Kurze Inhaltsangabe
Hitomi Kaneharas preisgekrönter Debütroman erzählt von einer schockierenden Liebesbeziehung, in der Leidenschaft und Schmerz, Licht und Dunkelheit, Liebe und Hass sich die Waage halten. Lui ist auffallend schön und gelangweilt. Entschlossen, die eigenen Grenzen zu überschreiten, bittet sie den Meistertätowierer Shiba um ein Rückentatoo. Als Gegenleistung fordert Shiba ihre Unterwerfung. Lui willigt ein, doch dann muss sie sich ihren Obsessionen stellen. ( )

Lui is a nineteen year old girl who falls in deep with a stranger she only know as Ama. Why? Because of his reptile-like tongue. She enters the world of tattoos and piercings blindly like a child at a candy store, hoping to get something cool out of it.

During this exploration of the underworld, she meets Shiba-san, a tattoo artist.

The masochist in her longs for the sadist (Shiba-san) yet the "Barbie-girl" in her is attached to Ama--even though she's fucking the other guy.

The books leads you through obvious twists and turns after an accidental murder.

It reads like a Hot Topic-ish sort of book. Something that isn't worth any time, minus the fact that it's only 120 pages long. ( )

Semi-random purchase in the used book section. I'd never heard of this, but I was promised an international bestseller, a prize winner, and a look at underground culture in Japan. How could I resist?

The reviews for this book are deeply divided, and it's easy to see why. This book has explicit sex, a nihilistic and depressed narrator, sadomasochism, and body modification. It's easy for all of that to come off as sensationalistic — especially for readers so far removed from the culture this book is steeped in — it makes it harder to judge how grounded in reality it is.

I didn't always enjoy this book. In fact, I was making some very extreme faces in public while reading some of these scenes. But I was always fascinated.

Seriously, all the content warnings, but especially for violence, rape, body horror, eating disorders. ( )

This was really interesting, I'd never read anything from a Japanese writer before this & I really liked it. Its about a girl who's with this punk guy (I think this is a big deal in Japan, because she's a "Barbie Girl" & I don't think the two groups mix), & she's getting body mods from his friend who fucks her as payment. It does sound quite messed up, & would sound even more so if I were to tell you the ending, but I really, really enjoyed it. Plus, its the only book I think I've ever read in one day. ( )

Thoroughly repulsive. I mean that in a bad way. ( )