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Obsessed. I feel like I need to reread this book again, immediately, because I sped through it because I loved it but I‘m sure I missed some things. It leaves you with a choked up feeling, one of pain and beauty. N.P. and Kitchen are masterpieces.

After death comes for each character, they have the opportunity to portray their lives in photos, one from each year of life. The reader accompanies them for a revisit to a day that changed their lives. There is no morality check or judgement. These characters become dear by sharing their fears and joys. This book manages to be warm and comforting even as it focuses on endings.

“Machiko Yoneoka eventually gave a curt nod of the head and gave them a name; a woman‘s name. Mogi had a vague feeling that it was a name he had heard somewhere before. He looked across at (her), intending to ask her to repeat it, and was surprised to see the woman looked quite terrified. Mogi turned to his left to see what she was staring at. It was Kaga. His eyes were the eyes of a hunting dog that has found its prey.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A restrained horror novel that unfolds with eerie calm, only to erupt into visceral terror in its final act.

True to Japanese horror, Audition delays its descent until the end, where emotional repression gives way to torment and psychological collapse, where trauma festers beneath social decorum and violence erupts from emotional neglect. The horror here isn‘t supernatural; it‘s human, intimate, and inevitable.

Ooh! Look what else appeared! And can you spot another Rae addition? (The Safekeep was already there haha)

Lots of books read since my last Litsy post!!
I‘ve been off the internet for a few months…
I‘ve loved the Japanese crime genre, Conclave by Robert Harris which I read just before the recent Conclave. Brooklyn, Long Island and The Safe Keep were also favourites!

I loved that 📕 by one of Japan‘s most famous female writers. The co-existence of four women (wife servants concubines etc) in a bourgeois family during the Meiji area. The interactions are observed and described with minutiae giving the main characters a deep humanity. Very beautiful and delicately written. The ending was a stark contrast (no spoilers).

Beautiful story and illustrations.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtube.com/shorts/U-Vay9SvNvU?feature=share

Enjoy!

I couldn‘t finish this book. The « hunter‘s log » made my skin crawl. I had an inkling about the ending, so I flipped through the last few chapters to confirm that hunch.

This book contains 2 stories: Kitchen & Moonlight Shadow. I loved them both. Yoshimoto writes about losing loved ones, that unbearable pain that consumes us, unlike anyone I‘ve ever read before. These stories are beautiful and melancholy and they make my chest tremble as I let it ache for all those I‘ve loved and lost. Contender for best 2025 read.