Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Fault Lines

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

stellahadz's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

I wanted more from this book. It had an interesting premise, and the prose was nice, but most of the characters seemed a bit flat and it felt like the author was doing more telling than showing, to use a writing cliché, which isn't my preferred writing style. The story did pick up in the last 50-ish pages or so, and I liked how the

earthquake

scene made Mizuki reevaluate her life and her decisions. I'm not sure if we're supposed to be happy or sad for her by the end, though, and there's something interesting about that ambiguity.

Content Warnings

lucyatoz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

You would think that Mizuki had it all... She has a handsome, successful husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful home in Tokyo, far away from her childhood home in the countryside. So why is she feeling so lonely and standing on the edge of her high rise balcony?

She meets, by chance, the equally handsome and successful Kiyoshi and when she is with him she feels so alive! However, they know that their friendship, which becomes something more, cannot continue and a choice will soon have to be made. But can Mizuki make the decision between two different lives facing her. Ultimately, being trapped in a carriage on the Tokyo Metro during a earthquake, helps her to consider what path she takes, but is it the right one?

Faults Lines was the debut novel by Emily Itami, which was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and is an interesting story about being a Japanese housewife and a young mother and her questioning if this is all she wants or if she needs more.

Content Warnings

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

phippsmr's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-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

4.0

I think I’m learning to love more stories that can be told in less than 250 pages but still be impactful in a multitude of ways. Our main character is a woman in her early/mid thirties range, living in Tokyo, Japan with her husband, two kids in a nice home. However, her marriage doesn’t feel like a partnership and she ends up meeting a guy who brings out a spark from her past she thought had been extinguished a long time ago. I love how even though this is a debut novel, it didn’t feel like a debut novel. The humor, the explanations of Japanese culture & lifestyle mixed in with the honest feelings about motherhood… in addition to the contrast of American life allowed me wonder how it must feel to be exposed to our ideals only to fly back and reinsert yourself. I normally don’t enjoy plots where someone ends up sleeping with a person that isn’t their spouse or significant other, but to me, that wasn’t the main point of the plot. Mizuki wanted a chance to be her own person and she realizes even though there will be men out there that will admire her in a way maybe her husband has pushed away a bit, it would never work out the way the movies make it seem.

Content Warnings