swatswatwhat's reviews
46 reviews

All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Atmosphere over plot. This book was trying to be deep but no new message or even a message delivered in an interesting way. I was waiting for a twist or something interesting the entire way through. 

I do enjoy books where not much happens (some other books by Japanese authors) but this was soooo blah. 

Girl by Camille Laurens

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Incredible book about girlhood, womanhood and motherhood. I was hooked from first line of “it’s a girl” and two pages in, I knew this was going to be a 5 star read.

Story about a girl growing up in the 60s grabbling with internal and external misogyny, sexual assault, seen as weak and less than in every  stage of her life and reduced to her anatomy. It’s uncomfortably relatable and I couldn’t put it down even throughout the hard to read sections on assaults, gynecological care and childbirth. 

Beautifully written in 2nd person (I can’t believe it’s translated). Wholeheartedly believe this book is going to blow up. A gem of a novel.

The Flowers of Buffoonery by Osamu Dazai

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Short and humorous prequel to “no longer human”. Shows his youth and what makes him the sexist man he became in his older years. This book is ahead of it’s time breaking the 4th wall, critiquing his own writing and a unique, comical take on a post suicide attempt.

Doesn’t pull you in quite like “No longer human” but a good read. Boys being boys in the best way. Not much happens here except friends consoling a fellow friend after a suicide attempt but very warming read.

“Proof that if a man is dumb enough, he can do harm without lifting a finger."

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is fucked. Sickening, horrifying, full body shiver enduring and every chapter escalates to the point of you saying  “what am fuck am I reading”. The ending gets very abstract but continues to tie to less strange start of the book.  At the beginning, I thought this was about stepping outside societies norms and expectations especially as a woman but man, was I right.. but to the extreme.

Need a palate cleanser after this one.

Emotional and physical abuse, rape, incest, cannabilism. A wild ride. </spoiler >

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A story of obsession that is still silly and quirky. Fast paced, creepy yet gentle.  Simple language and writing but very much conveys the wrongness of the narrators actions.

Themes of isolation, the craving to be seen, toxic workplace, hierarchy, innate sexism. Some parts were awkward …probably due to translation.

The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Unsettling and ambiguous. You leave each story feeling psychologically exhausted without clear ending of “horror”. You can feel the paranoia and anxiety of the characters and it seeps into the you. It’s uneasy watching them grapple with their emotions and manifest monsters .. whether these are real or hallucinogenic is the question. Beautifully written to get you to feel all the spooky feelings. 

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Reminded me of “the secret history” - liked this one better. Started off very strong. Dark academia and moody but lord the sections of full Shakespeare texts was rough. It could have been shorter without pages or Shakespeare that didn’t add much except for the theatre kids. Characters stayed pretty flat (so much opportunity to flush them out!!!) and honestly James and Richard seems so similar. Writing style was beautiful and I didn’t clue into the mystery till the near the end so bravo for that. 

could have went to specific characters issues like Alexander’s drug abuse and Wren’s stuff which I forgot what it was already

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Quick read. Love Japanese literature so picked it up based on cover and fact the author won a Nobel prize. Beautiful writing with stunning description of snow. Words felt delicate and tranquil to match the snowyness of the town. Didn’t care for the story itself. It was sleep inducing. Classic story of a rich man falls for a sex worker. Felt no connection to the characters and their actions just seemed bizarre. Characters didn’t seem to know what they wanted which obviously was the point but it didn’t do well for me. A lot of conversation was non-sensical. Perhaps it was badly translated. 2.5 for the writing though. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I was surprised about how unmemorable this was for me. Tartt tried to put a lot of ancient Greek  in here but it came off shallow and did nothing for the story. What was the point?!?!?! You can tell what the authors intention was. The book started off moody, atmospheric and eerie but Tartt was unable to hold on to that - where was the character development for these pretentious students. This could have easily been a 300 page book instead 600 pages of nonsense. 2.5 is for the first 1/3 of the book.

I can’t believe this is written by a woman .. the only main female character was flat with a personality of a door knob. A few more thoughts…

1. Why did the professor seem like he’d be a significant character but barely appeared in the story beyond the introduction with chunks of greek lessons. I was waiting to see the tie in from the lessons

2. All the characters blend into one except Richard and Bunny.

3. The first half of the book was good and lots anticipation but once the murder happened, the rest was such a drag.

4. Terribly written Camilla character. 

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The beginning pulled me in right away with the 3 images and bam… straight to his existentialism.

Then the misogyny started so it’s hard for to rate it any higher even though I enjoyed a lot of the book. To Yozo, women are simple and empty. 

Yozo is miserable, make terrible choices yet you care (ish) for him. His inner world and mental illness (mix of depression and narcissism) depicts the darkness of humanity. The later half of the book was less interesting as it focused more on actions with characters and less stream of consciousness rambling which is what drew me in.