A review by heather_harrison
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

 The Girl from the Well follows the story of Okiku, a vindictive ghost that stalks predatory men as a result of the horrific death she experienced 300 years ago. She doles out not only karma against their transgressions, but also seeks to free the children they have harmed; who are bound to their killers so they can move on from their next life. 

She meets Tarquin (Tark) - a young Japanese American teenage boy with strange tattoos, and something else which is stuff off about him. His mother has attempted to kill him twice now, and so with Tark and his cousin - we embark on this creepy tale. The relationships between these two and Okiku is amusing and heartfelt. 

Okiku, the narrator of the book have a penchant for counting things, which really just kept pulling me out of the audiobook. 

It feels like Chupeco did a good amount of research surrounding the Japanese aspects of the story. However, there was one seemingly throwaway line which really just threw me headfirst out of the story - 

"2004. Gruesome discovery in Queensland, Australia. Fully clothed body found washed up on the beach in North Narrabeen in Sydney and soon identified as a Patrick Neville, 52. A local cars salesman... Sharks and other large fish are not known to inhabit this particular coast..." 

To which I say - Sydney is not close to Queensland, another state which borders the state Sydney is located in. Likewise, there is no end of the sharks and other large fish that are found between these two locations. This careless oversight seems at odds with how well thought out the rest of the story and research would have been. 
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