Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder

This book was everything ‘I didn't' expect it to be and nothing I did expect. I liked a lot of how it was more or less like social and psychological commentary of not just the Japanese society but also most other cultures and societies.

But it wasn't why I picked up the book and that's perhaps why it was kind of a let down? It also could've been a tad shorter for some bits felt quite unnecessarily slow. I did really appreciate the explorations of our relationship with food, however.

Why, when her desire was the most natural thing, was she not brave enough to look it in the eye?

phenomenal characters; the women particularly felt refreshingly whole & distinct, despite the novel exploring their similarities. the in-depth characters made the relationships so much more satisfying--rika's growing obsession with kaiji, only interrupted by her life-long love for reiko, rika's banal romantic relationship with makoto, her grief regarding her dad and her mom... incredibly beautiful & well-written.