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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
All in all, it was a fun read! I enjoyed the story, the characters (especially the ghosts). If you’re an horror aficionado, it might be not extreme enough for you but it was a pleasant YA book (and now I wanna watch some Japanese horror movies. )
Meh. I enjoyed the story from Oikiku's point of view. All of the other characters detracted from the plot line I wanted to follow. Felt scattered and unfocused, like the author did not know which direction to take the readers.
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Strangely uninteresting. Barely any horror, one dimensional characters and an extremely predictable plot. And the ghost was waaaay too nice.
My heart weeps for the lost premise. Also for the stilted use of Japanese.
My heart weeps for the lost premise. Also for the stilted use of Japanese.
WHY DO I KEEP LOSING THIS REVIEW? FAIL, GOODREADS.
Sigh, I'll tell you all the things it's not - scary, interesting, romantic, authentic (some freakishly anglicised Japanese is present), worthwhile.
Skip it and read Anna Dressed in Blood instead.
Sigh, I'll tell you all the things it's not - scary, interesting, romantic, authentic (some freakishly anglicised Japanese is present), worthwhile.
Skip it and read Anna Dressed in Blood instead.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rin Chupeco has such a way with their characters that you can't help but to love them. Okiku is now my favorite ghost ever and learning that her legend is a real thing in Japanese folklore? I'm obsessed. And so grateful that Chupeco gave her story legs, Okiku is the influence to so much horror media it's a shame I haven't heard her mentioned until this novel.
My only criticism is that this novel felt like two different books. The first half with The Smiling Man could have been it's own story entirely, and I would have really enjoyed that. The latter half's focus on the Woman in Black also felt like it's own story, and I would have enjoyed reading that as well! Instead of cramming both parts into one, less than 300 page, novel I would have really enjoyed them as separate pieces. I know this is the start to a duology, but it genuinely could have been a trilogy and I would have felt more satisfied.
I'm still going to work my way through all of Chupeco's bibliography. I love their writing so damn much and thoroughly enjoy both their more fantastical other-world tales as well as this one that takes place in our modern world.
My only criticism is that this novel felt like two different books. The first half with The Smiling Man could have been it's own story entirely, and I would have really enjoyed that. The latter half's focus on the Woman in Black also felt like it's own story, and I would have enjoyed reading that as well! Instead of cramming both parts into one, less than 300 page, novel I would have really enjoyed them as separate pieces. I know this is the start to a duology, but it genuinely could have been a trilogy and I would have felt more satisfied.
I'm still going to work my way through all of Chupeco's bibliography. I love their writing so damn much and thoroughly enjoy both their more fantastical other-world tales as well as this one that takes place in our modern world.
Eerie. The way ghosts and demons exist and possess in this book is unpleasant. I did feel like we were occasionally told things that might have better been shown, but the key scenes were all well told. I felt for many of the characters, including some of the ghosts. There's more gore than I expected.
As far as horror novels go, Rin Chupeco's The Girl from the Well is my first this whole year and I craved this book like I crave Kit-Kats. Right off the bat, The Girl from the Well opens with the lines "I am where dead children go..." and I knew this novel was going to be a great book. It's short, the killings were right on point and I wanted Okiku to keep on going, and though it has some snags along the way, it is a great adaptation for a very famous fable/horror movie.
Okiku is a ghost with a vengeance, killing men who ravage and kill innocent children. And when she spots Tark and his ominous tattoos and a demon he just can't get rid of, Okiku helps keep the boy and his cousin safe once they are in the thick of it. The names in this novel are extremely out there for a Japanese horror re-imagining from Calliope to Tarquin to Kagura to Doug. And then there is one murder's name that I won't even revel in because it is completely up and over the hill. Besides the names, the characters are easy enough to distinguish between: Tark being sarcastic and quirky, friendly towards his cousin. Callie looks out for Tark, putting herself in danger to make sure he remains safe. Okiku, and this took me a while to finally understand , has two sides to her: the gentle apparition wanting to help Tark and Callie, and then the unadulterated rage towards her murder. And I was rooting for Okiku the entire time, wanting to know more about her past, and wanting her to finally see peace.
