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solitary's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Police brutality, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
perfectplaces's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
“What’s gone is gone completely. I have no seeds inside me, waiting to sprout again. I have to make do with a hollow heart full of holes.”
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i really loved this! it was so thought provoking and also subtly horrifying.
the tone is absolutely excellent; it eases you into the world of the novel and the life of the main character and then so suddenly pulls the rug from underneath you again and again. i also really loved the story-within-a-story, though that’s where most of the triggering content is so it’s definitely skippable.
either way i felt it was a rly good and compelling take on the dystopian genre. i saw ppl in the reviews saying they felt it was unrealistic how passive the people of the protagonist’s island were, but i felt that ogawa’s approach was both compelling and arguably more realistic; much more so imo than the idea that people would largely fight back.
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i really loved this! it was so thought provoking and also subtly horrifying.
the tone is absolutely excellent; it eases you into the world of the novel and the life of the main character and then so suddenly pulls the rug from underneath you again and again. i also really loved the story-within-a-story, though that’s where most of the triggering content is so it’s definitely skippable.
either way i felt it was a rly good and compelling take on the dystopian genre. i saw ppl in the reviews saying they felt it was unrealistic how passive the people of the protagonist’s island were, but i felt that ogawa’s approach was both compelling and arguably more realistic; much more so imo than the idea that people would largely fight back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Police brutality
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death
Minor: Emotional abuse
Many of the triggers (toxic relationship, emotional abuse) take place in the story-within-a-story. These have a different font (in the printed version at least) and are easy to skip without losing anything of the main story as they serve a largely symbolic role.lain_darko's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
memorable's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Death and Police brutality
Minor: Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Grief
Tsunami Earth quakenanabee23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent and Grief
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Once again Yoko Ogawa has spun an amazing, hard-to-put-down novel.
This book starts out as very intriguing, turns sombre, then ends down right depressing.
It took a while to read this book as I felt I had to absorb every single word, but once the typewriter story began, I couldn't stop lapping up the words and story.
Could we live in a world where things just disappear from existence and our memories, particularly if someone just didn't want it in their life? Alternatively, this may be how having Alzheimer's or any other permanent memory loss may feel.
This book starts out as very intriguing, turns sombre, then ends down right depressing.
It took a while to read this book as I felt I had to absorb every single word, but once the typewriter story began, I couldn't stop lapping up the words and story.
Could we live in a world where things just disappear from existence and our memories, particularly if someone just didn't want it in their life? Alternatively, this may be how having Alzheimer's or any other permanent memory loss may feel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Slavery, and Suicide attempt
lilifane's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is probably the most depressing book I've ever read.
It's set on an island where things keep disappearing. But they don't disappear physically, the people living on this island just collectively forget about them. Things like birds, roses, boats. When people wake up and feel something is missing they try to get rid of those things physically as well. If they kept birds, they let them free, if they planted roses in their garden, they destroy them. It's easy for them because once the thing is disappearded, they don't have any emotional connection to it anymore. All memories connected to the thing disappear as well. However there are people who still remember, who try to keep those lost thing and this is where the Memory Police comes into play. They confiscate those things and arrest the people.
The protagonist is a writer whose mother was able to remember and was taken by the Memory Police. So when she discovers that her editor remembers as well, she tries to help him and hide him from the police.
I think the book depicts a totalitarian regime in a very believable way, I felt the fear, hopelessnes and resignation. There were a lot of parallels to Nazi Germany. It just goes one step further and creates a truly dystopian world.
On the other hand it is beautifully written and creates this melancholic, heavy atmosphere that you feel in your bones. The premise was interesting and I loves the setting, the characters but there were some things that bothered me. Some parts of the story the protagonist was writing were very weird and disturbing, as well as the relationship between the protagonist and her editor in the second half of the book. And the ending.... it was very abstract and therefore hard to grasp for me. I mean, you can get a lot of great discossions out of this book and think about how words, stories, memories shape our world. But the ending let me downa bit. It has this "Then what was the point of this?" feeling.
It's set on an island where things keep disappearing. But they don't disappear physically, the people living on this island just collectively forget about them. Things like birds, roses, boats. When people wake up and feel something is missing they try to get rid of those things physically as well. If they kept birds, they let them free, if they planted roses in their garden, they destroy them. It's easy for them because once the thing is disappearded, they don't have any emotional connection to it anymore. All memories connected to the thing disappear as well. However there are people who still remember, who try to keep those lost thing and this is where the Memory Police comes into play. They confiscate those things and arrest the people.
The protagonist is a writer whose mother was able to remember and was taken by the Memory Police. So when she discovers that her editor remembers as well, she tries to help him and hide him from the police.
I think the book depicts a totalitarian regime in a very believable way, I felt the fear, hopelessnes and resignation. There were a lot of parallels to Nazi Germany. It just goes one step further and creates a truly dystopian world.
On the other hand it is beautifully written and creates this melancholic, heavy atmosphere that you feel in your bones. The premise was interesting and I loves the setting, the characters but there were some things that bothered me. Some parts of the story the protagonist was writing were very weird and disturbing, as well as the relationship between the protagonist and her editor in the second half of the book. And the ending.... it was very abstract and therefore hard to grasp for me. I mean, you can get a lot of great discossions out of this book and think about how words, stories, memories shape our world. But the ending let me downa bit. It has this "Then what was the point of this?" feeling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, and Police brutality
carissa230's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Body horror
jurassiclilo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief
jenny_d's review against another edition
dark
sad
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? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Confinement
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Police brutality