guga
this was okay. not rating the subject matter but rather the way it's presented. I really think this could've been shorter, more edited to really keep the engagement up. some parts were very interesting and then some were quite boring and not important to the story. id still recommend purely bc of the subject matter although its very basic and more about family dynamics and navigating in this situation more than abt the addiction (which I think the sons book is more abt)
sadly i didn't love it as much as everyone else and i really thought I would. its still a 4 star and I did enjoy the read but the whole time I was just waiting for something to happen, for something to give me that amazing 5 star feeling and to get me excited and it never did. I liked the characters alot, loved the commentary and meaning behind the story but plot wise idk it was just okay. all the sad scenes didn't hit me at all, the whole book just kinda went by without causing any extreme emotions in me and I'm not sure why. I actually loved the book at the beginning when we followed mamoru and chul-hee bc i LOVED their relationship dynamic and I also wanted more abt Misakis past and idk the first half made me think this book was going in a way different direction than it did. maybe I overhyped it way more in my head but idk it wasn't as exciting as I thought. also maybe bc I watched alot of yt videos of everyone just crying while reading this it kinda prepared me and I knew sad stuff would happen so maybe that's why I didn't react. but all that to say it's still a great book, I wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't bc I hate long books and I don't read fantasy so dat should speak for itself.
2.5
this was not at all what I hoped it would be. most of the stories started great and had scary atmosphere and then went boring and predictable. I guessed every single “plot twist” in this collection. nothing was scary to me. some stories like people you may know or peeping tommy were literally not even horror, there was nothing even slightly scary in them i was so confused. with each story my excitement and overall rating just kept getting worse and worse. sad
individual ratings:
what we have here 4/5
Theresa 3/5
blackbird 3.5/5
the sisters 2.5/5
peeping Tommy 1.5/5
becca 2/5
sleeptalker 2.5/5
rebirth 4/5
katherine 3/5
scared mary 4/5
something else entirely 1/5
Nancy 3/5
people you may know 1/5
emil bones 1.5/5
3.5
GOD I WANTED TO LOVE THIS. I think the best part abt this book is the setting and the audiobook, the rest is just okay. it reminded me so much of the game firewatch, it was literally what I thought the game would be so I loved that aspect. I just didn't really get along with the story, it was a little confusing and pointless to me. the characters were okay, pretty stereotypical millenials but it wasn't awful. all that being said I will give the second book a chance
3.5
I went into this book knowing it will be sad and it sure was, but didn't get me as much as I thought it would. I'm not really sure what exactly didn't work for me in this one, maybe the pacing was a little off, I feel like we rushed thru the pre america parts, then it got very slow and a little boring and then again the ending just flew by without letting us sit with it? don't know. I still really liked it and it's objectively a good book I just expected something more maybe.
I knew this case very well before reading but my god it still managed to piss me off all over again. the chapters from when shari was younger were so fucking sad, even at such a young age she knew her mother didn't care and I think that was the hardest part to read. these women deserve to rot in prison forever.
