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The Girl with the Barbed Wire Hair
For almost 20 years, Carlton Mellick III has been writing some of the strangest and most compelling novels the bizarro fiction genre has to offer. Described as one of the top 40 science-fiction writers under the age of 40 by The Guardian and "one of the most original novelists working today" by extreme horror legend Edward Lee, Mellick returns with a haunting tale of obsession, desperation, loneliness, and depravity.
There is a girl who lives in the alley behind the old, abandoned fire station. She is always covered in ash and grime, cuts and bruises on her arms and legs, the skirt of her school uniform caked in dirt and ripped into tatters. Her hair is a mess of dreadlocks the color of rusted metal, growing like vines all the way down to her ankles. She was once human, but not anymore. She's become a feral creature with an undying thirst for blood and revenge. Everyone at school knows to stay away from her. There are rumors that anyone who crosses her path will be murdered and never heard from again, their throats torn out by the long strands of barbed wire that grow from her head like hair.
But when she meets a young boy named Yusuke, the first person to ever show her an ounce of human kindness, her desire for revenge turns to feelings of love. And she will do whatever it takes to win his heart, even if she has to rip it from his chest in order to obtain it.
From the author of Cannibals of Candyland and The Terrible Thing That Happens , comes a depraved love story inspired by Japanese cult horror films such as Ringu and the Grudge .
There is a girl who lives in the alley behind the old, abandoned fire station. She is always covered in ash and grime, cuts and bruises on her arms and legs, the skirt of her school uniform caked in dirt and ripped into tatters. Her hair is a mess of dreadlocks the color of rusted metal, growing like vines all the way down to her ankles. She was once human, but not anymore. She's become a feral creature with an undying thirst for blood and revenge. Everyone at school knows to stay away from her. There are rumors that anyone who crosses her path will be murdered and never heard from again, their throats torn out by the long strands of barbed wire that grow from her head like hair.
But when she meets a young boy named Yusuke, the first person to ever show her an ounce of human kindness, her desire for revenge turns to feelings of love. And she will do whatever it takes to win his heart, even if she has to rip it from his chest in order to obtain it.
From the author of Cannibals of Candyland and The Terrible Thing That Happens , comes a depraved love story inspired by Japanese cult horror films such as Ringu and the Grudge .
- GenresHorrorBizarro Fiction
216 pages, Paperback
Published October 18, 2022
6 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Carlton Mellick III
119 books2,168 followersCarlton Mellick III (July 2, 1977, Phoenix, Arizona) is an American author currently residing in Portland, Oregon. He calls his style of writing "avant-punk," and is currently one of the leading authors in the recent 'Bizarro' movement in underground literature[citation needed] with Steve Aylett, Chris Genoa and D. Harlan Wilson.
Mellick's work has been described as a combination of trashy schlock sci-fi/horror and postmodern literary art. His novels explore surreal versions of earth in contemporary society and imagined futures, commonly focusing on social absurdities and satire.
Carlton Mellick III started writing at the age of ten and completed twelve novels by the age of eighteen. Only one of these early novels, "Electric Jesus Corpse", ever made it to print.
He is best known for his first novel Satan Burger and its sequel Punk Land. Satan Burger was translated into Russian and published by Ultra Culture in 2005. It was part of a four book series called Brave New World, which also featured Virtual Light by William Gibson, City Come A Walkin by John Shirley, and Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan.
In the late 90's, he formed a collective for offbeat authors which included D. Harlan Wilson, Kevin L. Donihe, Vincent Sakowski, among others, and the publishing company Eraserhead Press. This scene evolved into the Bizarro fiction movement in 2005.
In addition to writing, Mellick is an artist and musician.
Mellick's work has been described as a combination of trashy schlock sci-fi/horror and postmodern literary art. His novels explore surreal versions of earth in contemporary society and imagined futures, commonly focusing on social absurdities and satire.
Carlton Mellick III started writing at the age of ten and completed twelve novels by the age of eighteen. Only one of these early novels, "Electric Jesus Corpse", ever made it to print.
