Taylor Drew reviewed 罪の余白 by 央 芦沢
A harrowing and in-depth look at bullying
4 stars
Content warning CW: bullying, talk of self harm and suicide
I expected this book to be pretty horrifying and it definitely was--how could it not be when the whole idea is centered on whether a high school who fell from a fourth floor balcony died by suicide or something somehow more sinister?
What I wasn't expected was that the story was told through the perspectives of several different characters. Instead of just the investigating father, the reader is also exposed to two classmates, the father, his coworker, and even bried snippets of the girl who died.
This novel is quite the accomplishment for a debut work. The author really did her resesrch on psychology and animal behaviour. And while the truth of Kana's death is revealed fairly early into the novel, there are loads of over twists and turns to keep you engaged.
This book was hard, but I really enjoyed it.