A review by keegan_leech
Black Box by Shiori Ito

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

In a word, Black Box is harrowing.

Ito is clearly an excellent journalist. Black Box is extremely specific in its scope and aims, and the book weaves its personal elements very effectively into more general facts about rape and sexual assault in Japan. The result is a book that's informative and direct yet simultaneously personal and deeply empathetic. It's this brilliance which makes for difficult reading.

Although it's barely longer than 200 pages, Black Box felt like it took me a very long time to read. This is entirely appropriate given that the book deals with the trauma of not just rape and assault, but the seemingly impassable barriers to legal retribution. It is impossible not to feel something of Ito's own fatigue and frustration in the writing.

I wouldn't recommend the book if you aren't prepared for an emotionally exhausting experience, but if you are in the right mindset for it, it's a powerful and immensely valuable read.
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