


It would be much more likely that no one would have believed her. False rape accusations get an enormously disproportionate amount of coverage in popular culture, especially compared to the vast majority of sexual assaults that are never reported, never prosecuted, and never convicted. One of the major problems in the story is, of course, the false rape allegation. Shiro is murdered several years before the events of the novel take place Tsukuru didn’t hear about it at the time, and the mystery is never solved (or even investigated, as far as I could tell). Kuro later tells him that Shiro was definitely raped, but by someone else (she doesn’t know who, nor does the reader), and she was pregnant. The others believed her and cut him off however, they shortly began doubting her story, but never investigated further. As an adult, he discovers that it was because one of the girls, Shiro, accused him of drugging and raping her when she stayed with him one weekend. One of the key plot points in the story revolves around Tsukuru’s rejection from his high school group of friends. Spoilers and trigger warning for the review! It’s my least favorite Murakami by far, and also made me so angry that it’ll honestly be a while until I pick up another book by him. Short summary: I really, really disliked this book. Where’d I find it? I usually like Murakami and the audiobook was available on Overdrive when I needed a new audiobook to listen to while working. Title: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
