The Boy in the Earth
Review The Boy in the Earth is pitch black noir novel about the aftershocks of trauma. The narrator is a depressed taxi driver drifting through life in a constant state…
Penance
Review When I began reading I had expected a violent revenge story, but what I got was much darker and more insidious. Penance explores grief, guilt, the different ways that…
Audition
Review Audition may just be one of the fastest reads I've had all year, finishing in just under 24 hours. The story follows an aging widower named Aoyama, who holds…
Parasite Eve
Review Never in my life have I ever encountered a book that I felt more conflicted by. Parasite Eve is a Japanese techno-thriller that spawned a film adaptation and a…
Now You’re One of Us
Review I have found a true Japanese gothic horror and I am head over heels in love! Now You're One of Us is the story of a young woman that…
Hardboiled & Hard Luck
Review Hardboiled & Hard Luck is a collection of two novellas that share a theme of grief and loss. Both stories read like a gentle goodbye as each narrator explores…
A Girl on the Shore
Review A Girl on the Shore is a manga that I didn’t know that I needed. It’s a story about two youths, struggling with an oppressive ennui that leads them…
In the Miso Soup
Review I'm beginning to think that I have an unhealthy obsession with Japanese thrillers, I've loved every single one that I have picked up so far. In the Miso Soup…
Confessions
Review How would you react if your child was murdered by two of your students? Yuko is a teacher that finds herself conflicted between her grief as a mother and…
Convenience Store Woman
Review Keiko is a convenience store worker and, to the people around her, a bit of an oddball. She has worked part-time at the same store for her entire adult…