He is best known for his first novel Satan Burger and its sequel Punk Land. Satan Burger was translated into Russian and published by Ultra Culture in 2005. It was part of a four book series called Brave New World, which also featured Virtual Light by William Gibson, City Come A Walkin by John Shirley, and Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan.
In the late 90's, he formed a collective for offbeat authors which included D. Harlan Wilson, Kevin L. Donihe, Vincent Sakowski, among others, and the publishing company Eraserhead Press. This scene evolved into the Bizarro fiction movement in 2005.
In addition to writing, Mellick is an artist and musician.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 27, 2023
I actually would consider The Girl with the Barbed Wire Hair to be Mellick toned down quite a bit, hewing a little closer to a traditional J-horror ghost story than a full-fledged absurdist fest. Still insanely readable, and there is no author whose books I devour with the speed and devotion that I do CM3. He's the greatest for a reason, folks.
November 2, 2022
Absolutely loved this one. Brilliant read. Mellick never lets you down. Felt like I knew the characters by the end.
October 22, 2022
More horror than bizarro, but boy, am I here for it. Absolutely fantastic book.
August 28, 2023
As both a huge CM3 fan and a J-Horror nerd, this book was just freaking amazing! Seriously, it was SO good!!!
More horror than Bizarro, this spooky tale was one hell of a read, and definitely one of my faves.
I absolutely adored every ghostly page of it, and I’m sure the girl with the barbed wire hair will live in my head and heart for many moons to come.
I just hope she doesn’t climb into bed with me tonight!
More horror than Bizarro, this spooky tale was one hell of a read, and definitely one of my faves.
I absolutely adored every ghostly page of it, and I’m sure the girl with the barbed wire hair will live in my head and heart for many moons to come.
I just hope she doesn’t climb into bed with me tonight!
December 22, 2022
Super hard to give Mellick III a "III", but arriving at his 64th book having read at least 32 others, I would put this one near the bottom of the pile. Excited at its length turned into constantly finding the book in an obscure location, as if I was trying to forget I was reading it.
It earns three stars because Mellick is a modern master of joining horror with universal themes. Most of them are "women digesting men", but there are other interesting family issues, friendship issues, war, etc. that he does unsurpassably. And such is the case here: The book creates a profound question about volition. Do we have choice? Do we make bad choices on purpose, and live with them for as long as it takes for them to resolve naturally... then look back with a smile, say "Ah, what a wonderful life?" It was not wonderful, if you think about it. This is his horror.
My main gripe is that I feel Mellick's "writing marathon" method is consuming his writing style. Much as the "Trademark of Quantity" phase of the Legendary Pink Dots created ten extra albums of meandering noise per year, each with one or two songs on it.
Mellick rode in on the coat tails of Vonnegut, who could shear down a world catastrophe to a doorstop you would remember the rest of your life. But the present tense prose in the last baker's dozen of books sounds like a writer pitching a story to you, rather than writing it.
[not actual quote] "He wants to figure out how to talk to the girl, but he can't decide if it would make things worse. All the same, he's glad someone else believes him, but maybe this other girl just wants to embarrass him."
Prose like this, I don't know. I'm sure we can break the law of "show, don't tell" after 200 years, but despite Mellick's inviting demeanor and genuine love of his craft, I don't want to feel like somebody is writing me an email about their story idea.
Three stars of hope. I loved the idea of a 200+ page Mellick book. I hope he will challenge himself differently--rather than write a novella every two months that feels so speed-written, take one narrative and write through it, again and again, for a solid year. Give us the Pulp Fiction of Mellick books, man. (Maybe he just wouldn't enjoy that.)
And big, vehement request: Please, Please stop making the books look like this. The cover is a part of the work as a whole, and these covers don't bring out the best qualities of what is inside. I hate to be so critical, but it also makes it hard to get the people in our lives to read Mellick. One 35-year-old offering a book like this to a colleague, or a young person who looks up to said adult--yeah, the look on their face is funny, but they're not going to read it.
The early covers were pretty stylish, but yeah, maybe there is no need to go back there. I'm sure Portland has some cutting-edge graphic designers with a feel for retro horror/cyberpunk like the author evokes. Just no more big-eyed little girls on every single cover.
