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A review by readivine
All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe
3.0
Finally, read the first book of my 2021! This was pretty interesting to read and I love the social commentary on the gravity of debts and consumerism. Yup, totally not the usual theme you'd see on Japanese crime fiction. I also don't think that this was a thriller, to be honest, but it's more of a slow burn trail of mystery-solving, so I do understand why the usual thrill-seeking reader won't enjoy this much.
I've also seen a lot of reviews complaining about why there has to be some sort of long-drawn-out almost Wikipedia-ish excerpt on the intricacies of the Japanese credit process and loan sharks (found in Chapter 11). I get the point that it was kind of boring to read or sounded straight from an academic study.
However, I honestly thought that this was an essential part of the book because it already introduced the root cause of the mystery in the first place. I felt like some readers were kind of out of touch to just lump this part as an unnecessary info dump because this is the reality of other people in different parts of the world. Personally, this resonated with me because I live in a lower middle class household where one accident or one loan can simply wipe out our financial foundation.
I appreciated the message that Miyabe fleshed out here. When you look at it, the translated title is quite an apt choice.
Now when it comes to the whole mystery unfolding, I liked the steady trail of clues. Though I've seen some minor typos and other parts where the POVs shifted all of a sudden. Totally not the author's fault but more so on the editing team. I believe that some parts may have been lost in translation that's why it kind of put off my reading experience sometimes.
Also, there were just some happenings and clues that seem quite implausible to reach. I personally enjoyed reading this though the ending sputtered for me. Nevertheless, All She Was Worth is something that I'm glad I've read at the right time of my life.
As an utterly "new" to adulting, my personal finance has been weighing on my mind so much these days, and reading about how worse it could get when not in check really felt like a piece of friendly advice for me. I've bought this a month ago and only read it on whim. Books could really surprise you in many ways you can never begin to imagine huh.
I've also seen a lot of reviews complaining about why there has to be some sort of long-drawn-out almost Wikipedia-ish excerpt on the intricacies of the Japanese credit process and loan sharks (found in Chapter 11). I get the point that it was kind of boring to read or sounded straight from an academic study.
However, I honestly thought that this was an essential part of the book because it already introduced the root cause of the mystery in the first place. I felt like some readers were kind of out of touch to just lump this part as an unnecessary info dump because this is the reality of other people in different parts of the world. Personally, this resonated with me because I live in a lower middle class household where one accident or one loan can simply wipe out our financial foundation.
"Debts drive people to suicide. They break up homes, force people to skip town...It sounds unbelievable in this day and age, but tragedies occur all the time, for sheer lack of knowledge about the ins and outs of personal bankruptcy."There's commentary on what drives consumerism as well that still rings true even to this day. I think that privileged readers who never get to experience the gravity of accumulated debt or don't live from paycheck to paycheck wouldn't really understand this.
I appreciated the message that Miyabe fleshed out here. When you look at it, the translated title is quite an apt choice.
Now when it comes to the whole mystery unfolding, I liked the steady trail of clues. Though I've seen some minor typos and other parts where the POVs shifted all of a sudden. Totally not the author's fault but more so on the editing team. I believe that some parts may have been lost in translation that's why it kind of put off my reading experience sometimes.
Also, there were just some happenings and clues that seem quite implausible to reach. I personally enjoyed reading this though the ending sputtered for me. Nevertheless, All She Was Worth is something that I'm glad I've read at the right time of my life.
As an utterly "new" to adulting, my personal finance has been weighing on my mind so much these days, and reading about how worse it could get when not in check really felt like a piece of friendly advice for me. I've bought this a month ago and only read it on whim. Books could really surprise you in many ways you can never begin to imagine huh.