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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This book contains three stories of differing lengths. The title story concerns the killing of a nine year-old girl and subsequent cover-up by the boy and girl she thought were her friends. The added twist is that the story is told by the victim all the way through, even after her death. I found it a little implausible that two kids could outwit the police (and others, though this is partly explained in the end) for so long, but the suspense is genuine as they come close to getting caught again and again.
"Yuko" is the shortest story and is about a housekeeper who works for a kind but eccentric man who won't let her go into one of the rooms, where his ill wife resides. After a while, she begins to suspect that there is no wife, but the truth about the events that unfold are not what she (or the reader) will expect.
"Black Fairy Tale" is a short novel (a little over 200 pages) about a teen-aged girl who receives an eye transplant, and starts to see visions. She soon realizes that she is experiencing the memories of the eye's previous owner, and finds herself immersed in a mystery involving a missing girl and a writer with a disturbing power. This story is not for the faint-hearted. A black fairy tale, indeed.
"Yuko" is the shortest story and is about a housekeeper who works for a kind but eccentric man who won't let her go into one of the rooms, where his ill wife resides. After a while, she begins to suspect that there is no wife, but the truth about the events that unfold are not what she (or the reader) will expect.
"Black Fairy Tale" is a short novel (a little over 200 pages) about a teen-aged girl who receives an eye transplant, and starts to see visions. She soon realizes that she is experiencing the memories of the eye's previous owner, and finds herself immersed in a mystery involving a missing girl and a writer with a disturbing power. This story is not for the faint-hearted. A black fairy tale, indeed.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
two tense and creepy little stories - they feel a little formulaic, but the twists keep them interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Blood
Minor: Self harm
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I feel so bad giving this a 3 star rating but I can't lie, it wasn't such a great reading experience for me.
The first one, which shares it's title with the book, was OK. Weird but OK, although the mentality of the murdered child narrating the plot is beyond bamboozling. In fact, all the children were weird and off-putting. But it was a unique idea and therefor gripping. 3 stars.
Story number 2 was creepy! Dolls freak me the fuck out and this tale was short and clever. Loved it. 4 stars because I felt the idea wasn't fully developed.
Final story was not for me. Interesting, with an utterly unusual concept but boy was it unpleasant to read. And a little repetitive. The way the protagonist lost her eye in the first place was just ridiculous. The way her friends and family reacted to her memory loss awful. The concept of the transplanted eye playing out memories was super cool. The villain and their unique ability was distinctive and special but what he choose to do with, man, I felt ill reading those descriptions. Also animal cruelty is just not my bag. I get it, want to show someone's a psychopath, have them torture animals but it's so distasteful I can't bear it anymore. 2 stars.
So that averaged out at a 3. You need a strong stomach for the last tale which is also the longest.
The first one, which shares it's title with the book, was OK. Weird but OK, although the mentality of the murdered child narrating the plot is beyond bamboozling. In fact, all the children were weird and off-putting. But it was a unique idea and therefor gripping. 3 stars.
Story number 2 was creepy! Dolls freak me the fuck out and this tale was short and clever. Loved it. 4 stars because I felt the idea wasn't fully developed.
Final story was not for me. Interesting, with an utterly unusual concept but boy was it unpleasant to read. And a little repetitive. The way the protagonist lost her eye in the first place was just ridiculous. The way her friends and family reacted to her memory loss awful. The concept of the transplanted eye playing out memories was super cool. The villain and their unique ability was distinctive and special but what he choose to do with, man, I felt ill reading those descriptions. Also animal cruelty is just not my bag. I get it, want to show someone's a psychopath, have them torture animals but it's so distasteful I can't bear it anymore. 2 stars.
So that averaged out at a 3. You need a strong stomach for the last tale which is also the longest.
dark
mysterious
The first story was disappointing. I liked the premise, but it was incredibly frustrating and a prime of example of stupid, unbelievable coincidences happening just to try to create a bit of tension in an unbelievable way. I definitely enjoyed the second story though, original and occasionally disturbing.
adventurous
mysterious
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:
N/A
The book includes three stories of varying length and varying disturbingness.
Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse: A girl kills her best friend, then spends the next several days with her brother attempting to hide the body. Told in the perspective of the dead girl, this story was quite chilling. The ending threw me for a loop.
Yuko: A woman moves into a mansion to care for the home, the reclusive owner, and his even more reclusive wife. I thought I knew exactly in which direction this story was going, but I was totally wrong.
Black Fairy Tale: A young girl's eye transplant shows her more than she bargained for, plummeting her into the life and memories of the donor. Although the bouncing back and forth of the story being told from multiple perspectives and at multiple times did sometime confuse me, this was a fascinating tale.
Overall a fascinating collection.
Summer, Fireworks and My Corpse: A girl kills her best friend, then spends the next several days with her brother attempting to hide the body. Told in the perspective of the dead girl, this story was quite chilling. The ending threw me for a loop.
Yuko: A woman moves into a mansion to care for the home, the reclusive owner, and his even more reclusive wife. I thought I knew exactly in which direction this story was going, but I was totally wrong.
Black Fairy Tale: A young girl's eye transplant shows her more than she bargained for, plummeting her into the life and memories of the donor. Although the bouncing back and forth of the story being told from multiple perspectives and at multiple times did sometime confuse me, this was a fascinating tale.
Overall a fascinating collection.
The first half of this book wasn't great. Black Fairy Tale made up for it all, as well as Otsuichi's always entertaining 'afterward'. If you want to read something beyond fucked up, Black Fairy Tale is where it's at.
¡Me encantó! Le doy 4 estrellas porque creo que la última historia pudo ser mucho más corta y hay algunos cabos que hasta el final no sé si me encantó como se ataron.
Un autor que no se tienta el corazón para contarte una historia desde el punto de vista del cadáver de una niña, tener personajes verdaderamente retorcidos, dar unas vueltas de tuerca inesperadas y macabras y describir con la mayor naturalidad tripas que acaban colgando de las heridas de sus personajes.
El libro cuenta con tres historias:
-Summer, fireworks and my corpse
-Yuko
-Black fairy tale
Las tres son buenas, pero Yuko quizá fue mi favorita. Pensé que sabía perfecto por dónde iba a ir esa historia (que además tiene unas muñecas/maniquíes bastantes siniestros) y el final me sorprendió. Muy recomendable.
Un autor que no se tienta el corazón para contarte una historia desde el punto de vista del cadáver de una niña, tener personajes verdaderamente retorcidos, dar unas vueltas de tuerca inesperadas y macabras y describir con la mayor naturalidad tripas que acaban colgando de las heridas de sus personajes.
El libro cuenta con tres historias:
-Summer, fireworks and my corpse
-Yuko
-Black fairy tale
Las tres son buenas, pero Yuko quizá fue mi favorita. Pensé que sabía perfecto por dónde iba a ir esa historia (que además tiene unas muñecas/maniquíes bastantes siniestros) y el final me sorprendió. Muy recomendable.