Another Faust

Pros: tense, makes you second guess what's going on, fascinating characters

Cons: repetition, some gore

Fifteen year old Koichi Sakakibara moves in with his grandparents at the beginning of his third year of middle school. A collapsed lung keeps him from attending the first week of class and he finds things... odd when he does start school. Everyone seems tense and there's a girl who sits at the back that no one seems to acknowledge is there. He slowly learns of the third-year Class 3 curse, a phenomenon that leaves members of Class 3 and their immediate family dead.

I loved the two main protagonists, Koichi Sakakibara and Mei Misaki (note, following Japanese custom most characters are called by their last names, so I'll be doing that in my review). It was interesting seeing Sakakibara's illness, his hesitation when joining the class, trying to figure out what was happening, his consideration of and compassion towards Misaki, his gratitude towards his grandparents. He's a highly sympathetic character going through difficult times. Misaki is equally interesting, and quite different, being standoffish and mysterious. Seeing their friendship bloom was great.

The book has a very tense atmosphere. You're just as in the dark about what's going on as Sakakibara and it makes for an eerie first half of the book, wondering what's up with Misaki, wondering what the curse is. When things start going wrong it's quite terrifying. There are a number of twists to the story, making you question and re-question what's happening.

The translation doesn't clarify any social or cultural Japanese aspects of the book (aside from explicitly pointing out the meanings of the written characters (kanji) used for various people and place names. This doesn't affect understanding of the story, though knowing some of this myself did add to my enjoyment of the book.

I did notice there was a fair amount of repetition with regards to conversations and plot points. The afterward to the paperback edition (printed at the back of the English edition) mentions that the book was originally serialized, which probably accounts for that.

There is some gore as several deaths are described. It's a little graphic at times.

One thing that annoyed me was that the ending turned on a fact that the narrator (ie Sakakibara) knows, but you - the reader - do not. So it's possible for him to figure out the final twist but much harder for you to do so.

On the whole, if you're looking for a creepy read, this is a good choice.

I think the epilogue was the most intriguing, thoughtful part of this book. Nonetheless, a fast read about a group of teens who give in to their dark desires and jealousies with a dangerous, addictive price. I also very much appreciated the epigrammatic openings to each chapter, introducing famous historical individuals (fictional or real) in situations with the devil herself.

Victoria cheats. Belle tricks. Valentin lies. Bice hides. Christian steals. Everything and nothing is connected, by the most invisible, inaudible things around the world. The darkness you trust to protect, the governesses–maids, nannies, baby-sitters–you trust to protect your children, is/are what betrays you when the right moment strikes for what they truly want and will give anything to have. The most five differentiated children are brought together by one governess because of their “weaknesses.” Every person and nuisance they encounter or interact with is eventually ultimately used as an amusement for Madame Vileroy, no matter how humiliating or degrading it may be for them; beware if Madame gets a laugh out of your mortification of your most embarrassing moment, for she may come back to you for more.
Okay, why is it that the best books always take me forever to read? Of course, I don't know they're the best books until I actually read them.
The beginning of every chapter, after chapter two, has a specific capture of time in Madame Vileroy's life, mostly, anyway; past or future. At first I did not understand why they were there, until I actually got the whole understanding of the chapter still to come. The book is not necessarily told in anyone's perspective but that does not mean their feelings and emotions don't contribute to the narration of the novel. Another Faust tells the children's/teen's stories individually and, at times, mesh together because they're “siblings.” All have their insecurities–no matter how confident they appear–and in that, their weaknesses. Another Faust is the opposite of every book I've been reading lately, yet the same in different ways. In a lot of books there are the good and the bad. In this book it also has both sides but from the opposite perspective–the bad one. Instead of the teens talking about the latest fashion for the New York holiday event, they're planning devious schemes, like paying the waiter to introduce himself to their enemy's high maintenance mother as an ex-boyfriend of her daughter, their enemy, just for kicks. Another Faust is smoothly written and doesn't frustrate you into skipping pages and finding out the secrets of others, it makes you want to go over every detail just to make sure you haven't missed anything.