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kasss's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I always have a hard time judging short story collections, especially if the stories vary this much. There were whodunnits, what-ifs, some horror, some fucked up, and there was even a sci-fi short story. What they all had in common was a twist of some sort, some more succesful than others. I guess it's no surprise I found Otsuichi's Goth much easier to rate (5 whole stars, I adored that one), since the stories in that one were clearly part of a whole.
While nothing really stood out as a favourite, the title story ZOO was pretty good, an interesting twist on a murderer. The White House in the Cold Forest was pretty fucked up and gorey and is memorable for just that. I enjoyed Find the Blood! and Wardrobe alright as murder mysteries, even though neither ended up really surprising me. SO-far was something, for sure.
It was Song of the Sunny Spot that surprised me most, a definite outlier - I wasn't expecting to be punched in the gut with feelings.
While nothing really stood out as a favourite, the title story ZOO was pretty good, an interesting twist on a murderer. The White House in the Cold Forest was pretty fucked up and gorey and is memorable for just that. I enjoyed Find the Blood! and Wardrobe alright as murder mysteries, even though neither ended up really surprising me. SO-far was something, for sure.
It was Song of the Sunny Spot that surprised me most, a definite outlier - I wasn't expecting to be punched in the gut with feelings.
malvina4321's review against another edition
4.0
Zoo is a collection of creepy short stories by Japanese author Otsuichi. The stories vary from fantastical to science fiction to gritty realism. Over all, I thought the collection was varied enough to make them interesting but still cohesive due to the dark tones of the stories.
The only story that I didn't enjoy to some extent was the titular "Zoo". "Zoo" was the story that started off the collection and I got a bit worried that I would dislike them all. "Zoo" felt repetitive and confusing.
Some of the stories had Frankenstein-ish themes and tropes which were modernized and used in interesting ways. "The White House in the Cold Forest" felt like a dark retelling of Frankenstein's monster which included a house made out of dead human bodies.
I also really enjoyed "In a Falling Airplane" because of the psychological aspects. The main characters in that story had horrendous backstories that caused them to act they way they did.
"Find the Blood" was one of the oddest stories but with a twisted sense of humour. It was one of my favourite stories for that reason.
The saddest one was "Kazari and Yoko". It was a story about child abuse (actually a pretty common theme in the collection). There were some moments of hope but it was bleak for the most part. This story was probably my favourite because I really felt for poor Yoko.
The other stories were okay. Some I enjoyed more than others.
I don't read a lot of horror in general so this was a nice collection to pick up. It took me out of my reading comfort zone. I would definitely recommend it to horror fans and to readers that want to try some horror but don't want to jump into a full length novel.
*I received Zoo from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
The only story that I didn't enjoy to some extent was the titular "Zoo". "Zoo" was the story that started off the collection and I got a bit worried that I would dislike them all. "Zoo" felt repetitive and confusing.
Some of the stories had Frankenstein-ish themes and tropes which were modernized and used in interesting ways. "The White House in the Cold Forest" felt like a dark retelling of Frankenstein's monster which included a house made out of dead human bodies.
I also really enjoyed "In a Falling Airplane" because of the psychological aspects. The main characters in that story had horrendous backstories that caused them to act they way they did.
"Find the Blood" was one of the oddest stories but with a twisted sense of humour. It was one of my favourite stories for that reason.
The saddest one was "Kazari and Yoko". It was a story about child abuse (actually a pretty common theme in the collection). There were some moments of hope but it was bleak for the most part. This story was probably my favourite because I really felt for poor Yoko.
The other stories were okay. Some I enjoyed more than others.
I don't read a lot of horror in general so this was a nice collection to pick up. It took me out of my reading comfort zone. I would definitely recommend it to horror fans and to readers that want to try some horror but don't want to jump into a full length novel.
*I received Zoo from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
isobelsnotes's review against another edition
3.0
A really entertaining collection of short stories for those of a morbid disposition. A few of the stories felt a little juvenile hence the three star mark, but some were fantastic. Definitely worth the read.
isobelsnotesss's review against another edition
3.0
A really entertaining collection of short stories for those of a morbid disposition. A few of the stories felt a little juvenile hence the three star mark, but some were fantastic. Definitely worth the read.
vannhi's review against another edition
3.0
Zoo được viết khá hơn nhiều so với Goth. Có vẻ Otsuichi hợp với phong cách viết từng truyện ngắn riêng lẻ hơn là cố viết liên kết thành một cuốn truyện. Điều ấn tượng nhất trong Zoo là thái độ dung dung không bình thường, vô cảm đến phi lý và vô nhân tính đến buồn cười. 11 câu truyện là 11 màu sắc rất riêng, mang đến những cảm xúc cũng rất khác lạ. Thật kỳ lạ và tuyệt vời khi một cuốn sách mang đến cho độc giả đủ cung bậc cảm xúc: buồn, vui, ớn lạnh, trầm ngâm, khó hiểu… hòa quyện rất tự nhiên.
