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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
3.5 actually but it felt wrong to put it 4 stars here. idky lol.
another whodunit and the crime was really simple in my opinion. the moment a certain character showed up, you can tell who’s the murderer. aaand i kinda like this style of storytelling(?) we get to know the people in the area and also investigate the crime at the same time. i love the way he kinda helps them in his own eccentric ways(?) the story of the victim is so sad tbh, i feel so bad for her
another whodunit and the crime was really simple in my opinion. the moment a certain character showed up, you can tell who’s the murderer. aaand i kinda like this style of storytelling(?) we get to know the people in the area and also investigate the crime at the same time. i love the way he kinda helps them in his own eccentric ways(?) the story of the victim is so sad tbh, i feel so bad for her
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3/5stars
Very entertaining thriller ! Not my fave but I also don’t love detective/police fiction. If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, you’d definitely enjoy this!
Very entertaining thriller ! Not my fave but I also don’t love detective/police fiction. If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, you’d definitely enjoy this!
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book has an interesting writing style to it that is slowly revealed as you get into the story. You learn about the murder from the point of view of different groups of people who are interviewed during the investigation of the murder. First you meet the family who runs a rice cracker shop - and so on. This gives lots of atmosphere to the story. It also makes the story feel like it is slow moving ("what is happening here", you might think), but I was patient and assumed all would be revealed. This also makes for a non-gory murder mystery, which is fine with me. It can be more telling to learn how people act or react under the circumstances.
I didn't read it to try and guess whodunit, but I did ponder the possibilities as they were presented. For some reason, I felt like the solution came out of the blue and wondered whether I had overlooked something or whether it was relevant if I could put two and two together. I think Detective Kaga's methodology is what is at the forefront here and not the solution itself. It's how he gets people to talk that seems to be the real focus. When we get toward the end, there is a voice that pulls a lot of the threads together, which also helps to clarify some things.
All in all, it was good entertainment and a peek into another culture at the same time.
I have to comment on the attitude toward women and what their role in society is. I've done this before with the same author. I thought this was a new book, but it turns out it was originally written in Japanese in 2001. It's the English translation that is new (2018). That made me a tiny bit more accepting of the negative stereotypes about women knowing they were from 18 years ago. Still, friends in the know say that Japan is still very behind on women's equality. It put reading this story in perspective knowing that Japanese society just has this attitude about women - for example, that just being a housewife and nothing more is an acceptable goal to work toward. I felt that knowing about these societal conventions does help with the reading so you can understand why a woman does such-and-such or why such-and-such is expected of a woman. Otherwise, I would have thought the author was rather sexist with his characters. If this is how this society really is, then he is merely reflecting that reality without commentary. Yes, you can argue that writing like this is perpetuating these stereotypes, but I will stick to worrying about my own society. I am not qualified to comment on another culture's approach to these issues, but I have to say that these issues did stick out enough to deserve a mention in my review.
I didn't read it to try and guess whodunit, but I did ponder the possibilities as they were presented. For some reason, I felt like the solution came out of the blue and wondered whether I had overlooked something or whether it was relevant if I could put two and two together. I think Detective Kaga's methodology is what is at the forefront here and not the solution itself. It's how he gets people to talk that seems to be the real focus. When we get toward the end, there is a voice that pulls a lot of the threads together, which also helps to clarify some things.
All in all, it was good entertainment and a peek into another culture at the same time.
I have to comment on the attitude toward women and what their role in society is. I've done this before with the same author. I thought this was a new book, but it turns out it was originally written in Japanese in 2001. It's the English translation that is new (2018). That made me a tiny bit more accepting of the negative stereotypes about women knowing they were from 18 years ago. Still, friends in the know say that Japan is still very behind on women's equality. It put reading this story in perspective knowing that Japanese society just has this attitude about women - for example, that just being a housewife and nothing more is an acceptable goal to work toward. I felt that knowing about these societal conventions does help with the reading so you can understand why a woman does such-and-such or why such-and-such is expected of a woman. Otherwise, I would have thought the author was rather sexist with his characters. If this is how this society really is, then he is merely reflecting that reality without commentary. Yes, you can argue that writing like this is perpetuating these stereotypes, but I will stick to worrying about my own society. I am not qualified to comment on another culture's approach to these issues, but I have to say that these issues did stick out enough to deserve a mention in my review.
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
the way NEWCOMER is set up is a bit different from most murder mysteries - it’s told through a series of vignettes, each with their own smaller mystery or puzzle, and it’s not a mystery that invites the reader to try solving it from the beginning. I quite enjoyed this unique approach, though it may not be for hardcore murder mystery readers.
I did however hate the translation - the translator overly relies on idioms that make the dialogue sound unnatural and dated, and also makes the characters sound too similar. it’s a shame that Higashino’s works are no longer being translated by his original translator.
The audiobook narrator is fine; he tends to use voices that sound like mid 20th century crime noir movies, and I felt like he was just dying for the slightest chance to use his British accent. His pronunciation of the Japanese words was ok, not perfect but not terrible for a (presumably) non-Japanese speaker.
I did however hate the translation - the translator overly relies on idioms that make the dialogue sound unnatural and dated, and also makes the characters sound too similar. it’s a shame that Higashino’s works are no longer being translated by his original translator.
The audiobook narrator is fine; he tends to use voices that sound like mid 20th century crime noir movies, and I felt like he was just dying for the slightest chance to use his British accent. His pronunciation of the Japanese words was ok, not perfect but not terrible for a (presumably) non-Japanese speaker.