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2.72 AVERAGE
2.72 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don't usually read horror, so I'm not a good judge on if this is a good horror book. The atmosphere was acceptably creepy though. There might be some things I'm missing for not being familiar with the genre?
But the one thing I can really speak to is the use of yokai because I've studied yokai for graduate school. The author (imo) picked the wrong yokai for this story. So, the book explicitly calls out this yokai with blackened teeth as an ohaguro bettari. The visuals match. However, this type of yokai is commonly a prank. It's attributed to other trickster yokai who turn into this woman with black teeth, lure in an unsuspecting guy, then freak him out and cause him to run off screaming. That's it. The yokai laughs and things move on. They don't possess people, they don't kill people. They're just there to make fun of humans. There are plenty of other yokai, women who turn into vengeful spirits especially, that would have been a better fit for the story. Knowing what I do about the yokai used, I was just waiting for it to all turn into a prank of some kind. But that didn't happen. It really broke the story for me. And again, maybe I'm missing some nuance here, but I don't know.
But the one thing I can really speak to is the use of yokai because I've studied yokai for graduate school. The author (imo) picked the wrong yokai for this story.
tense
medium-paced
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You know what’s going to happen but it doesn’t make it not happen. A very interesting take on horror, and the simple shortness of it will have you thinking about it, wondering what sort of, perhaps less violent, inevitable horror you try to move on from yourself.
Also, I want to say I do understand the numerous 3 star ratings because…perhaps it’s not exactly what it says on the tin but I think if you see how short it is, you will understand that there is no deep exploration and that’s well, sort of the point I think
Also, I want to say I do understand the numerous 3 star ratings because…perhaps it’s not exactly what it says on the tin but I think if you see how short it is, you will understand that there is no deep exploration and that’s well, sort of the point I think
There’s a good ghost story in here somewhere. Because issue I have is the author is too focused on either showing off her vocabulary or her ability to use a thesaurus. I wouldn’t say the book was boring, but it definitely was a slog at times because of the fact she overburdened the reader with a sentence structure and word choice that wasn’t easily consumable regardless of having a vast vocabulary. The story meanders and doesn’t really know whether it’s a horror book or a drama.
3/5
3/5
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I feel like people have overhyped how bad this is. It was good! Not my favorite story ever, but nowhere near my least favorite. It was just good!
Listen, I lOVED the beginning of this novella. Cassandra Khaw has the most gorgeous and descriptive prose you almost feel like you're there!
Haunting and chilling are good ways to describe this one but the ending felt a little outa left field i thought i was reading a different book!! Not going to say too much because you really should read it yourself but yeah the ending didnt quite have the same hit as the beginning and the build up did
Still defo a good read, Cassandra Khaw does gore REALLY well and the atmosphere she creates is always on point.
Haunting and chilling are good ways to describe this one but the ending felt a little outa left field i thought i was reading a different book!! Not going to say too much because you really should read it yourself but yeah the ending didnt quite have the same hit as the beginning and the build up did
Still defo a good read, Cassandra Khaw does gore REALLY well and the atmosphere she creates is always on point.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced