A review by claudiashelf
Diary of a Murderer: And Other Stories by Young-Ha Kim

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

❝ 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘵. ❞ 

I read somewhere that— ‘When dealing with them, you must imagine yourself as a suspect or murderer.’ as I read this book, everything on this book felt like I was reading someone else’s diary, a murderer’s diary, or even my diary, who knows? Well, the title of this book describes it perfectly and it suits the entire book. Yet the author of this book knows how to surprise the readers in an emotionally disturbing way. This book’s writing style is incredible; it reads like I’m reading someone’s personal diary, complete with dark comedy, poetry, and theoretical allusions. 

Nonetheless, the author knows how to play with my emotions ( and probably other readers as well. ) because I was about to express empathy for the main character, but then I thought that empathy could not be freely shown. In this book, he’s not only playing a detective father, but he also has one more murder planned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder