Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

16 reviews

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

cheye13's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-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

1.0

From the synopsis, I expected this to have some kind of twist rather than events playing out in such a realistic manner. I got no real message from this story except "patriarchy, huh?" which I've seen done much better elsewhere. I went in looking for some kind of messed up or twisted relationship between two women and it ended up hinging on a man anyway. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Toxic relationship

booksjessreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

I felt this was a really interesting take on the pressures of women in Japanese society portrayed through a voyeuristic lens. There was a lot of underlying discourse on pressures of women to adhere to certain appearances, to behave and act in certain ways, the insidiousness of gossiping and workplace culture for women, and just generally how women are critiqued in every aspect of their every day life. The voyeuristic lens only amplified the intensity of this culture. 

One thing that made me dislike this was the ending.

I understand why The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan ended up 'taking the place of' the Woman in the Purple Skirt because it represented the idea that so many women spend their entire life wanting to be other women or wanting aspects of other women's lives. But I also felt that the way in which the plot just made the Woman in the Purple skirt disappear and I found that plot line to be a little strange.

This just took away from the story for me, but still found the concepts really interesting. 

Overall, would really recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Stalking

Moderate: Infidelity and Sexism

Minor: Violence

travisppe's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Not much happens but I couldn’t put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Violence

chrisljm's review against another edition

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

2.5

This is what I imagine stans to be like if instead of being fans of celebrities they were just really into regular people. 

A unique book and narration but not very exciting. Overall mundane with the most stirring element of the story being how delulu the narrator is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Bullying, and Infidelity

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

ivulikkivulik's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Infidelity, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol

readingwithkt's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Stalking, Murder, and Violence

arieslofi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Infidelity

keisyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s interesting that what we are reading is not a narrator who is simply like a “fly” on the wall but an actual person who is telling the reader what is happening… because she’s stalking the woman in the purple skirt. The narrative style is one of my favorite things about this book. The narrator does these things for the Woman in the Purple Skirt to feel important and be seen. So much so, she is determined to become the Woman in the Purple Skirt’s friends. She records every single one of her moves. A part of ending was open ended and left me with so many questions; the other part of the ending was satisfying especially after following the narrator throughout the whole book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, and Bullying

Minor: Infidelity

jailynxpaige's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Minor: Violence