Anaïs

Mid for a detective plot, but very original format, with the first part (over 300 pages) being a novel written by the criminal, describing what goes on in the investigation.

I like what this is trying to do but the execution is meh. Good use of language with grammatical and spelling errors to create the narrative told by an 8 yo. Great understanding and depiction of autism through very adequate details. Idk how realistic it is tho that two children knew about sex or even worse that they unconsciously / naturally found themselves in such a situation…

Might've been my easiest read in Japanese. Very well written and VERY clever (the narrator is a stalker who manages to stalk the woman just enough for the reader to follow everything while also leaving some things unknown). The plot however did leave me with some question marks, where did the woman go in the end? Too bad this didn't turn out to be a thriller / horror story, it had huge potential

First time reading Minato Kanae in Japanese, surprisingly a very easy read! But i found the plot much less interesting than her thrillers. This story is heavy on the characters' feelings for each other, and while there is a death at the beginning like Minato's other stories, the plot is actually unrelated to it and we only find that out at the end. However, the technique of having different narrators is as good as always, Minato is a master of the style. (It was not too obvious but the third narrator is actually the daughter in the present, and we realize this at the same time as we realize that the death of the beginning is not her death). Chills on the mom losing her second child to miscarriage: 桜を失い、私のもとに春が訪ねることは二度とありませんでした。 p202

So good so good so so good. Just when you think it can't get any crazier, it does.. honestly this could be 3 or 4 completely different novels because of its scale, but it works amazingly well as one work. The 4D ""bubbles"" of the universe is such a cool theory. The paper slip GOD DAMN, i love how simple words like that or like ""droplet"" from volume 2 are actually such crazy plot points (i still remember being aux houches reading volume 2 and oscar asking me ""t'as lu la goutte?"" And i had no idea what he was talking about and Simon got it right away from just that and i thought it was so cool). Now that Shi Qiang and Luo Ji are kinda gone, Yun Tian Ming is honestly the protagonist. He gives so MUCH (i loved the coded children's tales and how we realize the connections much later) and the planets and the universe.. insane. I absolutely loved the trilogy so much. The only complaint is that by the end (last 80 pages ish, especially from the moment Cheng Xin and Yifan return to planet blue and find a door to a mini-universe) things become a bit… of a stretch.. either because it's too rushed or complex so i couldnt keep up with the science, or the science itself is too ""fiction"" and just didn't make much sense.

Murata Sayaka is pretty much writing the same thing in a slightly different setting.. critique of societal expectations for women (mainly marriage and childbirth), getting a bit repetitive. First part is alright, childhood trauma and the reaction to it, but second half of the book is a bit much, too natsy, not justified enough. Honestly the book caught my attention with the incest plot but i didnt sign up for cannibalism.. didn't like it

An unexpected gem. Makes you rethink the value of things and of life. Very touching and bitter--the death of a mother and the falling apart relationship between father and son, and the healing at the end.

Not as bad as I expected, very well written and a page turner, but a little disappointing in the end because most things remain unexplained. Ppl compare this book to a dream and it does feel like it, very surreal and i guess you just have to accept the fact that dreams don't have explanations to what happens in them. I didn't like the romantic/sexual relationships tho, like the 15 yo boy with the 50 yo lady is a bit unnecessary. We also still find misogenyst description of women here which doesnt usually bother me but i dont like it when murakami does it. And i'm starting to feel that everything he writes ends up revolving around a library, a mysterious woman, a dream space and the going in and out of it. Exactly the same themes in hard boiled wonderland and 100% perfect girl and more

I really liked the plot and the vast characters involved (directly and indirectly) in one crime. Loved how nonchalant the writing style is (i remember not liking this about Grotesque, i wonder why it reads different here), like when we find out Satake sends Kuniko's corpse to Masako for them to cut..! But I didn't like the sexual aspect of it.. why bring sex in as an excuse for murder.. it's impossible to relate or understand tbh. That really brought down my opinion of Out.

Surprised to rate a Pierre Lemaitre this low… but it was only ok. I loved the interchanging perspectives between the police and the victim, and also liked the character switch from victim to killer. I think Robe de Marié was just so freaking good that anything compared to it falls short… the plot was alright. Very sad and harsh back story that allows you to understand what drove Alex to become the way she is. Ultimately a vengeance story.

I love Minato Kanae. Top notch story telling. Detective fiction without a detective figure, like Confessions, the plot reveals itself through different characters' confessions. Very interesting how the murder affected the four girls differently and how people are always looking for who to blame when the real culprit is out of reach.

Good very good! I like how many characters the author managed to put in the spotlight and have us follow all of them. I wonder if this is a satire of the SF genre? With everyone debating about what's happening only for there to be no concrete answer at the end (the last page is very creative, hint of a simulation)