It earns three stars because Mellick is a modern master of joining horror with universal themes. Most of them are "women digesting men", but there are other interesting family issues, friendship issues, war, etc. that he does unsurpassably. And such is the case here: The book creates a profound question about volition. Do we have choice? Do we make bad choices on purpose, and live with them for as long as it takes for them to resolve naturally... then look back with a smile, say "Ah, what a wonderful life?" It was not wonderful, if you think about it. This is his horror.
My main gripe is that I feel Mellick's "writing marathon" method is consuming his writing style. Much as the "Trademark of Quantity" phase of the Legendary Pink Dots created ten extra albums of meandering noise per year, each with one or two songs on it.
Mellick rode in on the coat tails of Vonnegut, who could shear down a world catastrophe to a doorstop you would remember the rest of your life. But the present tense prose in the last baker's dozen of books sounds like a writer pitching a story to you, rather than writing it.
[not actual quote] "He wants to figure out how to talk to the girl, but he can't decide if it would make things worse. All the same, he's glad someone else believes him, but maybe this other girl just wants to embarrass him."
Prose like this, I don't know. I'm sure we can break the law of "show, don't tell" after 200 years, but despite Mellick's inviting demeanor and genuine love of his craft, I don't want to feel like somebody is writing me an email about their story idea.
Three stars of hope. I loved the idea of a 200+ page Mellick book. I hope he will challenge himself differently--rather than write a novella every two months that feels so speed-written, take one narrative and write through it, again and again, for a solid year. Give us the Pulp Fiction of Mellick books, man. (Maybe he just wouldn't enjoy that.)
And big, vehement request: Please, Please stop making the books look like this. The cover is a part of the work as a whole, and these covers don't bring out the best qualities of what is inside. I hate to be so critical, but it also makes it hard to get the people in our lives to read Mellick. One 35-year-old offering a book like this to a colleague, or a young person who looks up to said adult--yeah, the look on their face is funny, but they're not going to read it.
The early covers were pretty stylish, but yeah, maybe there is no need to go back there. I'm sure Portland has some cutting-edge graphic designers with a feel for retro horror/cyberpunk like the author evokes. Just no more big-eyed little girls on every single cover.
January 4, 2023
Book started off with creepy vibes because of the teenage sex with a ghost. Yes she's a stalker and most likely his solemate.
September 5, 2023
Mellick is something else. People often ask me why I read his books. Simply put, they’re impossible to predict. They’re something unlike anything else. Good or bad, they’re always creative and unpredictable.
May 7, 2024
Book has a flat ending. The author says as such in sn included cartoon the story lacks the Carlton touch. His books typically have layers. This is just a ghost story. The guy is so passive it’s ridiculous. All the women are horribly controlling. The author can and has done better.
November 29, 2023
So CM3 decided to write a 'ghost story.' His first (to see print), according to the author's forward, and also likely to be his last. What can I say, the man likes to make an impact and it's hard to do that with paint-by-numbers. So setting yourself a benchmark of providing a unique take on a tired and oft-hackneyed genre seems like a laudable choice. Doubly so if your one foray into that dark corner of horror fiction actually does what you hoped it would.
And did it? Oh hell yes.
The book opens simply enough, hewing closely (at first blush) to several established horror tropes, all draped with a very lived-in array of J-horror trappings. Schoolgirl ghost? Check. Awkward loner who voluntarily runs afoul of said ghost? Yup, there he is. Mean Girl lingering on the periphery and adding chaos that eventually starts giving way to a sordid and parasitic love triangle from hell, resulting in mass carnage and-wait, what? Ahhhh yeah. CM3.
So what starts off close enough to familiar territory quickly enough careens off the rails into madness and depravity. It doesn't take long before the undercurrents driving these three characters start manifesting with a very chilling foreboding. That awkward loner who is sort of stumbling his way through as a protagonist? Well, he's actually a browbeaten mama's boy with a deep guilt complex and a dangerously co-dependent spirit. The toxic slurry formed when his own foibles begin to meld with Narumi's (an ice cold débutante whose idea of a good time lies somewhere between Babylon and watching the entire world burn) has predictable results. Especially when the apex of the triangle is formed by the lethally jealous and terminally lonely vengeance spirit of a murdered junior high girl.
