A review by rieriereads
Revenge: Stories by Yōko Ogawa

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 is a collection of 11 short stories written by Yoko Ogawa and translated by Stephen Snyder. The short stories were beautifully written and perfectly mysterious. I loved how each story was connected to the other. Reading through the stories and seeing the eerie cycle of the little details was fascinating.
 
Most of the time, a short story collection would have hits and misses for me. But this was the first time that I thoroughly enjoyed every story. My favorite of the 11 would be 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐉 and 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬.
 
I liked the characters and the overall weird plot of 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐫𝐬. 𝐉. It's filled with kiwis, carrots, stories, and, of course, hands. I loved it even more when I could see the connection between this short story and the following ones. The 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 was about the relationship between an uncle and his nephew. The short story shows the joyful and sorrowful moments of the eccentric yet also lovable uncle's life.
 
Overall, I would recommend this short story collection. And if you ever consider checking it out, I also suggest checking the trigger warnings. I'm looking forward to reading more of Yoko Ogawa's books. She's becoming one of my favorite authors.

📚 | 41
⭐ | 4


•••

My Rating System

5 🌟 - Life changing, a new favorite read
4 ⭐ - I loved it
3 ⭐ - I liked it 
2 ⭐ - It was okay
1 ⭐ - I hated it but decided to  not dnf