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patmaaf's review
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Torture and Death
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Alcoholism
lidia7's review
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
uncomfortable, intriguing, very murky. i loved the writing. would not recommend for anyone who's experienced sexual violence in any form or unbalanced/abusive relationships.
major spoilers
besides the 50 years age gap and the fact that Mari is *so* young (17) which clearly leads to a power imbalance, there's no discussion before (or after - that we know of) the first BDSM encounter and so is Mari consenting? can she even consent? is the fact she comes back for more willingly an indicator of consent or of his grooming? she feels sad for him and her life is more interesting with him in it, she feels special but there are no boundaries set, no safety precautions, no way out. the encounters only confirm her self-hatred which to her feels... pleasurable? freeing? (another person to dominate her that isn't her mother might feel like a breakaway even if it's trading bad situations).
i think she couldn't have consented, no matter how grown-up she feels or thinks she is and that she was exploited by a pathetic man who sees his last chance at a connection. the sad thing is that Mari needed a friend, a grand/father figure and not whatever the translator was trying to be. (even if she wanted him to dominate her sexually or otherwise, his actions are inexcusable and as an adult he should have known better).
the tongue and mouth are very prominent in their relationship so i guess that's one possible reason the nephew (who doesn't have a tongue) is juxtaposed to them as well as the fact that the translator speaks for/over him. there's probably a lot of commentary on translation that i'm not big-brained enough to get but still the book never felt too out of my depth - or at least it didn't feel like i was missing important bits, i wasn't confused. i was hoping Mari's and the nephew's relationship would be explored more and i'm not sure if the story he shares (about his aunt's death) is true or to what extent and if he himself believes the story.
the ending surprised me but didn't feel out of place. it's neither satisfying or unsatisfying but it's believable enough as well as appropriate. the fact that Marie's story hasn't been found (and that she asks for it) but photographs degrading Mari are, felt like a knife in my gut. can Mari get closure? how does her life continue? i imagine it goes on as it always has which is very bleak. i do hope she finds a way out.
major spoilers
i think she couldn't have consented, no matter how grown-up she feels or thinks she is and that she was exploited by a pathetic man who sees his last chance at a connection. the sad thing is that Mari needed a friend, a grand/father figure and not whatever the translator was trying to be. (even if she wanted him to dominate her sexually or otherwise, his actions are inexcusable and as an adult he should have known better).
the tongue and mouth are very prominent in their relationship so i guess that's one possible reason the nephew (who doesn't have a tongue) is juxtaposed to them as well as the fact that the translator speaks for/over him. there's probably a lot of commentary on translation that i'm not big-brained enough to get but still the book never felt too out of my depth - or at least it didn't feel like i was missing important bits, i wasn't confused. i was hoping Mari's and the nephew's relationship would be explored more and i'm not sure if the story he shares (about his aunt's death) is true or to what extent and if he himself believes the story.
the ending surprised me but didn't feel out of place. it's neither satisfying or unsatisfying but it's believable enough as well as appropriate. the fact that Marie's story hasn't been found (and that she asks for it) but photographs degrading Mari are, felt like a knife in my gut. can Mari get closure? how does her life continue? i imagine it goes on as it always has which is very bleak. i do hope she finds a way out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Torture and Body shaming
Minor: Murder, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Stalking, and Ableism
clammyheart's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
cestlaluxure's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Hotel Iris narra a história de Mari, uma jovem adolescente que trabalha com a sua mãe num hotel.
A história abre comum conflito no Hotel Iris, apresentando logo uma estranha atração de Mari pela voz de um senhor, que mais tarde ela acabará por perseguir, fruto de curiosidade.
É assim que inicia a relação entre Mari, de 17 anos, com o tradutor, um homem de idade mais avançada.
Descobrimos então a forma como Mari associa a degradação (que experiencia, quer na sua dinâmica relacional mãe-filha, quer na relação que mantém com o tradutor) ao prazer.
É uma história perturbadora pois, desde cedo, o leitor está consciente da diferença de idades e, por consequência, da presença de uma dinâmica de poder; e rapidamente esta relação abusiva vai tomando proporções mais graves.
Sinto que houve partes que podiam ter sido melhor exploradas. A vinda do sobrinho do tradutor, além de trazer mais detalhes sobre o background de como morreu a ex esposa do tradutor, foi também interpretada por mim como a primeira e única experiência sexual de Mari que não envolveu degradação, embora este personagem tenha sido mais uma figura a normalizar a relação que a jovem mantinha com o tradutor, então penso que não foi muito eficaz em mostrar o contraste entre uma dinâmica saudável e uma abusiva.
O fim foi muito abrupto como que o fim da fantasia construída pelo tradutor que a manipulou, mas permitiu mostrar que afinal a mãe de Mari, embora não o demonstrasse, nutria algum carinho por ela.
A história abre comum conflito no Hotel Iris, apresentando logo uma estranha atração de Mari pela voz de um senhor, que mais tarde ela acabará por perseguir, fruto de curiosidade.
Descobrimos então a forma como Mari associa a degradação (que experiencia, quer na sua dinâmica relacional mãe-filha, quer na relação que mantém com o tradutor) ao prazer.
É uma história perturbadora pois, desde cedo, o leitor está consciente da diferença de idades e, por consequência, da presença de uma dinâmica de poder; e rapidamente esta relação abusiva vai tomando proporções mais graves.
Sinto que houve partes que podiam ter sido melhor exploradas.
O fim foi muito abrupto como que o fim da fantasia construída pelo tradutor que a manipulou, mas permitiu mostrar que afinal a mãe de Mari, embora não o demonstrasse, nutria algum carinho por ela.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual violence, Violence, and Pedophilia
bethniamh's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Death, and Sexual violence
sourpeach's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Torture
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Confinement
_kimb's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Torture, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, War, and Child death
alikath's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Definitely odder and darker than the other two Ogawa books I've read.
I really fluctuated on my rating for this one. It has the same great writing from Ogawa and translation from Stephen Snyder that The Housekeeper and the Professor and Revenge had and I still loved it. The story, however, was crazy. Revenge may have been eleven dark tales but this book was actually super dark. With the other books I read by Ogawa, I felt like I kind of understood the message of the book. With this one, it felt a little more opaque. There were interesting things happening but I just didn't get as much impact of the stories as I did from the two other books. I was horrified by certain things but a lot of things just rolled off me rather than emotionally hitting me in any way. I liked the second half more than the first which almost made me up my rating but ultimately, I only liked this, I didn't love it.
I really fluctuated on my rating for this one. It has the same great writing from Ogawa and translation from Stephen Snyder that The Housekeeper and the Professor and Revenge had and I still loved it. The story, however, was crazy. Revenge may have been eleven dark tales but this book was actually super dark. With the other books I read by Ogawa, I felt like I kind of understood the message of the book. With this one, it felt a little more opaque. There were interesting things happening but I just didn't get as much impact of the stories as I did from the two other books. I was horrified by certain things but a lot of things just rolled off me rather than emotionally hitting me in any way. I liked the second half more than the first which almost made me up my rating but ultimately, I only liked this, I didn't love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Torture
ameliasbooks's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I can see what Ogawa is doing with this story, I can appreciate the themes she tackles and that one of the emotions you should experience is feelings uncomfortable. Nevertheless this didn't help me with my reading experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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