A review by lwalla01
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I can’t say that I was a fan of this book. The writing didn’t capture me - whether that was the translation or not, I’m not sure. The story was also fairly disjointed. It’s so dark and crude. But not in a way that makes sense. The title seems completely out of a place to me. Sometimes I can read a book that provokes a lot of questions and insights, and sometimes so read a book that seems to try to reach for profound out of nowhere. Reading this book reminds me of all the reasons people hate literary fiction.

I’ve also read quite a few of the 2022 Man Booker International Long List and why do all of them deal with suicide. It’s pretty disturbing at this point. 
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