Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

13 reviews

phantomfighter724's review against another edition

dark sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Body shaming, Violence, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, and Eating disorder

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Alcohol, Dementia, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Incest, Addiction, and Pedophilia

mirrorofneptune's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

One of the official reviews of this book describes it as less of a crime novel and more of a character study, and I agree with that. The cast of characters are all morally ambiguous and unreliable narrators, and it was interesting to see their multiple takes on the same events. The book leaves a lot up for interpretation but that’s definitely intentional on the author’s part. There’s a recurring motif of what makes someone monstrous/“grotesque” that I found fascinating, especially in the context of Kirino’s other works. 

Overall: a book that navigates intense and dark subject matters without sugar-coating or glamorizing, while asking some deep questions about how people (but particularly women) interact with society. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Minor: Incest, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Murder

fedeapi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Body shaming, Murder, and Sexual content

malessia's review

dark sad 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Incest, and Bullying

Minor: Suicide

charliereads23's review

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

peach0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, and Trafficking

Moderate: Body shaming and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Misogyny and Incest

al07734's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

Kizue is me. I am a Kizue. Beautiful and dark. It really made me think a lot, and definitely not in a good way. This novel provokes a lot of dark thoughts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

ariesbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Incest

Moderate: Eating disorder, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Suicide

sspaghettiboness's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

First of all, this book is beautifully written. I don’t read female authors as often as I’d like, but I felt such a deep kinship with this book as it explored things like female rivalry, ageing, and a culture which commodifies sex and youth. 

The diary sections are, by far, the most fun and interesting to read. Kirino does such a fantastic job of maintaining her high level writing while also giving each character a distinctiveness it’s impossible to doubt who is who. 

Overall it was a great read, there are some slow patches which I found less than engaging, but this is a book worth sticking with! Very thought provoking about some heavy subject matter while unfolding at a true crime pace. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Eating disorder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Misogyny

Minor: Incest, Fatphobia, Murder, and Excrement

ceciliabereadin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

This book needed to be 100 pages shorter but other than that, I found it so interesting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexism, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Bullying, Classism, Death, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Incest, Murder, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Toxic friendship