Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

15 reviews

rieviolet's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I think that the book was really not for me. I did not get along with the writing style, it was too sentimental for me. 
Also, I did not connect with most of the characters, so many times while a character or another was going on and on with a monologue I found myself thinking "What is this person talking about? Should I care? I'm just bored".

I do not like the way transness was handled in the main story (and in the attached bonus short story), I should maybe be a little less harsh in my judgement given that the book was published in the 80s but, still, it was not pleasant to read, especially seeing how it ended.

Also, I listened to the audiobook and it made the reading experience even worse. I have to accept that audio format is not for me; I was already not much taken by the story, but by having to listen to it instead of focusing on a written page, my mind wandered time and time again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Grief, Murder, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Outing, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Car accident, and Fatphobia

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

vaniafernandez_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Stalking, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

8bitlapras's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Transphobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Car accident

Minor: Self harm

introvertinterrupted's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Mental illness

demo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Terminal illness

The transphobia in Kitchen occurs not solely in depictions of the violent mistreatment of the trans character but primarily through the author's handling of the character's transness. The narrator and other characters regularly deadgender the trans character and this is depicted as lighthearted and affectionate.