Saturday, August 16, 2014

2014 book 195

Kanae Minato's Confessions
I think the best word for this novel is "gripping"--I sped through and read it all in one sitting b/c I HAD to know what was going to happen next. It's the story of a young Japanese woman, a middle school teacher and single mother (much rarer in Japan), whose beloved little daughter is murdered by a pair of her students. And in the wake of the little girl's death, she's resigned from her job--but not before getting her revenge. Told through her POV as well as several students' and other related parties, this has tons of twists and turns and a fairly effed-up ending that had me saying "That is EFFED UP!" out loud. This was a bestseller in Japan for a reason--it is a crazy-ass thriller. The translator has done a solid job as well--the writing flows and feels really natural. I have no idea how to grade a book this insane but I really enjoyed it, so A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on Tuesday.

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