[DeepL Translation - needs review] Akiko, who went missing when she was 10 years old, was found dead 28 years later. Tomoyo, who was a friend of Akiko's, has no recollection of having dreamed about her as a child and cannot remember the day of Akiko's disappearance. The more Tomoyo tries to learn about the case, the deeper the mystery becomes, and then there are the serial murders. What is the true nature of the fear that lurks in the hearts of these girls who never dreamed? A masterpiece fu...
A page turner
Thematic warnings will also spoil a bit of the plot development. If you don't like dark themes this book isn't for you, but specifics behind spoiler tag. I highly recommend checking these if you have specific squicks and icks: dodgy sexual relationships (consensual), sexual assault, pedophilia, incest, murder, suicide
Pretty much the same level as 夜警 I'd guess (same author).
I found myself going, "Do I watch a show tonight...or do I read more?" and wanting to keep reading. The chapters are short and pull you along at a quick pace. Lots of mini-cliffhangers, complicated relationships, and hinted at secrets to keep your interest piqued.
Basic plot: A woman doesn't remember any of the dreams she had as a child, nor anything that happened the day her friend disappeared. 28 years later, she meets a woman who also can't remember her childhood dreams. Then the bones of her friend who went missing turn up in the wall of an old house...
Vocabulary wise there wasn't much for me to look up - if you have a solid base of crime vocab (basic legal words, weapons, body parts, etc) and minor medical vocab you won't either. There isn't any deviation into other subjects with specialized vocabulary. The way characters talk is generally pretty standard with no dialects or other special ways of speaking aside from a tiny bit of yakuza-esque dialogue. Women in 赤川's books seem to end every sentence with わ though which does feel a bit jarring at times (at least for me).