Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Butter

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

22 reviews

fionag's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

A read I was disappointed by. I agree with a lot of reviews I’ve seen that this book is a lot longer than it needs to be and could’ve been much sharper if a couple hundred pages were cut. I also think that the marketing of this book was perhaps misleading, as from the content on socials I assumed this would be the story of a journalist slowly siding with a killer and joining the dark side, a la Hannibal. It’s a shame because the first part of the book I enjoyed and then it fell off for me. Some discussions of sexism felt far too on the nose and I don’t think they were adding anything new. I didn’t like our main character and I thought she didn’t have any agency. The ‘twist’ at the end was so unsurprising and there’s a part in the middle that annoyed me and felt pointless. Also the body shaming is extreme and something I grew bored of, though if you were struggling with disordered thoughts I can imagine this would be really triggering. The narration on audio felt a bit strange as I struggled to get where a paragraph changed and it felt a bit rushed. Overall definitely not for me but the food descriptions were amazing and I really did find Kajii an intriguing character

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book_artiste's review against another edition

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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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dorothy_shack's review against another edition

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There was a lot of talk about body size/shape/changes due to changes in diet/societal stuff about bodies and food that I’m honestly not in a good place to read, now or ever. I came for food descriptions, not breathless depictions of how gross-but-somehow-alluring a chubby probable-murderer is.

The writing itself is evocative and well-done, so if you’re up for a lot of discussion about Japanese societal expectations of women’s bodies and behavior, you might enjoy this more than I did.

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nix_jinx's review against another edition

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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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teaandbooksnuggery's review

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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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kirstym25's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.75

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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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.

----

🎬 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 🐶

Content Warnings

kayleighoneillonwheels's review

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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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linde_ahobbit's review

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dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It's wonderfully written and gives an interesting insight into Japanese culture surrounding women. I found the characters intriguing and loved the character development and relationships between the characters in this book. The food descriptions were wonderful. Trigger warning: if the discussions of weight, weight gain, food and fatphobia are triggering for you, I would skip this book.

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siriface's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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