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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
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 was surprised to find that this book is really more supernatural mystery than a straight up horror novel. There’s not really anything scary about it. Great atmosphere and a sense of dread. The story was overall enjoyable and well paced, but there are a lot of long sections describing extremely mundane moments that get very boring very fast. Also, a lot of extremely outdated ideas and a very bizarre attitude towards rape that I didn’t really understand. Overall I honestly think the movie is much better.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Minor: Transphobia, Blood
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
I've never seen the films that were based off of this book so I went into it not knowing anything about the story. I had some slight expectations (because I'd seen the trailer to the movie) and this was definitely not what I had expected. To me, this book wasn't scary up until the very end and even then it wasn't a "scary" book. It had a mystery feel to it because they had to piece together many clues and find out about the lives of strangers from many years ago - and I enjoyed that. However, it was a bit much - the assumptions they made and how quickly they were able to get the information seemed like the biggest stretch to me. I liked the paranormal element, I liked how all the pieces fit like a puzzle, I liked the "cure" to the virus. It wasn't the worst, it wasn't the best, but it was intriguing and original.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is much more of a dark mystery than the scary supernatural haunt that is portrayed in the film adaptations. There is so much that Japanese folklore & culture adds to enrich the novel’s version of this story; it is a very dark but extremely creative exploration of the ripple effects of violence & misogyny. I enjoyed reading!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I liked it, definitely enough to continue the series.
I find it so fascinating how vastly different the original story is compared to the movies! I would classify this more of a paranormal mystery. And paranormal is pushing it. It's horror and paranormal but really only because of the circumstances: a psychic character and how people are mysteriously dying. This is not like The Ring. No phone calls, no hallucinations. It's the dread of reaching the 7th day and our MC trying to uncover the mystery of why these kids died, then the mystery of who Sadako is/was and what happened to her following her disappearance.
That said, definitely read slow and dry for me. Idk if it's because it's translated but this ended up being a very difficult read through. There were parts I devoured but often felt myself dragging my feet through it. I think it is because it's all murder mystery. Which is also odd because I do enjoy those, but depending on the novel it can be a slow read. Plus it lacked real spookiness and the revelations were spaced few and far between.
Spoilers??
Oh, and, too much unnecessary rape? Rape that one of our characters tries to justify as: she wanted it. If the rape isn't there to even serve the purpose of revenge or justifying hatred at men, the world, specific people, etc. and it was WILLED... then it really truly has zero place. It served nothing. Because, let's face it, the way it's written (all through male perspectives and from characters who have done the crime) the character keeps saying how he has no idea why he acted that way, it was small pox that caused him to go mad for the event and only the event... idk. Felt so out of place.
I find it so fascinating how vastly different the original story is compared to the movies! I would classify this more of a paranormal mystery. And paranormal is pushing it. It's horror and paranormal but really only because of the circumstances: a psychic character and how people are mysteriously dying. This is not like The Ring. No phone calls, no hallucinations. It's the dread of reaching the 7th day and our MC trying to uncover the mystery of why these kids died, then the mystery of who Sadako is/was and what happened to her following her disappearance.
That said, definitely read slow and dry for me. Idk if it's because it's translated but this ended up being a very difficult read through. There were parts I devoured but often felt myself dragging my feet through it. I think it is because it's all murder mystery. Which is also odd because I do enjoy those, but depending on the novel it can be a slow read. Plus it lacked real spookiness and the revelations were spaced few and far between.
Spoilers??
Oh, and, too much unnecessary rape? Rape that one of our characters tries to justify as: she wanted it. If the rape isn't there to even serve the purpose of revenge or justifying hatred at men, the world, specific people, etc. and it was WILLED... then it really truly has zero place. It served nothing. Because, let's face it, the way it's written (all through male perspectives and from characters who have done the crime) the character keeps saying how he has no idea why he acted that way, it was small pox that caused him to go mad for the event and only the event... idk. Felt so out of place.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape