Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - ユージニア [Yūjinia]

There seem to be two kinds of Japanese novels for me. Either I love them from the first to the last page... or I love them until about 85% of the book and then the endings disappoints me. This one falls under the second category, I fear.
I really enjoyed it for the most part. Spent the whole day reading and couldn't put it down because I was so intrigued by the story and the way it was told. Loved the atmosphere. The characters and plot were fascinating. I enjoyed the writing style and the themes. But then the ending... ah, I felt let down. Or maybe I just didn't understand it. Which would also be disappointing.

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tiemzahra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad 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? N/A

2.0

In 1960s, 17 people died of cyanide poisoning in Aosawa house party, leaving the blind daughter, Hisako as the only survivor. The police was convinced that Hisako was the culprit, despite her very young age when the tragedy happened, even by the author of the bestselling book of the murder who was Hisako’s childhood friend. The mystery was narrated through testimonies of different people; family members, witnesses, neighbours, investigators, and Hisako herself.

This book is cryptic, and the mystery is fascinating, but I think this book is strictly not for me due to the ambiguous ending. I also needed an exceptional focus to read this book, and by the end of reading this, I was exhausted. It’s another thing that this book has a confusing ending, it’s another when the whole process left me baffling. As I own a physical copy, I feel obligated to finish reading, but any other situation, I probably have DNF-ed it.

This book suits readers who love mysterious and dark fiction with different approach in thriller.

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nisha_nee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is a Japanese murder mystery that takes the unconventional route from formulaic mysteries as the writing style that greatly contributed to the poetic style of the story was told in a way the reader is aware of another person in the room. There were still some unexplained events happening and the ending is open-ended, vague, and is up to the reader's interpretation. If you like a solid murder mystery with a murderer, motive, and explanation how they did it, then this book is not for you.

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