A review by jjcantread
Out by Natsuo Kirino

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

How do I even begin with this haunting of a book?

Maybe it's because I haven't read too much crime with a lot of graphic gore, but Kirino has me in some sort of terrifyingly beautiful chokehold throughout the whole time I read this.

I will get the faults of this book out of the way first:
  • It is incredibly slow paced- at least to begin with. Again, perhaps it's because I'm not an avid reader of crime and horror, but this book really takes its time setting up any sort of hook.
  • Content and spoiler warning:
    This book is chockablock full of blood, gore, and sex. And not even in the appealing way; it's just terrifying (but again that may just be a personal thing).
  • The writing is consistently dull; though it has its special moments, and along with the slow pace, this made it a hard drag to read and get through.
  • This is sort of an in-between opinion for me personally, but the way new characters were introduced and weaved into the story felt at some times messy and at other times, well thought out. I guess it's a sort of grey area for me in terms of whether it was successful or not.

Apart from this book absolutely terrifying me, it does has some great aspects to it:
  • It takes an interesting approach to female solidarity and perhaps female freedom and feminism in general. Its themes and discussions of how the (four main) women in this book struggle with their lives and sometimes being chained to their husbands or their family is both harrowing and eye-opening. 
    • Continuing on, the take on female solidarity through (spoilers)
      murder
      is a dark and yet wonderful approach which shows how extreme situations can bring women together in times of crisis.
  • Whether I'm just haunted by this book and never want to touch it again or have it in my home, Kirino does a good job of making the reader feel the same sort of suffocation and panic that the main characters feel throughout their journey- especially towards the end.
  • Last but not least the reason I got this book! The cover. I may have fallen for the trap of a bad book, good cover, but if you've ever seen the Vintage cover for Out, you'll understand why.

Anyways, it was interesting to read a book in a genre I'm not normally into, and I loved some elements to it, but I'm going to get rid of this book as fast as I can- lest it haunt me in my home forever.

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