On the whole, this is a maddening descent into the horrors of true obsession. But the strands of fate and alchemy that weave these three wayward souls together carry with them enough pathos that the reader actually keeps hoping, for as long as they can, that everything might somehow work out. No matter how much you may despise any of the three characters, their motives and passions are so earnestly presented that the story, like so many other ghost stories before it, functions most adeptly at a human level.
For my money, I'm going to go on record and say that I'd love to see Carlton Mellick do a bit more horror, even another ghost story, at some point in the future. I respect the exacting standards to which he holds himself when chasing the muse, but if TGwtBWH is any indication, then the untapped potential there leaves me yearning for more...not unlike the yearning of a desperate, lonely ghost-girl who has spent seeming eternities in the frigid wasteland of unlife that inherently leaves her bereft of all human touch.
And did it? Oh hell yes.
The book opens simply enough, hewing closely (at first blush) to several established horror tropes, all draped with a very lived-in array of J-horror trappings. Schoolgirl ghost? Check. Awkward loner who voluntarily runs afoul of said ghost? Yup, there he is. Mean Girl lingering on the periphery and adding chaos that eventually starts giving way to a sordid and parasitic love triangle from hell, resulting in mass carnage and-wait, what? Ahhhh yeah. CM3.
So what starts off close enough to familiar territory quickly enough careens off the rails into madness and depravity. It doesn't take long before the undercurrents driving these three characters start manifesting with a very chilling foreboding. That awkward loner who is sort of stumbling his way through as a protagonist? Well, he's actually a browbeaten mama's boy with a deep guilt complex and a dangerously co-dependent spirit. The toxic slurry formed when his own foibles begin to meld with Narumi's (an ice cold débutante whose idea of a good time lies somewhere between Babylon and watching the entire world burn) has predictable results. Especially when the apex of the triangle is formed by the lethally jealous and terminally lonely vengeance spirit of a murdered junior high girl.
On the whole, this is a maddening descent into the horrors of true obsession. But the strands of fate and alchemy that weave these three wayward souls together carry with them enough pathos that the reader actually keeps hoping, for as long as they can, that everything might somehow work out. No matter how much you may despise any of the three characters, their motives and passions are so earnestly presented that the story, like so many other ghost stories before it, functions most adeptly at a human level.
For my money, I'm going to go on record and say that I'd love to see Carlton Mellick do a bit more horror, even another ghost story, at some point in the future. I respect the exacting standards to which he holds himself when chasing the muse, but if TGwtBWH is any indication, then the untapped potential there leaves me yearning for more...not unlike the yearning of a desperate, lonely ghost-girl who has spent seeming eternities in the frigid wasteland of unlife that inherently leaves her bereft of all human touch.
January 7, 2023
Some CM3 books are not really bizarro. This falls into that category. There is the usual horror, gore, sex and supernatural stuff, but none of it is particularly avant-guarde punk. The barbed wire hair visuals are slightly bizarro, but not really.
Aside from faltering when it comes to conjuring a creepy atmosphere, this is more of a love story featuring awkward teens. The second part of the book adds a layer of psychological torture and a disturbing undertones of control and enabling. The latter third of the book was much better than the lead up.
I must also complain about the covers of his recent novellas. Not only are they misleading, they are not varied enough. I guess the author/ publisher is going for a consistent aesthetic, but it does not do the books justice. CM3 has an incredibly unpredictable body of work. The covers should reveal an element of horror, comedy, and zany bizarro environment.
This was one of his blandest, least humorous, and tamest stories. The characters have flaws and arcs, but the book relied heavily on Japanese tropes, paying homage to The Ring and its clones. I dislike books about high school bullying. It's just been done so many times. It's a cheap way to try to force your reader to feel sympathy for your characters. Setting the book in Japan did not do anything to enhance the atmosphere. He would have been better served taking his time and adding more description. The book is lean and hastily written, but still fluffy, like a young adult novel, overly focused on internal monologues.
