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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, War
Spiders/Arachnophobia
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
No
Meiko and Aiko try to find something close to regular life inside the internment camp they have been forced into as WW2 rages on. However, a mysterious disease spreads through the camp seemingly only harming the Japanese prisoners inside. Aided by a newspaper reported and a widowed missionary they soon to discover that what is attacking them might just be a demon itself.
Craft-wise this story was very unfocused and had too much going on to make a fully coherent story and narrative. Each character/POV feels like a fragment and it never felt cohesive even when they came together. Meiko and Aiko were the most interesting and I think the story could have just been them and maybe not moved as fast. The missionary’s story was boring and felt very disconnected from the rest of the story and yet we start with him which seems like an easy way to turn off many readers. The newspaper reporter was slightly better but her story was so convoluted and felt like something I read before. For a horror story this story lacked tension because it kept jumping between these people and had very little momentum happening.
I liked the historical background and learned a decent amount from this story. The supernatural happening in this story was also interesting and I think I would like to read about it again in a different book. Katsu clearly has a vision and can write but this story felt very discombobulated and I am pretty disappointed that it didn’t work for me. 2/5.
Craft-wise this story was very unfocused and had too much going on to make a fully coherent story and narrative. Each character/POV feels like a fragment and it never felt cohesive even when they came together. Meiko and Aiko were the most interesting and I think the story could have just been them and maybe not moved as fast. The missionary’s story was boring and felt very disconnected from the rest of the story and yet we start with him which seems like an easy way to turn off many readers. The newspaper reporter was slightly better but her story was so convoluted and felt like something I read before. For a horror story this story lacked tension because it kept jumping between these people and had very little momentum happening.
I liked the historical background and learned a decent amount from this story. The supernatural happening in this story was also interesting and I think I would like to read about it again in a different book. Katsu clearly has a vision and can write but this story felt very discombobulated and I am pretty disappointed that it didn’t work for me. 2/5.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
Spiders.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I feel like the writing style is a bit too simplistic for what I want to read right now. Lots of nondescriptive words like "scary" and telling rather than showing.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes