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A review by thebriary
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
3.0
I’m not sure this book succeeded in its purpose. Or rather, its purpose was confused so I am not sure how to even take it. The story was interesting and the settings were gorgeous but the atmosphere? Eh. I never felt tension or fear or horrified fascination. It didn’t make me feel much of anything, really.
It was, in a word, anticlimactic. And I think I know why.
We get the entire narrative from the wrong perspective. It’s a unique perspective, to be sure, but it sucks all the emotion out of the story. Okiku has nothing to lose and (really) nothing to gain – she is involved with but removed from the action and since we are getting the story from her voice there is no investment for us, either. It lacks… well, pathos. Okiku doesn’t rationalize her choices or indicate any sort of emotion that would explain them. She’s blank. Retell the story from the cousin’s perspective and I bet it would be a hell of a lot scarier.
It was, in a word, anticlimactic. And I think I know why.
We get the entire narrative from the wrong perspective. It’s a unique perspective, to be sure, but it sucks all the emotion out of the story. Okiku has nothing to lose and (really) nothing to gain – she is involved with but removed from the action and since we are getting the story from her voice there is no investment for us, either. It lacks… well, pathos. Okiku doesn’t rationalize her choices or indicate any sort of emotion that would explain them. She’s blank. Retell the story from the cousin’s perspective and I bet it would be a hell of a lot scarier.