Did Butter live up to the hype?

This episode's pick: Butter by Asako Yuzuki is a Japanese literary sensation that’s an unusual blend of murder mystery and food writing. Inspired by a true crime case, it’s about women, food, desire, and manipulation. Did it win us over, or was it all sizzle and no steak (or…butter)?

In this episode, we cover:

How hype and translation shaped our expectations

Food writing: sensory delight or just too much butter?

The themes of feminism, appetite, and self-denial

What worked (and what didn’t) in the structure and pacing

The real-life case that inspired the story

Cultural context: Japanese gender expectations, food, and shame

Why we both found the ending half-baked

💋 And, of course, we rate it: Kiss, Kill, or Marry?

⏰ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: travel tales, hotel room hijinks, and book club catch-ups03:00 – Book reveal: Butter by Asako Yuzuki07:00 – Author bio: awards, accolades, and first English translation10:00 – Our Kiss, Kill, Marry ratings reveal14:00 – First impressions: love, food, and frustration20:00 – Food obsession or feminist statement?28:00 – Thoughts on setting, style, and Japanese cultural nuance37:00 – That turkey chapter and the world’s longest ending40:00 – Real-life inspiration: the “Konkatsu Killer” case44:00 – Ethics of writing fiction based on true crime48:00 – Final thoughts: what was the point (and why butter, not margarine)?

📖 Coming up next:

👉Next Ep we’re chatting to Kelly Rimmer about How High You Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Then comes All The Colours of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker followed by In the Woods by Tana French with author Dervla McTiernan.

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