Kata

I met this book by accident — and it was one of the best spontaneous meetings of my life. I bought it for a very low price at a local bookstore sale while thinking that I should start reading again (about 2 years ago), and it turned out to be the perfect way to come back to reading.

The book isn’t too long — only 381 pages — and it’s pretty easy and light to read, even though the topics it covers are pretty heavy. Things that positively surprised me about this book:

1. Despite the fact that the book was written by a man (from the point of view of a woman, in third person) you don’t feel it at all. There’s no male gaze in it, and that felt really nice.
2. The topic of misogyny and violence against women is handled amazingly. The book includes a lot of official statistics — no “not all men” speeches, just pure facts. It actually hurts to read because of how truthful it is, like the author is operating on you without anesthesia. But it’s definitely worth it.
3. The author did a great job of describing women’s friendship, mutual help, solidarity and support.
4. The main character isn’t blinded by rage — she builds her revenge on a solid foundation and plans everything carefully and in detail.

This book has a lot of the same vibes as Gone Girl and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, which is great if you love those books (as much as I do) — chances are you’ll love this one too.

Why didn’t I give it 10/10?

First of all, I didn’t quite understand the weird dreams (or maybe drug trips?) that the main character had.

Second of all, the last revenge scene felt out of character for the main heroine and didn’t quite fit into the rest of the story.