As one of the least interesting of his books I would call it skippable. It is not a good introduction to his style. Neither is it tightly written. He normally avoids fluff words, or edits them out, as he should. I typically rate him much higher than Stephen King, but this was about on King's level of schlock. It is meant to be a quick, easy read. Dumbed-down horror that is not even scary. Nothing in media has actually scared me for the past fifteen years but this was definitely unhorrific. Ghost girls creeping around are now cliched. If it were made into a film, the ghost girl would walk down a staircase on all fours making cracking sounds with her back.
But with all this said. It can still be read with passive enjoyment in my opinion. For diehard fans of the author, it adds another subgenre to his repertoire. I hope he writes another, more compelling ghost story, especially given his claims in the intro, where he relates his real-life encounters with ghosts. Even the bad books of CM3 are better than the generic, watered-down, interchangeable, blatantly woke, bestselling crud you find on the bookstore shelves.
Aside from faltering when it comes to conjuring a creepy atmosphere, this is more of a love story featuring awkward teens. The second part of the book adds a layer of psychological torture and a disturbing undertones of control and enabling. The latter third of the book was much better than the lead up.
I must also complain about the covers of his recent novellas. Not only are they misleading, they are not varied enough. I guess the author/ publisher is going for a consistent aesthetic, but it does not do the books justice. CM3 has an incredibly unpredictable body of work. The covers should reveal an element of horror, comedy, and zany bizarro environment.
This was one of his blandest, least humorous, and tamest stories. The characters have flaws and arcs, but the book relied heavily on Japanese tropes, paying homage to The Ring and its clones. I dislike books about high school bullying. It's just been done so many times. It's a cheap way to try to force your reader to feel sympathy for your characters. Setting the book in Japan did not do anything to enhance the atmosphere. He would have been better served taking his time and adding more description. The book is lean and hastily written, but still fluffy, like a young adult novel, overly focused on internal monologues.
As one of the least interesting of his books I would call it skippable. It is not a good introduction to his style. Neither is it tightly written. He normally avoids fluff words, or edits them out, as he should. I typically rate him much higher than Stephen King, but this was about on King's level of schlock. It is meant to be a quick, easy read. Dumbed-down horror that is not even scary. Nothing in media has actually scared me for the past fifteen years but this was definitely unhorrific. Ghost girls creeping around are now cliched. If it were made into a film, the ghost girl would walk down a staircase on all fours making cracking sounds with her back.
But with all this said. It can still be read with passive enjoyment in my opinion. For diehard fans of the author, it adds another subgenre to his repertoire. I hope he writes another, more compelling ghost story, especially given his claims in the intro, where he relates his real-life encounters with ghosts. Even the bad books of CM3 are better than the generic, watered-down, interchangeable, blatantly woke, bestselling crud you find on the bookstore shelves.
September 14, 2023
I admit that I am slightly prejudiced - barbed wire hair runs in my family, so it is nice to.finally be represented in literature; regardless of that bias though, The Girl With The Barbed Wire Hair is a marvelous little book, and I was delighted to have recieved an advanced copy.
Like every other book that I have read by Carlton Mellick the 3rd, The Girl With The Barbed Wire Hair is impossible to put down once you've picked it up. The idea is impossibly unique, and you never know what is coming next. There is graphic sex and violence, but it is not gratuitous. It is tempered. The story is a dark comedy, and the book invites you to sit back and enjoy yourself - and it succeeds beyond any expectations.
I give The Girl With The Barbed Wire Hair 5 dirty bed sheets out of 5 dirty bed sheets. It is available on Feb. 14, 2024 (just in time for Valentine's Day), and is available for pre-order now.
https://www.amazon.ca/Girl-Barbed-Wir...
Like every other book that I have read by Carlton Mellick the 3rd, The Girl With The Barbed Wire Hair is impossible to put down once you've picked it up. The idea is impossibly unique, and you never know what is coming next. There is graphic sex and violence, but it is not gratuitous. It is tempered. The story is a dark comedy, and the book invites you to sit back and enjoy yourself - and it succeeds beyond any expectations.
I give The Girl With The Barbed Wire Hair 5 dirty bed sheets out of 5 dirty bed sheets. It is available on Feb. 14, 2024 (just in time for Valentine's Day), and is available for pre-order now.
https://www.amazon.ca/Girl-Barbed-Wir...
