Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

5 reviews

book_artiste's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Enjoyed the inclusion of feminist themes and think they were insightful from the perspective of women in Japan, but otherwise there were no "hot-takes" or new information for me in terms of this theme. Really enjoyed, however, how the plot was so well linked to this theme and did well to address many different issues in a natural way (didn't feel forced/performative). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Mental illness

NOTE: mislabeled trigger warnings as graphic, these are mainly moderate to mild but be aware these themes exist in the book

nix_jinx's review

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

The writing and, by extension, the translation, are phenomenal. I loved how the the descriptions of food were woven into so much of the character's perspective. 
Ultimately, this felt like an exploration of psychological manipulations, the subtleties and insidiousness. You have a character who overtly attempts to exude control over those who come into contact with her, but then you also have all the different influences who seek to control more subtly. Having the stark contrast of women fighting to live for something other than the men in their lives, and those fighting for the status quo in which men are all that matters was uncomfortable and powerful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

voicenextdoor's review

reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Fatphobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

kayleighoneillonwheels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Rape

cphunter's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. A commentary on women’s bodies, on food, on cultural traditions, on interpersonal relationships, on power dynamics and gender imbalance, on obsession, on manipulation, on rurality vs urban living. The descriptions of food were literally mouthwatering and the plot was unlike anything else I’ve read. 
It was quite long but very readable. I wish there had been more insight and commentary on queerness as it was touched upon very loosely, but these aren’t criticisms as both shortening the book and including queerness into its commentary on relationships/desire/gender expectations, would have made it a very different book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Violence, and Animal cruelty