Reviews and Comments

This was a fun read. Lots of dark doings, supernatural mystery, and bloody mayhem. But... I don't know if I'm even cut out for American horror anymore, because it was all so distant. When I think back on the horror stories that have given me the heebie jeebies, that have made me afraid to turn off the light at night, that have SCARED me, they all brought the scary stuff home. They wormed into my brain and ruined the feeling that I was safe in my own home, or my own brain. This one is so thoroughly distant (the Alaskan Wilderness! Don't go into the woods and you're safe!) that it reads more like dark fantasy. But it was solidly written (apart from the tendency to use big words that the author doesn't quite get right) and original. So, good times.

There's so much going on here that it gets in the way of things like empathy or connection. It makes me wonder if too much characterization can be a problem, or if it's just that the character we see so much of in this book just sucks too much. Because she does. She's just a mess of self-loathing and terrible choices and suck.

It didn't do it for me, mostly because it seemed to be trying to be character heavy but the characters were simply not that interesting.

I'm starting to feel like modern American horror just isn't that covered with being scary anymore. It's all just metaphor for grief and trauma and disaffection.

I'm still on my Higashino kick, and this was a fun one. The plot kept on pumping and the characters were fun. It was very interesting getting a diet look into Kaga's family study, too.

I was struck by a slight drop in editorial quality, though. Giles's translation was as smooth as a always, but there were a few striking typos and clumsy structures that imply a rush job in the editing stage. Just a thing to think about.

Man, I slept too long on Higashono. He writes great page turners with actual humanity. And the translation was stellar!

This was just a breeze to read through. A refreshingly empathetic police procedural/mystery that actual feels good to read without being saccharine. The translation also sang, although I yeah issue with the idea of a "China Shop" selling Iga or Bizen ware...

There's really not much more you could ask for in a good, old fashioned horror book. The ESP angle felt a bit forced, but hey, it worked for Stephen King.

There is so much going on in this book about the generational trauma of America's genocidal history, about the inability to erase the past, and about living with the rage of having everything taken from an entire people. It would be so much harder to get through if the sentence to sentence writing weren't so masterful and beautiful.

But I have to be honest, a couple of the late game plot developments had me scratching my head. I accept that the author had plans and intents that I'm just not getting, but... Well, I'm not getting them. The conclusion struck me as almost comical, honestly. But the fact that I'm still trying to ponder through rather than dismissing speaks to the ring of truth I still sense. It's worth mulling.

It was a short, simple read with some nice touches of grief, but in the end lacked any real punch, emotional or horrific.

See my review here: jimrion.com/2025/03/18/book-review-the-philosouphy-of-translation/

Not a lot goes on, but sometimes that's all right. It's a peaceful, heartfelt, loving book.

Reading this book, I found it somehow more sad than frightening. The family's pain, the ambiguity, the manipulation... It's emotionally wrenching, right up until the end. And then it gets deeply unsettling in new and unexpected ways.