Reviews

Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist by Asumiko Nakamura, Yoshito Hinton

best_rat's review against another edition

the art is a bit lacking at times, but it's a very meta story that is fairly enjoyable with good characterization, despite being somewhat oversensualised.

linguistic_goblin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

carcilone's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

belle_fiction's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars

“You write because you’re alive. You’re alive because you write. An author who can’t write isn’t an author.”

WOW. Talk about breathtaking! Utsubora is a complex, graphic and unsettling story about authorship which left me wanting more.

Full RTC

katiecolson's review against another edition

2.0

You know, it's fine. It's fine and it really tried to do something but it didn't succeed (in my opinion!). I was lost for half of it and anytime I wasn't lost, I was bored or disgusted.

academicanko's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

hzmt's review against another edition

dark

4.0

mariekev's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

uk_vignettes's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

robinks's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

At this point, I’m not quite sure why I keep reading Nakamura’s works, as there is once again huge age gaps in the romances that I find incredibly problematic. This story also got a bit confusing at parts, though that might just be from the translation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Blood, Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Gore