loverboy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Stalking, and Vomit
novi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
The plot: the president of literary club just died for mysterious reasons that nobody knew. So the literary club members gathered to figure out why and how she died. They did this by reading their short stories out loud in front of other club members. The stories are about how they think the president died. That's the format of the entire book. These 5-6 versions of short stories (?) about the late president are the chapters of the book. All of the stories are all intertwined but they're all saying different things. Which version are true?
First of all the english translation is really neat and good. I have no problem with that. This is really easy to read. The book is also fast paced and not thick at all, I finished it in less than 6 hours (really really fast for me).
The format is definitely unique than most thriller novels, but it also makes it really dramatic. So dramatic that I just couldn't connect with it. From page 1, I already figured that the characters are sick in the head. But it didn't make the story scary or suspenseful at all because I just can't take the story seriously. Everything seems so caricaturish and stereotypical of japanese girly girls. I keep visioning the girls from all-girls high school in dorama Hana Kimi or the sort of anime about butlers or high school club. And they are all from comedic shows. So I just COULDN'T take the story seriously from start to finish. There are plot holes everywhere. Some of the characters felt shrugged off at the end even though we're already somewhat "promised" (by a build up) that we're gonna know more about these characters. The "clues" or the foreshadowing are obvious, so I wasn't surprised about the reveal even though I didn't try to guess the ending. I could pin point which plot points are weird and that they're gonna be important to the twist. When it ended, I was just....."okay? so?" The end result wasn't even advantageous for any party involved so like why. Why do we need to be here???
First of all the english translation is really neat and good. I have no problem with that. This is really easy to read. The book is also fast paced and not thick at all, I finished it in less than 6 hours (really really fast for me).
The format is definitely unique than most thriller novels, but it also makes it really dramatic. So dramatic that I just couldn't connect with it. From page 1, I already figured that the characters are sick in the head. But it didn't make the story scary or suspenseful at all because I just can't take the story seriously. Everything seems so caricaturish and stereotypical of japanese girly girls. I keep visioning the girls from all-girls high school in dorama Hana Kimi or the sort of anime about butlers or high school club. And they are all from comedic shows. So I just COULDN'T take the story seriously from start to finish. There are plot holes everywhere. Some of the characters felt shrugged off at the end even though we're already somewhat "promised" (by a build up) that we're gonna know more about these characters.
Spoiler
I guess it was to show that the president (i forgot her name already) really didn't care about these characters but it only made the book felt rushed and it also made the characters felt very underdeveloped
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit
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