A review by _inge
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

challenging dark emotional sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I knew this would be a tough read. I usually avoid books which feature bullying as it is, and I was warned of particularly vivid descriptions of bullying in this novel. I didn’t think it would be this vivid and this disturbing, however. I skimmed some passages because they were too much to handle. There’s a lot of trigger warnings for anything relating to bullying in this. 

I didn’t feel a connection to any of the main characters, as them being bullied was the center of this novel. Aside from Kojima’s interest in art and both of them enjoying reading fiction, we don’t actually see them do anything beyond being bullied or discussing what bullying has done to them. I don’t even think the protagonist is named, as everyone simply calls him ‘Eyes’ when he’s bullied. Bullying therefore takes over their entire personalities. 

This does mean there’s space for some really interesting conversations about what it means to be bullied or to bully. Some ideas on this really helped me shape my own feelings about having been bullied in the past.
I love that we got a conversation between one of the bullies and the protagonist as well. I’m not sure if I agree with the ‘happy’ ending; I wonder if the protagonist genuinely felt disturbed by his eye too and wanted it fixed because of that, or if his sole reasoning for wanting it fixed was being bullied for it.

I wish we’d learn more about Kojima too. Since the protagonist doesn’t see her again I hope she didn’t harm herself in any way. The ‘happy’ ending for him therefore didn’t feel as happy as a whole, as Kojima might be struggling.
 

All in all this was a difficult read. It’s definitely not for everyone, and I’m unsure what to think of this myself. It’ll be interesting to see if I think back on this in the future.
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