Now You're One of Us

3.5

Enjoyable and weird. The end was a little bit on the anti-climactic side, but still pretty distressing.
Definitely gothic horror vibes, which is grand. I was disappointed at first by the ending, but the more I think about it, the more I think my issue was the slightly choppy translation. OMG, the Shito family. It is wack and perfectly, gothically fun.

I bought this for myself as a present (I forget why) and it's been laying on my nightstand ever since. I had high hopes for it. It was on so many horror novels not-to-miss lists! That said, I did enjoy it but I had some issues with it and am not sure I'd recommend it.
As many reviewers have already stated, not much happens in the first half of the story. It's set up and introduction to the family. That wasn't a problem, except that it got a bit repetitive. I felt Noriko- things are weird, but not so weird that it's flashing RUN! signs and nothing early on is divorce-worthy, especially as she seems deeply in love with her husband. Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, it gets bat-shit crazy at the end. It's that middle- can the reader hang on through the pages until stuff starts to happen?
I would have had an easier time with it if we actually knew what Noriko did all day. 90 percent of the scenes happen at family dinner at night. What the hell does she do all day? What is discussed? Who talks to her? I'm a little tired of horror that is based solely on whether or not the female lead is losing her mind. Although, this might pre-date many of those other books and films. As no one has a cellphone, I'm not sure what year this story takes place.
Is it gothic? Yup. Is it cool? It is. Does it drag in the middle? Yup.
I'd really like to read more Nonami to see if she has grown as a storyteller. I can see her chops here, I'm just not getting a full picture.