Butter Paperback – 29 February 2024

Enjoyed a book from beginning to end, after a long time. Loved the premise of crime and a detailed exploration that the author makes of how the protagonist unfurled about herself through a series of meetings with a woman on trail for multiple murders and how food is the hook

Just finished reading this book and I’mglad to say this was a good read.Inspired by true events, Butter is a compelling story of a serial killer and her comeuppance. While this book has traces of a thriller, it leans heavily on the character study of Manako Kaji, her journey. If this book is approached as a thriller with expectations of suspense and a great ending, you’ll be disappointed.Coming to the book, I have to credit the translator, Polly Barton for doing a stupendous job in getting the tone just right for the book. Asako Yuzuki herself can be called a master of butter with her words. The prose in this book is easy to read yet very complex in it emotions. It draws parallels of food while talking about feminism, societal expectations of women, their bodies, achieving true freedom in one’s life and does an excellent job in achieving that. It definitely made me hungry and I wanted to eat some butter whilst thinking about life. Such is this book, deeply contemplative and delicious.However, being at 464 pages, this does become a tedious read. I had to give myself a little nudge to finish the book past 250 pages. It needed a better edit and could’ve been much concise in the story.

This is a story about hunger: for food, for connection, for sensuality, for friendship, for knowledge, for independence, and for acceptance.A world in which women are expected to feed and nurture men but literally, and metaphorically, starve themselves – at one point author observes that the average Japanese woman now routinely consumes fewer daily calories than women post-WW2, a period in Japan notorious for famine and mass starvation.I thought Yuzuki’s book was a worthwhile read overall, it offers some interesting insights into Japanese society,it presents itself as a thriller, but its darker waters hide provoking themes of isolation, gender roles, societal expectations, body image, and autonomy. Our protagonist, Rika, is a thirty-something journalist who is attempting to get an exclusive interview with a woman who is on trial for the murder of three men—who she seduced with delicious home cooking .Slow read and this book Could have been half the size as it was very very dragged book but luscious food writing made huge craving for butter, and I'm going to buy the highest quality butter and put it on a bowl of steamed rice with soy sauce and maybe a fried egg on top.😀

I can't recall how I came across this book, but I am very glad that I read it. It's a phenomenal read, more of a psychological drama than a how-done-it. Who's the protagonist of the book: is it Kaiji the accused killer, or Rika, the investigating journalist? Many of the central characters are female, etched out to embody different choices women make in a society.Though it's a thriller novella, because of the context and the characters, it's also a socio-cultural commentary, allowing for self-reflection. Enjoyable on many levels & I suspect, I will re-read it soon 👍

I really liked it! The writing was so smooth and mysterious.. also dont evn get me started on how the author have written about food ..especially those descriptions on how butter is a game changer.. Though one thing I would like to remind who read this is that.. this book is written from the perspective of a journalist.. not a detective .. so don't get carried away.

Mind blowing! The book takes you on a mind boggling foodgasmic thriller journey! Would recommend it to everyone! It showcases such a raw, yet polished journey, that it leaved you wanting for more on every page.. Amazing!

Left me pondering about the life of Rika. Kind of self realisation hit me. It’s not about win or lose. It’s about living on.

The premise of is very interesting but it was a real slog to get through. I don't know if it's the writing or the translation, but the language feels forced and formal, also over-explaining every thought instead of letting the reader think for themselves. Every meal is so lusciously described that it begins to feel like a gimmick. The central points of misogyny and expectations of women are very true, but overall the book is overhyped, imho.