One of the snags with this novel, though, is the narration. Okiku is the central narrator of the story. A wallflower in most scenes. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish if the narration shifted from first person observer to third person omniscient because there were specific scenes where the narrator would know what the characters were thinking, feeling, etc. Is it plausable for Okiku, a ghost, to understand what the characters are thinking, feeling, seeing while being a disembodied narrator from across the room? I didn't think so while I was reading, and it made The Girl from the Well jumbled when POV would change from Callie and Tark straight into first person I.
And as far as pacing goes, it stars off very well in the beginning but then it feels like some pieces almost stuck together neatly, and that also goes back to narration where it isn't completely informed that Okiku can ghost from one place to another at the blink of an eye or that she knows pretty much everything that the characters say, think, do, feel, yada yada. But, once everything starts to get explained after I was thoroughly confused, the ending picks up nicely with an epic final battle. And the juxtaposition between Okiku's enraged spirit and her calm demeanor around the Callie and Tark was my favorite parts to read. Especially when the talk of fireflies comes in. Absolutely gorgeous.
Final Summation: The Girl from the Well received a plentiful amount of brownie points for re-imagining one of my favorite Japanese fables. And The Ring happens to be one of my favorite horror movies, so even more props. The balance between horrific and gentle imagery that Okiku describes throughout was one of my favorite parts of the novel. Who doesn't like bloated dead bodies one second and then beautiful firefly imagery of the souls of children departing to the afterlife. A short horror novel, easily read in one day. The Girl from the Well, does The Ring and the story of Okiku justice in a horrific yet stunning retelling.
Okiku is a ghost with a vengeance, killing men who ravage and kill innocent children. And when she spots Tark and his ominous tattoos and a demon he just can't get rid of, Okiku helps keep the boy and his cousin safe once they are in the thick of it. The names in this novel are extremely out there for a Japanese horror re-imagining from Calliope to Tarquin to Kagura to Doug. And then there is one murder's name that I won't even revel in because it is completely up and over the hill. Besides the names, the characters are easy enough to distinguish between: Tark being sarcastic and quirky, friendly towards his cousin. Callie looks out for Tark, putting herself in danger to make sure he remains safe. Okiku, and this took me a while to finally understand , has two sides to her: the gentle apparition wanting to help Tark and Callie, and then the unadulterated rage towards her murder. And I was rooting for Okiku the entire time, wanting to know more about her past, and wanting her to finally see peace.
One of the snags with this novel, though, is the narration. Okiku is the central narrator of the story. A wallflower in most scenes. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish if the narration shifted from first person observer to third person omniscient because there were specific scenes where the narrator would know what the characters were thinking, feeling, etc. Is it plausable for Okiku, a ghost, to understand what the characters are thinking, feeling, seeing while being a disembodied narrator from across the room? I didn't think so while I was reading, and it made The Girl from the Well jumbled when POV would change from Callie and Tark straight into first person I.
And as far as pacing goes, it stars off very well in the beginning but then it feels like some pieces almost stuck together neatly, and that also goes back to narration where it isn't completely informed that Okiku can ghost from one place to another at the blink of an eye or that she knows pretty much everything that the characters say, think, do, feel, yada yada. But, once everything starts to get explained after I was thoroughly confused, the ending picks up nicely with an epic final battle. And the juxtaposition between Okiku's enraged spirit and her calm demeanor around the Callie and Tark was my favorite parts to read. Especially when the talk of fireflies comes in. Absolutely gorgeous.
Final Summation: The Girl from the Well received a plentiful amount of brownie points for re-imagining one of my favorite Japanese fables. And The Ring happens to be one of my favorite horror movies, so even more props. The balance between horrific and gentle imagery that Okiku describes throughout was one of my favorite parts of the novel. Who doesn't like bloated dead bodies one second and then beautiful firefly imagery of the souls of children departing to the afterlife. A short horror novel, easily read in one day. The Girl from the Well, does The Ring and the story of Okiku justice in a horrific yet stunning retelling.
This being my first horror novel, I found it breathtaking and an enchanting story about a spirit who, with the knowledge that her soul will probably never be set free, sets upon exacting revenge on humans who perform unspeakable evils.
