Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

12 reviews

kimib79's review

dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

This book started off strong and then just dragged on and on. It could have been 300 pages or perhaps fewer. Her married friend is bat crap crazy, fyi. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Minor: Blood, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

sterredinah's review against another edition

inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Infertility, and Pedophilia

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

moa's review against another edition

dark informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, and Sexual assault

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

teaandbooksnuggery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

minimicropup's review

inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

This felt like a made-for-me story, I loved it so much. I miss this world and these characters, especially Rika. 

 

Energy: Cautious. Insightful. Suffusive. 

Scene: 🇯🇵 Various Tokyo districts and Niigata, Japan

Perspective: We follow a journalist in their day-to-day life. Work success is their sole ambition until a rare interview with an accused serial killer catalyzes a re-examination of their life and how society's expectations have prevented them from embracing their Best Life. We also get a snippet of their bestie, who has a different Best Life, and how they navigate those expectations.  

 

🐩 Tail Wags: All of it... Food as a metaphor. The characters, both likeable and unlikeable. The slow burn with meaning. How both men and women suffer under societal expectations. And those foodie descriptions 🤤

 

🤔 Random Thoughts:

I went in expecting a food horror, but it wasn’t that. It’s literary fiction with tastes, textures, smells, and visuals. I’d describe this as a subtle, profound, symbolic exploration of domesticity, service to others, and true happiness and success. 

 

Slow burn character and societal study, using food to explore different themes. It’s meandering, kind of random, just existing. It could read as dull if you don’t like that style. 

 

There’s room for reader interpretation and alliance with different characters and their values, this could be a good book club discussion book. 

 

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🎬 Tale-Telling: Poetic, meticulous (in a good way), reflective, with a touch of surrealism. 

🤓 Reader Role: Thrown into the story. Exploring the themes, messages, and existential questions with Rika and her friend Reiko. 

🗺️ World-Building: Rich, sensory, abundantly detailed but not overexplainy. Tranquil yet gritty, even disgusting sometimes. Immersive and cinematic. Tiny bit of info-dumping with stations, but glad they were included so I could explore via YouTube & Google Earth. 

🔥 Fuel: Emotional investment in character transformations– whether you like ‘em or not, how will this year play out for them? Will Rika and Reiko grow apart or closer? Will Rika choose to stay in her relationship or move on? Will she be able to publish her interviews with an accused serial killer? Is the accused  a killer or something worse? 

📖 Cred: Semi-realistic with hyper-realistic moments and a sprinkling of absurdist pointlessness

🚙 Journey: Slow burn gradually unfolding in complex layers. Snuggled in a thunderstorm, working on a favourite hobby, contemplating how things could have been. 

 

Mood Reading Match-Up:

• Wintery nights. Soft snores. Ambient office sounds. Cigarette smoke and coffee. Fresh butter. Train announcements. Paper grocery bags. Wet soil. Smokiness. Cumin. Fried meat. Cake baking. Ramen slurps. Roast turkey. Sounds of home and comfort.
• Bizarro melting into slice-of-life literary fiction. 
• Found family and friendships
• Social commentary around gender roles and failures of traditional indicators of success and happiness 

 

Content Heads-Up: Body shaming (fat). Fertility struggles. Murder. Fatphobia. Double standards. Misogyny. Toxic gender roles. Adult/minor relationship. Escort/sex work. Pedophilia (stalking, molestation; recall). Loss of parent. Stroke. Hit and run. Emotional incest. Narcissism.

 

Rep: Fat. Thin. Voluntarily childfree. Involuntarily childless. Japanese. Queer. Cisgender. Heterosexual.

 

📚 Format: Library Digital

🤩 Potential Fav of 2024

 

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Moderate: Infertility and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

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

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

Moderate: Infidelity and Infertility

mela_gella's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Pedophilia