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acharis 's review for:
Strange Houses
by Uketsu
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Having seen the short film that inspired this story, I was curious as to how the literary medium would affect/alter the storytelling. Turns out, it just doesn't (both a positive & negative).
For what is essentially a transcription of series of vignettes, the entirety of the story is told to us, the characters engagement with the events being discussed is merely that - discussion. While this didn't put me off, I could say it might for some readers, & it is an aspect of the story that does work better in a visual medium.
The writing style is very accessible, very plain, matter-of-fact, with no florid embellishments. This is one of Uketsu's greatest strengths - the eerie subject matter is given a chance to be taken in by the reader at face value & as such, events/discoveries that may seem innocuous in a vacuum, land much more strongly.
There is a level of creativity on display here that shows immense promise, while Uketsu could keep this formula going for an entire series of books (I'm already looking forward to reading Strange Pictures & Strange Buildings) the real challenge would be to see a different style of storytelling.
For what is essentially a transcription of series of vignettes, the entirety of the story is told to us, the characters engagement with the events being discussed is merely that - discussion. While this didn't put me off, I could say it might for some readers, & it is an aspect of the story that does work better in a visual medium.
The writing style is very accessible, very plain, matter-of-fact, with no florid embellishments. This is one of Uketsu's greatest strengths - the eerie subject matter is given a chance to be taken in by the reader at face value & as such, events/discoveries that may seem innocuous in a vacuum, land much more strongly.
There is a level of creativity on display here that shows immense promise, while Uketsu could keep this formula going for an entire series of books (I'm already looking forward to reading Strange Pictures & Strange Buildings) the real challenge would be to see a different style of storytelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Incest