Genre/s:	Horror/Fiction
Worthwhile?	Yes
Overall Rating:	7/10
Bought new
Goodreads

an incredibly quick and easy read, well paced and doesnt overstay its welcome. its probably best to avoid reading anything about this book in depth, or watching the 1999 movie adaptation before finishing it though. the ending is fairly abrupt, but i dont think any extension of it would be a positive and it would just drag on. tts hard to recommend without feeling like im giving something away. personal mileage may vary, there is one particular trope i can see being frustrating for some

! ---------- spoilers beyond this point ---------- !

Aoyama is an inversion of the "i can fix him" mentality, he gets captured by Asami's story of learning to live with never doing ballet again (something she likens to being like dying), and never has a thought deeper about her than "she is so brave" or "i wonder how introducing her to my son will go". every traumatic story she tells him just pulls him deeper into his enrapturement and makes him even less unlikely to listen to anyones warnings. he constantly touts her as being "not like other girls her age" which, i feel, says a lot about the situation even though she is 24 and he was not after her for specifically her age. in his conservative mindset he has become ensnared in thinking he has found the perfect woman, a woman who understands the finer things in life and shares his world views. Asami herself mirrors some of these thoughts, at one point telling Aoyama that hes �the first man to ever talk to her like she has a brain.�

of course it bites him in the ass, the ending starts brutally with the death of the Aoyama family dog, before attention is shifted onto Aoyama himself. he doesnt understand the situation, knowing he hasnt lied to Asami about her being the only one he loves, but failing to realize his admitting he has a son is the lie she is perceiving. its not a perfect ending, i do think it is too abrupt, and i can see the potential frustration at Asami having a childhood full of abuse only to turn around and become a psychopathic killer, but i think overall it does what it needs to do. its not really about her, its about Aoyama getting so caught up in his 40 year old teenboy fantasies that he looks a walking red flag in the face and goes �hell yea�. its from the his perspective, i really dont think he truly cares what shes been through, he only seemed to care because hed already set his mind on her and built a fantasy around them. i could be completely wrong or giving Murakami too much credit, but thats a rough gist i get from it

(posted nov 12, 2023)

Genre/s:	Fiction/LGBT
Worthwhile?	YEAH
Overall Rating:	10/10
Bought used
Goodreads

it is very easy for me to say that this has been my favorite book since i read it last year. i can admit that it is not perfect though and DEFINITLY not for everyone.

also i could probably use a reread of it, but lol

i do legit have an entire novels worth of thoughts and opinions about this book, i think it says and does a lot in regards to csa and how it can affect a person on a fundamental level for the rest of their life. i cannot help but compare it to The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, which came out 4 years after Mysterious Skin. they both deal with similar topics (though one is geared towards middlegrade readers, and the other is very much for adults) i think to varying success. hopefully i will take the time to write out all those thoughts one day, but not today.

(read oct 2022, posted oct 2023)

Genre/s:	Horror/Fiction
Worthwhile?	No <3
Overall Rating:	3/10
Library borrow
Goodreads

wow. im honestly baffled and befuddled ? 99.9% of this book is like if a teenager went "hey wouldnt it be fucked up if (insert base level horror)"

needless to say i did not enjoy this HAHA. the premise was already not interesting to me, the presentation didnt save it. its a collection of the most basic "fucked up" dystopia tropes, done for the reason of... showing you that everyone is evil?? there were two specific paragraphs that made me legit roll my eyes, and the 2nd one was probably the breaking point for me to never take the book seriously (even if the ending could save it. which it didnt). the first one is admittedly sorta fine on its own (the description of The Church members) it just felt silly. they wear white robes and have their heads shaved bc how else would you know they were cult members. the second scenario is that but even more comically stupid and way less forgivable, and makes me ask the question: how could you know someone was evil by just glancing around their office? if they have the Necronomicon or Book of Saint Cyprian: ruh roh! hints as subtle as having a hammer thrown at your face

the constant acknowleding that the government caused the whole thing (bafflingly stupid and annoying), how comically evil everyone became, how the only reason Marcos seems not as bad as everyone else is because hes depressed over his dead kid for half the book, then realizes he can have an alive kid and becomes just as bad. humanity dying alongside the animals is interesting, but it immediately gets blown off for Marcos ?raping the female head. Marcos thinks hes a better person because he does not experiment on the head, or hunt them for sport, or pretend to be smth he isnt to save face (LOL hint: the last one is a lie), and thats got meat to it (pardon the pun), but the universe it exists in is just. frankly insufferable. its edgy in a non traditional way, and its just. groans

(Posted Feb 9, 2024)