“(Ab)Normal Desire” Ryo Asai (2021) Review | You, too

正欲
朝井リョウ, 2021 
(Ab)Normal Desire
Ryo Asai
Japan
528 pages
Read in 2025.10
check price on amazon.com
(Not available in English yet)

✔ Unusual sexuality
✔ Japanese society and its expectation 
✔ Diversity


🔽 Review summary 🔽
★★★★★ A heavy read, because it's saying to you "I know you are thinking the same". Sure it's easy to accept and celebrate the diversity that's within your imagination, but what if someone's desire is way beyond what you can possibly imagine?


🔽 Book review and notes 🔽

It's a heavy read.
And I was thinking why, and it's not merely because you don't really understand their (ab)normal desires and how they are treated by others.
But it's because the book is saying to you "I know you are thinking the same"
"I know you think I'm gross"
"I know you only tolerate diversity that's convenient to you"
"I know you too have a secret you can't tell anyone"

The title seiyoku, normally means "sexual desires".
The author applied the word "correct" so the title now means "correct desires".

It's easy to accept and celebrate the diversity that's within your imagination.
What if someone's desire is way beyond what you can possibly imagine?
Would you be able to accept that it exists? 
Would the society be able to accept it as a possibility?

After all happiness of us people is to connect with others, whoever you are.
To be understood.
In this cruel world, it was a miracle that the main characters met, and they found someone with whom they didn't have to hide their true selves.

Within our little lives and in history, we keep making mistakes by not accepting others, but we keep working on it, it's the best we can do.

🔽 Where to buy / Summary and more info 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

正欲 (新潮文庫 あ 78-3) (Japanese)

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
正欲 (新潮文庫 あ 78-3) (Japanese)

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
正欲 (Japanese)