I really enjoyed this story and while horror is not my favorite genre to read, I was pleasantly surprised at how hard it was to put this book down. Rin Chupeco did a fantastic job for a debut and I look forward to what she has to offer in the future.
I really enjoyed this story and while horror is not my favorite genre to read, I was pleasantly surprised at how hard it was to put this book down. Rin Chupeco did a fantastic job for a debut and I look forward to what she has to offer in the future.
We are the fates that people fear to become. We are what happens to good persons and to bad persons and to everyone in between. Murdered deads live in storms without season, in time without flux. We do not go because people do not let us go.
I frankly haven’t heard of this book before, or I genuinely just don’t remember it, until, I read an article about it the other month. Read it here.
I usually shy away from anything horror related, mainly because I’m a complete wuss. Even though, I’ve seen handful of popular Japanese and Filipino thriller films before. Rest assured, I watched them through my fingers or with a pillow barricading half my face. You don’t make a girl with a wild imagination watch gory movies. You just don’t. It usually do not end well for the spirits and I.
Inspired by the well-known Japanese ghost story “Bancho Sarayashiki”, The Girl from the Well follows the story of Okiku. A dead girl who died in the well, three hundred years ago. A vengeful ghost who haunts predatory men.
Then she saw the boy with a peculiar tattoos, Tarquin. Okiku could not help but to find herself, unexpectedly drawn to him and his world and to the darkness that follows him around. She formed an attachment and protectiveness to him. Soon after, Tark have to confront the shadow that follows him. They have to go in Japan. There, Okiku would be force to revisit her own demons.
The Girl from the Well is not what I expected it to be and that is obviously not a bad thing. I was highly anticipating, I will pee my pants, but instead I scored a flowery and lyrical narration. While horror might not be my cup of tea, these things is totally are. It is lovely and delicious. Describing this book as such, totally say so much about my character.
Okiku, the narrator of the book have a penchant for counting things. I am ferociously captivated by that. I love seeing characters with little quirks and habits seamlessly woven to the plot. Aside from that, she is an engaging story teller.
“Men, right? Bastards, no matter the time or place.”
She is vindictive, have a thirst to make offenders pay for their inhuman transgression.
I release her soul outside the Stained Shirt Man’s apartment. By then she is nothing more than a glowing ball of fire cradled against my withered form. I close my eyes, trying to absorb every bit of warmth I can take from her—to bring out and remember during other colder nights—before lifting my hands to the sky. Unbidden, she rises up, floating briefly above me as if granting benediction, before she continues to soar higher and higher like an autumn balloon, until she becomes another speck of cloud, another trick of the light.
Fire,
fly.
But she also have a heart. She loves freeing all those children, who are bound to their killers so they can move on from their next life.
Meet Tarquin, the half Japanese main character of the story. All his life, he’s been haunted of things, he can’t control, his strange tattoos he always try to cover up. The scandals that surrounded him from his previous schools. The history of her mother, the fact that she attempted to strangled him countless of times. The old lady who follows him around.
I’ve always struggled connecting with male characters. I supposed, most cases it’s the way how they are written. But unlike his YA counterparts, I couldn’t connect with, Tarquin resonates with me. He deals with his problem. He is open-minded, to things that are unknown. He could also be funny and adorable.
Just the other day, I found a salon that specializes in giving girls crooked teeth. And this is considered adorable, if, uh, Japanese girls who look like vampires needing braces are supposed to turn men on. Also, there's a holistic care spa specializing in dogs. I think in my next life I'd like to come back as some rich Japanese lady's labradoodle and enjoy all these spoils. Kinda ironic that most hot spring resorts allow for dogs, but not for people with tattoos. So I guess in this current Japanese social hierarchy, we've got Japanese > pets > me.
Plot wise, its apparent Chupeco did a fine research. The Japanese culture is much embedded to the story. There is explanation, for those who are unfamiliar with certain phrases. It is well written. I love how she writes her words. While I couldn’t vouch for the Japanese representation. I could guarantee, The Girl from the Well is a remarkable debut.
I’m so excited to read more of Rin Chupeco’s books. It’s always nice to see, a fellow Filipino doing an admirable work.
Review also posted at Hollywood News Source.