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(3.05/5)General:
- I think you will enjoy this if you like big twists and like to figure out mysteries
- Each case gets explained a lot - so if you're not into someone explaining to you in detail over several pages how a crime specifically happened and what clues led them to the conclusion, it will probably be a bit tedious/boring (at least it was for me!)
- If you're trying to get into detective/crime books, this might be a good start! Due to the over explaining vocab gets repeated quite a lot and since the focus always stays on the two main characters and doesn't really flesh out any other characters, I found it pretty easy to follow. It also is a bit predictable in its descriptive writing (it is spending quite some time detailing how pretty the female lead is) which also adds to it being nice for language learning - but it was a bit silly to me
Audiobook:
- Well produced, but I had some issues with the audio - almost every time the name of the female lead was mentioned, the recording sounded like being recorded in a different setting. It just sounded off. I got very distracting for me, but I am not sure if many other people had this problem
- Some parts I had to skip because crying noises and screaming is too much for me
Conclusion:
I personally didn't enjoy the book and rushed through the last chapter because I was bored out of my mind - despite a twist that I would still call interesting.
An interesting attempt
It's difficult to write a review on this book; so much of what is available to talk about happens in the last 20% of the book, but I'm not all that invested in writing a review for those who've already read it (see my review in the forum for that). Instead, I'll say this:
Basic summary: mystery novel writer 香月史郎 (こうげつ • しろう) teams up with spirit medium 城塚翡翠 (じょうづか • ひすい) in order to solve murders.
This was not a particularly difficult novel, I thought. Have a decent range of vocabulary at your disposal, be solid in your N3 grammar, and after 500 pages you'll have firmed up already-existing skills and had plenty of time to work on new ones.
The audiobook I personally had a good time with; there are two narrators, one male, one female, and sound effects are used throughout to heighten the atmosphere. Your mileage may vary on how much you appreciate that style.
The mysteries are more in the vein of "mini-mysteries" than anything you can really sink your teeth into, so go in with that expectation.
Very Good!
I really enjoy the narrative, story and flow. I think especially if you enjoy mistery, you will enjoy this one. At the time I read this, I am preparing for N2 and helped a lot by the audiobook. This book really help me increase my reading comprehension. Vocabulary wise, although advance, words are concentrated around the genre.
I really recommended the audiobook. The quality is very good.
I Can See Why It Won So Many Awards!
I often don't expect too much from popular novels but this was one of few that blew me away!
Mystery author Koutsuki Shiro ends up teaming up with beautiful medium Jozuka Hisui to solve murders. Each chapter is a contained murder mystery with intervals describing the actions of a serial killer throughout.
At first glance this seems like your average Japanese mystery--each chapter a contained story, male detective lead, attractive innocent young women with mysterious powers. But then you get to the last chapter and all the poop hits the fan.
I haven't been that satisfied by the ending of Japanese novel in a LONG time. (See 私は定時で帰ります。)
If you read a lot of mystery novels in Japanese then the language in this book won't be a challenge at all.
If you don't read many mysteries then expect N2 grammar and N1 level vocabulary. But even then the story is really easy to read. Scenes are clear, conversations flow naturally, and you'll find yourself sucked into the narrative you (hopefully) won't even notice you're reading Japanese.
Confused by the contradictory reviews? Let me help.
If you read the review here below me or elsewhere, you will notice that some people loved the book and others hated it. This made me reluctant to read the book, but when I finally got to read it, I decided to understand what the hell is going on. The results are the following:
STRUCTURE:
- If you know about mystery tags: 本格的なミステリー + 霊媒
- 4 main chapters (3 unrelated cases + 1 final big spoiler chapter)
- chapters 1-3 are almost unanimously agreed to be mid tier in terms of mystery novels.
- chapter 4 is with no doubt the best.
READING SENSATION (mostly agreed by all readers):
- chapter 1: おもしろいけど、普通。
- chapter 2: おもしろいけど、 女の子たちの描写は気持ち悪いというか。。。
- chapter 3: 犯人はわかっているし、早く終わってほしい。
- chapter 4: え?!
