chronically horny sociopaths, it SOMEHOW manages to be a page-turner. Truly one of the few books that you wish with all your heart you could put down, but are forced by some external power to continue reading until your sanity finally breaks. Because trust me, it will break. For me it happened around chapter five. 
So yeah, if multitudes of

needlessly graphic incest, VERY borderline pedophilia, pointless vagueness, childhood trauma, a trans man literally calling himself a woman of his own accord, gore, violence towards animals, AND MORE

are all things you can stand, sure. Go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Transphobia, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Transphobia

Minor: Cursing

toffishay's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

What a book! I had this copy of Kafka on the Shore for almost two years before I tackled it this month and once I started, I couldn't put it down. This is such a creative and intriguing exploration of memory and destiny, the connections that we might and how we come to be the people that we are. How we craft ourselves and are made new every day, while still being informed by all that comes before us. The way that time is used it so trippy and interesting. Time moves past us and through us. We can't get time back and we can waste our whole lives chasing it. And even with these really big ideas, at its core this is a story about a young boy trying to understand himself. The simplicity of that is what keeps the story so tight and I can see why people continue to come back to it. Some parts are tricky...definitely check content warnings and I think that some parts could have been scaled back for sure which stops me from going like up to a 5 star rating for this book. But sometimes the stars are a general guide and I would still recommend this book for sure. Hoshino is my favorite character!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, Incest, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Murder, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Police brutality, and Self harm

babymoomoocow's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

This is probably one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. I feel like I would have said “wtf” a lot less if I had a reading buddy. But a lot of this books made me go “wtf” in both a good and a very bad way.

I have mixed feelings on it honestly and I would only recommend this book so my friends can be confused and disturbed with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Animal death, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abandonment, Incest, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Torture

Minor: Transphobia

zach_whitaker's review

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence