I'm not sure what to feel about this book. I picked it up randomly thinking that the blurb sounded interesting and that it'd be a thriller. But this is just the surrounding plot of the book. It's about Rika a reporter, her best friend, Reiko and Manako Kajji, a woman held for the murder of 3 men. Rather than the murders themselves, it's about Rika's conversations with Kajji and how they affect her thoughts and lifestyle.
The book offers interesting insights about Japanese cuisine, culture, feminism, journalism and friendship.
I really wish that the culinary descriptions were a bit more concise, like I get it. It's just rice and butter. Don't drone about it for 5 pages.
Curious to know your thoughts about the book.
by CityPsychological190
3 Comments
This was my first taste of Japanese fiction and I have to agree with you.. I felt that I gained some insight into Japanese culture but the execution was off. It was a very interesting character study, but it dragged on and on and there was a random POV switch that threw me for a loop.
picked this up few months ago and had similar feelings about the food descriptions lol. like we get it the butter is melting and looks golden but move on already
the conversations between Rika and Kajji were really well done though. made me think about how women are expected to behave vs what they actually want. the whole thing with Reiko’s marriage was brutal to read in best way possible
not really thriller at all but more like psychological study disguised as crime story. probably would have enjoyed it more if i knew what i was getting in to
Hooked was much, much better. I liked Butter, her writing is good, but it was 100 pages longer than it needed to be and I hated the ending. I kept hoping something was going to escalate but ultimately felt like that never happened really. I do reccomend giving her other book Hooked a chance. There was a lot more pay off and things do actually escalate.