WHY SO MANY DIFFERENT REVIEWS: The first 3 chapters are the main reason for the disparity in the reviews. Some people find them interesting enough to continue reading. Others get bored too soon, and either drop the book or read to the end. The ending is very interesting, but if you have been suffering to reach it 300以上 pages, then it will not change your impression of the book too much. Personally, I find them interesting enough, but I could not avoid sometimes reading other things.
MOST NOTED PROBLEMS:
The main characters behavior is not liked by everybody. Because speaking about the characters is related to spoilers, people do not speak much about it in the reviews, but we can summarize them as 香月 being a bit apathetic (and sometimes creepy), while 翡翠 acting too girly, if your know what I mean.
翡翠 gets described too much, and the descriptions are always the same.
ABOUT THE BIG SPOILER (explained without spoilers):
- Impossible to guess (though I guessed it).
- Explains every weak aspect of the book, of the mysteries, and generally justifies everything to make the book a much, much better book.
- Actually a double spoiler. The first one was easy to guess for me, and is actually not impossible due to the clues throughout the book (weak spoiler: actually, the book being in 3rd person is suspicious enough ). The second one is impossible because there are simply no clues given, though I never abandoned the idea that it could very well be the case.
RATING:
The first three chapters get 3★, and the fourth chapter gets 5★. This does not change the 3★ rating for me, but I give an extra star ★ because the author used consistently the 魘 kanji in 魘される, which is my favorite kanji, one time without furigana. That's the way!
one for the "solve the puzzle" mystery subgenre fans, maybe
I think you'll probably like this book best if you enjoy the mystery subgenre which is almost a puzzle game played with the author, where you make a serious effort to think about the bits of evidence you see and come up with the logical solution, and the author tries to lead you down the garden path with red herrings but ultimately "plays fair" in giving you the necessary information, and having a good clever puzzle is the most important requirement for a satisfying reading experience. The author clearly likes that kind of book and name checks a few of the classic authors in the subgenre.
Personally I am not that kind of reader, being too lazy mostly, so I prefer my mysteries to have deeper characterisation, more drama or social commentary. And I can certainly see the flaws that other reviews mention. On the other hand, as I was reading this I never found myself thinking "ugh, I need to read another thirty pages of this this week", and towards the end it was this book I most wanted to read and finish, not any of the others I had in progress. So overall I rated it three stars out of five.
Underwhelmed...
This book would be a good to take on a plane and read in like 1 sitting. While I did not see the twist coming, I was overall quite underwhelmed with the overall book. The twist got my interest for like 10 minutes and then lost it again.
I didn't hate it, but I was expecting a lot more from a book this hyped. Honestly, the audiobook probably saved me from hating it. :)
A superficial collection of tropes
For the first three chapters of the book, the crime writer narrator teams up with a beautiful medium to solve crimes they somehow keep coming across. The mini-mysteries are simplistic, their solutions overexplained. The characters, as cliché and two-dimensional as they come.
Most of the book reads like an adolescent fantasy, with the smart man and the oh-so-beautiful but vulnerable woman by his side. Her appearance is described to death. In fact, if I had a yen for every time her green eyes are mentioned (almost literally every other sentence she's in), I'd be happy to use them to buy many, much better books than this one.
The promised twist, not entirely unexpected, addressed some of my issues with the book at least, but we just changed one trope for another. The author tried his best to be clever, but making the reader suffer through hundreds of pages of blandness to set up your twist isn't good writing.
A few words on the audiobook: If you like full sound effects and music throughout (think sad string quartets for sad scenes, sobbing included), you may enjoy it. I like to imagine the scenes myself, and thought it was annoyingly over-acted.
There's a nice twist in the story. Really didn't expect it. But this was mostly boring stuff and repetitive descriptions up to that point. Characterization isn't the strong point of this book either. And the big reveal excitement won't last for long, maybe 2-3 pages. Because author immediately floods you with info dumps to justify the twist. Very interesting idea behind the twist but reading 400 pages to get there? Not worth it.