Review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Translated by Polly Barton)

Rating: 4.75/5 (Yes, I do fractions)

Synopsis: Manako Kajii is awaiting retrial for the murder of three men. Did she do it? Maybe, she's been found guilty once. Rika, a troubled woman manages to convince Kajii to talk to her during the visiting time and they both begin to explore their outlook on life, food, feminism and cultural expectations.

Spoiler free review:

This book really made me think, it is not something I would traditionally read. I mostly read fantasy and sci fi, and other speculative fiction. But a friend of mine, and I, started a sort of book club (Yes, with just two members). This is a book he suggested, and I am glad he did.

Bloody cows!

At multiple points in the book, the characters discuss, or experience the effects of cultural expectations in Modern Japan, specifically the expectations placed on women, to be petite, subservient and ideal house wives. It reflects how these ideas go on to hinder both genders. Despite going, at least in my opinion, quite in-depth with some of these ideas, it was still understandable to me, and I found the ideas were put across in a very engaging format.

Despite having conversations about a woman's role in the world it still manages to remain tense and kept me turning the pages as more and more information is revealed, as Rika, the protagonist discovers more about the enigmatic antagonist, Kajii.

Asako Yuzuki writes well and I found her prose comfortable to read for the most part, though sometimes I found her descriptions about the texture, and taste of food, while beautiful written, just seemed slightly unnecessary.

The characters were likable, but flawed. Sometimes they acted very irrationally, and specifically they acted like certain events were more important than, I would think. I don't know if this is specifically a cultural thing or I should just suspend my disbelief, either way it did not really hamper my enjoyment of the book.

The book is loosly based on 'The Konkatsu Killer' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanae_Kijima) a Japanese con woman who ended up murdering three of her lovers. I'll let you see for yourself how close 'Butter' follows the true events.

Overall, as you can see from my rating, I highly recommend this book. While not something I typically read, it was a great first read of the year for me. I can not comment on how good the translation is, but I had no issues, and everything made sense, though quite often I had to google a food that was spoken about, to get an idea of what it was. If Japanese crime, mixed with food and feminism are your cup of tea then you probably enjoy this book.