Một sở thú quái lạ và ấn tượng cho bất cứ khách thăm quan nào yêu những câu truyện no-sleep.
Một sở thú quái lạ và ấn tượng cho bất cứ khách thăm quan nào yêu những câu truyện no-sleep.
george_george's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
classine's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
dee2799d's review against another edition
5.0
After Goth and Summer, the Fireworks and My Corpse I thought I might as well read this one because there's not a lot of his work translated and I hear it was nominated for the Shirley Jackson award. Boy am I glad I actually bought this one.
There's a lot here that's absurd. In 'In a Falling Plane' we have an entrance exam re-taker (a ronin, if you will) hijaking a plane. This guy looks so unprepossessing that it would have been easy enough to overpower him even if he had a gun (as the POV character herself had pointed out) but what happens is whenever someone tries to come at him, they step on a can that keeps rolling up and down the aisle of the plane. 'Find the Blood!' is a string of unfortunate events surrounding an old man who wakes up and finds himself covered with blood. Turns out someone has stabbed him and it was only his inability to feel pain that he'd slept through the whole thing.Or so we think. This leads to a straight man/stupid man comedy routine with the dying old man playing the 'straight man' to the rest of his family members, who are all useless and are pretty transparent about wanting him dead so they can help themselves on the family riches.
But there's also a lot that deals with the heavy topics of divorce ('SO-far', which is one of my faves), child abuse ('Kazari and Yoko'), and that pressure that young people feel from their parents when it comes to school and conforming (mostly all over the whole collection, but the main point of 'In a Falling Plane' and 'Words of God').
Mostly a mixed bag, with the kind of plot twists that I've grown to expect from Otsuichi. Very well-crafted and 'Seven Days' was enough to make me cry because I'm a baby.
Before I end this review, I admit that I saw someone talk about 'Wardrobe' (which is another fave) and had this to say:
At the story's end, you find out that the narrator isn't who or what you thought. Then you realize that they were withholding information from the audience for no reason other than to support the twist ending. It's hard not to cry foul on that one.
Oh I think he played fair. Ichiro, Miki's husband gets mentioned all the time and yet he had no speaking lines. I think this would have been less awkward in Japanese because it's a language that allows for vagueness more than English and its, say, gendered pronouns. But I've been half-suspecting Ichiro halfway through because of sentences like 'everyone was at the table aside from Ryuji' but at the same time no one ever talks to Ichiro? Not even his own wife. There has to be a reason for this non-presence. And there was.
Overall a pretty good read. One of my faves from this year.
There's a lot here that's absurd. In 'In a Falling Plane' we have an entrance exam re-taker (a ronin, if you will) hijaking a plane. This guy looks so unprepossessing that it would have been easy enough to overpower him even if he had a gun (as the POV character herself had pointed out) but what happens is whenever someone tries to come at him, they step on a can that keeps rolling up and down the aisle of the plane. 'Find the Blood!' is a string of unfortunate events surrounding an old man who wakes up and finds himself covered with blood. Turns out someone has stabbed him and it was only his inability to feel pain that he'd slept through the whole thing.
But there's also a lot that deals with the heavy topics of divorce ('SO-far', which is one of my faves), child abuse ('Kazari and Yoko'), and that pressure that young people feel from their parents when it comes to school and conforming (mostly all over the whole collection, but the main point of 'In a Falling Plane' and 'Words of God').
Mostly a mixed bag, with the kind of plot twists that I've grown to expect from Otsuichi. Very well-crafted and 'Seven Days' was enough to make me cry because I'm a baby.
Before I end this review, I admit that I saw someone talk about 'Wardrobe' (which is another fave) and had this to say:
Oh I think he played fair. Ichiro, Miki's husband gets mentioned all the time and yet he had no speaking lines. I think this would have been less awkward in Japanese because it's a language that allows for vagueness more than English and its, say, gendered pronouns. But I've been half-suspecting Ichiro halfway through because of sentences like 'everyone was at the table aside from Ryuji' but at the same time no one ever talks to Ichiro? Not even his own wife. There has to be a reason for this non-presence. And there was.
Overall a pretty good read. One of my faves from this year.