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2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood
Moderate: Vomit
Sorry to all my friends who have to look at this creepy ass cover on their feeds
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I suspect that consuming this book in an audio format was a mistake, and I may revisit the story in a paper format to see how the books reads with the visuals.
There were parts where I could not tell if it was internal or external dialogue. I suspect some of the clarity issues for me were because it was audio and that there may have been design in the page layout that would have made things clearer.
There was an interesting use of repetition. I liked the set up of the haunted house and the ghost story contest, but I don't think it was used to their full potential.
There were parts where I could not tell if it was internal or external dialogue. I suspect some of the clarity issues for me were because it was audio and that there may have been design in the page layout that would have made things clearer.
There was an interesting use of repetition. I liked the set up of the haunted house and the ghost story contest, but I don't think it was used to their full potential.
"Cat, this is literally the part where the supporting cast dies horribly. You're bisexual. I'm the comic relief. It's going to be one of us."
I'm honestly baffled by the low rating this story has on GR. I even done the thing that I stopped doing about a year ago for the sake of my mental health and read a few one and two-stars reviews. I still don't get it.
The offending qualities seem to be:
1. The language which I thought was gorgeous. I guess I really like horrors with atmosphere that is rooted in the strange beauty of slowly rotting house. It gave me Crimson Peak vibes, but in Heian-era edition, which, yes please! I feel that the language was a perfect fit for this and for the language alone I will read more Cassandra Khaw's writing.
2. The fourth-wall breaking, which... okay, I might not be objective here because I just finished [b:Miss Percy's Travel Guide to Welsh Moors and Feral Dragons|61668221|Miss Percy's Travel Guide to Welsh Moors and Feral Dragons (Miss Percy Guide, #2)|Quenby Olson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666683686l/61668221._SY75_.jpg|91059640] which does the breaking in the worst annoying way possible, so I thought that it was excellently used here. I also feel that the story wouldn't work so well without it. Because what this story does is that it takes traditional horror tropes and flips them with marginalised people in mind. Who is the hero, who is the person who always dies first etc. The protagonists of the story are very aware that they are the people who would usually die first and that adds an interesting layer to the whole story.
3.The book is smart... eh... yes? How can this be a bad thing?
Ohaguro-bettari from Ehon Hyaku Monogatari
4. The author doesn't explain all the Japanese mythology. I mean... why should they? I have to say that I didn't google as I read just because I was doing the audio and also because I didn't want to stop and I was still fine, I still really enjoyed the story. I actually don't think that it was that heavy on the folklore... But also, this kind of complain is incredibly privileged and just... you know, it pisses me off. I mean, learning new things while reading is fun, no? Why would you want to read only about things you already know about. And why should the author lead you by hand the whole time?!
5. The book isn't scary... I mean, I'm not a great judge on this. I'm almost never scared by horror. I usually find horror books hilarious and that worked for me here as well (I laughed aloud so many times that it's kind of embarrassing, especially since I was listening to the last part while on train...). I have to admit though that there were places that absolutely made my stomach churn
Spoiler
like the teeth puling, or the scrotum descriptions...I guess my point is, I read horror for two reasons 1. some horrors write about certain kinds of oppression and exploring those themes (like [b:The Queen of the Cicadas|55711311|The Queen of the Cicadas|V. Castro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618150901l/55711311._SY75_.jpg|86883797] or [b:Camp Damascus|61884782|Camp Damascus|Chuck Tingle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1664285565l/61884782._SY75_.jpg|97258162]) 2. other horrors are just great fun to read (like [b:Queen of Teeth|58556306|Queen of Teeth|Hailey Piper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1626291483l/58556306._SX50_.jpg|88315401] though you could argue that it also has a social commentary). This book, for me had a bit of both, so... perfect for me. I guess, I don't particularly want books to scare me and it usually doesn't happen anyway, so...
This was a short novel but the cover art was the scariest thing about it. The narrator mispronounced several common English words so I wondered if perhaps it wasn’t her first language. It threw me out of the story every time it occurred.
The conflict was mildly interesting but when things were getting Very Bad, it abruptly was resolved with a summary and then a weird, unsatisfying epilogue. I didn’t understand the whole point of the novel and it didn’t feel like any actual change happened to the remaining characters.
The conflict was mildly interesting but when things were getting Very Bad, it abruptly was resolved with a summary and then a weird, unsatisfying epilogue. I didn’t understand the whole point of the novel and it didn’t feel like any actual change happened to the remaining characters.
I was really excited to read this because I'm a big fan of cover art, and this looked amazing. I was stoked to read a horror story based in Japanese folklore. I'm sorry to say I was pretty disappointed. There was definitely creepy imagery and lots of folklore was mentioned, but I thought it could have been explored more, or taken a more central place in the story. The characters all seemed awful and totally at odds throughout the story. The language was a bit overwrought, which gets distracting for me, and some of the narration and dialogue seemed repetitive and unnecessary.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
