Reviews

Birthday - The Ring 0 by Kōji Suzuki

thepiper67's review against another edition

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3.0

This book has some of the best prose up to this point in this series, offset with some of the worst prose up to this point in this series. Coffin in the sky, I did not care for. It could have been much more tense and terrifying, but it did not deliver. Lemon Heart was better and overall enjoyable. Happy Birthday was my favourite, and super engaging, up until the ending, which was ramping up so well and then I was conflicted. I get it, and it does work; however, underwhelming and is the type of ending we did for our grade 3 story assignments. Honestly, Reiko should have said yolo and joined the Loop. Just my two cents here.

morgue3as's review against another edition

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5.0

At first, I felt like this book was cynical, merely cashing in on the Ring trillogy's success in order to make money. A fair enough goal, but not an artistic one. But as I read past the first story, I found it immensely gripping and a good read. Suzuki's writing continues to delight and disturb. It's also much better paced than the Loop, which I criticised for a slow start/middle. It was not bored reading it.

oxfordjrr's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

4.5

sylvia_flora's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book because it complements Koji Suzuki's previous novels about The Ring universe. Its tone is more like a sci-fi mystery than a horror novel, though. As a standalone book, it would probably be rather confusing because about 2/3 of the way through the book the novel drastically shifts focus from the past to the future. If you've read Suzuki's Ring trilogy (Ring, Spiral, and Loop) Birthday is a real treat because it ties up all the loose ends and questions left by the trilogy's conclusion.

indiepauli47's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5-3 stars.
This was definitely the best book out of all the series.
Three short stories concentrating on the women of the trilogy.
I quite enjoyed the first two, but the third one was not to my taste. Felt like, once again, there wasn't much new to it, and this story could have been forgotten all together.

anthroxagorus's review against another edition

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5.0

3 stories from the original trilogy, all good, review later maybe
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