Reviews

Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano, Rachel Thorn

cat_thecatlady's review against another edition

4.0

the regular trigger warnings for any inio asano book: violence, sexual/physical assault, rape, suicidal tendencies, child abuse

it's really hard to explain how and why one can enjoy the work of inio asano. because his work is not "enjoyable" and certainly isn't fun. these books are almost always about extreme trauma and the way humans deal with it. nijigahara holograph is not an exception, at least in terms of themes. both plot and art-wise, I felt more like an artistic approach from the author. the story jumps a lot and sometimes is hard to keep up with all the timelines. it's not even totally clear who the protagonist of this story is. because of that and the overall motifs, this isn't a book to read lightly and you'll probably take more from it if you read it more than once.

I didn't love it as much as I did some of his other work but inio asano is an author that speaks deeply to me in a weird way and I'll always be an huge fan of all of his books

neilrcoulter's review against another edition

1.0

I saw this in the library, was intrigued by the cover, and checked it out. I shouldn't have. I don't understand much of what is going on in the story, but what I do understand is bleak and depressing.

guillejican's review against another edition

2.0

It was ok. Fast-paced, well drawn, simple yet mindfucking... But, after all that, it was only ok.

derotanim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

shonaningyo's review against another edition

2.0

There's something terribly wrong when the GoodReads synopsis tells me more about the story than I ever gleaned from reading it myself.

I don't want to go back to reread it. All I know is that I couldn't follow it at all.

ashlikes's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Cursing, Self harm, Violence, Incest, Suicide, Murder, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content and Body shaming

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Ableism

baileysmusical's review against another edition

2.25

The story felt disjointed with how often it swapped time, location, and characters. I’d probably get more out of it if I reread it but I don’t have a desire to do that at the moment. What was there was interesting, but I was so confused the entire time the actual point of the story felt lost to me.

kitsunebi_reads's review against another edition

3.0

Great concept. Poor execution. The story is so disjointed to the point of distraction. This was a let down for me.

shelbymarie32's review against another edition

3.0

there is no easy way to understand this novel. This is one of those things you really must read yourself and try to understand. It left me confused.

chloesnotscared's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Bullying