2.04k reviews for:

Strange Houses

Uketsu

3.73 AVERAGE

dark mysterious fast-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
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: Yes
dark tense 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
dark tense 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: N/A

I adored the first book, and I do love this one too, though it comes with the same quirk (or flaw, depending on your mood) as before. It might be the translation, but the storytelling is very square: this happened, then this happened, then this happened.

For the first two-thirds, I was happily along for the ride, piecing together the puzzle and enjoying the eerie atmosphere. But by the end, the sprawling, convoluted family tree tangled things up so much it was hard to keep track. Complicated for no real payoff. Still, the core idea lands, and it’s a reminder that the real monsters are always the humans you least suspect. Solid, unsettling, and fun in its own way. 
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious fast-paced
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Diverse cast of characters: No

Pas banget buat aku yg uda lama ga baca buku; not dense of words, quite a lot of pictures. Also really fast paced. As a thriller, this isn't so memorable. Honestly, it's pretty hard to make my own speculations bcs most of the time, they also just speculate based on really random things—like the floor plan, the main subject of the book. Their first speculation was literally just the detective-novel-obsessed architect making stories up after studying the floor plan—and he admitted that he was just bullshtting lol.
And some of them actually are true, but they were so far-fetched that it felt too convenient instead.

So all in all, a decent read.
dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated