Taylor Drew reviewed ババヤガの夜 by Akira OTANI
Different than expected
4 stars
After a slow start, I read most of this book during a layover in Toronto on my back to Tokyo after visiting family for two weeks. I expected the book to be interesting, but I just didn't have the time to properly sit down with it until then. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed!
I think people going into this expecting a suspense thriller from start to finish may be disappointed, but I think if you remember that this book is a thriller lit fic situation, the room for disappointment disappears.
The way the author approached social issues within the story really impressed me. The book begins as a somewhat rough and tough fight, but quickly delves into social issues and other interesting twists that caught me completely by surprise. In retrospect, the foreshadowing signs were there and not deeply hidden, but I think they were easy enough to miss …
After a slow start, I read most of this book during a layover in Toronto on my back to Tokyo after visiting family for two weeks. I expected the book to be interesting, but I just didn't have the time to properly sit down with it until then. Thankfully I wasn't disappointed!
I think people going into this expecting a suspense thriller from start to finish may be disappointed, but I think if you remember that this book is a thriller lit fic situation, the room for disappointment disappears.
The way the author approached social issues within the story really impressed me. The book begins as a somewhat rough and tough fight, but quickly delves into social issues and other interesting twists that caught me completely by surprise. In retrospect, the foreshadowing signs were there and not deeply hidden, but I think they were easy enough to miss that I was left feeling delighted by the author's trickery.
That being said, the book does deal with complex social issues and gang life, so warnings for assault of all varieties and generally grotesque scenes and expressions play a prominent part. Anyone who wants to read this book (in the original or perhaps its English translation), should keep that in mind if those topics might be triggering or generally upsetting in a harmful way.