June 28, 2023
The girl with the barbed wire hair is actually a twisted love story steeped in Japanese inspired ghost horror. It feels like it pays homage to the likes of Ju-on and Ringu, while maintaining a good amount of his own style within the story.
Coming in at just shy of 200 pages this was a one sitting read for me and I absolutely flew through it. The writing wasn’t bogged down with unnecessary weight and the story kept continually going places and was regularly switching up the tone of the story and weaving in the absolute depth of what was going on.
This isn’t going to be the full on horror masterpiece you might be after, nor is it the usual insanity that he often puts to paper…. But I think that really opens this book up to a broader audience. I would absolutely feel comfortable recommending this to a straight up horror reader.
If you want a nice quick read that will bring you a different look at the obvious ghost story, then this is one to try.
Coming in at just shy of 200 pages this was a one sitting read for me and I absolutely flew through it. The writing wasn’t bogged down with unnecessary weight and the story kept continually going places and was regularly switching up the tone of the story and weaving in the absolute depth of what was going on.
This isn’t going to be the full on horror masterpiece you might be after, nor is it the usual insanity that he often puts to paper…. But I think that really opens this book up to a broader audience. I would absolutely feel comfortable recommending this to a straight up horror reader.
If you want a nice quick read that will bring you a different look at the obvious ghost story, then this is one to try.
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March 23, 2024This one wasn't for me. I love Mellick's work generally but this one had a pretty tame storyline by comparison to others. Ghosts aren't that interesting for me as a reader and this book felt a lot like it had been written more as an homage to Japan than a viable story. It was also heavy on the sex scenes which in prior Mellick books tend to evoke horror, but were played pretty straight here I feel. If you want a more compelling horror romance from Mellick I'd suggest 'The Handsome Squirm' or 'Every Time We Meet at the Dairy Queen'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2024
CM3 is the only author whose books I always read in their entirety. Specifically, I mean that I always read his author's note and afterword included in every book. With most other books, the introductions, afterwords, et cetera, often have nothing interesting or entertaining to say, so I'm glad CM3 is an exception to this rule.
But how was the book? Pretty good, but surprisingly ordinary as far as his novels go. I'd actually feel comfortable recommending this to any fan of ghost stories, even if they have no interest in bizarro.
But how was the book? Pretty good, but surprisingly ordinary as far as his novels go. I'd actually feel comfortable recommending this to any fan of ghost stories, even if they have no interest in bizarro.
January 15, 2023
This is the most normal story I have read by Carlton Mellick III, he did right it as a Japanese story which I thought was a strange choice, but I enjoyed it.
It was the tale of a ghost falling for a boy and then going on a killing spree at the boys school for not having the love reciprocated.
There was a lot to this story and it had a pretty good if not fucked up ending. Can't wait to get my hands on some more of Mellick's books.
It was the tale of a ghost falling for a boy and then going on a killing spree at the boys school for not having the love reciprocated.
There was a lot to this story and it had a pretty good if not fucked up ending. Can't wait to get my hands on some more of Mellick's books.
November 15, 2023
It’s not a long book but it took me some time to get into it in any way…. Plus life got busy so that also added to why it took me so long to read. I didn’t think the book was spooky. It was slow. I wasn’t really into the fact that it gets sexual and the main character was in middle school. The ending was anticlimactic. But… it wasn’t a bad read.
May 1, 2024
3.5 Stars
I have to admit this is my least favorite of all of Mellick's books I've read. It was extremely tame compared to his other books. To the point that it almost doesn't feel like it is a CM3 book.
This book was in no way a bad read, it just wasn't what I've come to expect from Mellick.
I have to admit this is my least favorite of all of Mellick's books I've read. It was extremely tame compared to his other books. To the point that it almost doesn't feel like it is a CM3 book.
This book was in no way a bad read, it just wasn't what I've come to expect from Mellick.
January 7, 2023
This book was an awesome twist on the traditional ghost/paranormal activity book. I do wish the ending had just as much excitement/energy as the rest of the book because it really left me missing out on the excitement.
December 20, 2022
I love Mellick's love stories, and this is another fantastically awkward and incredibly uncomfortable romance.
August 24, 2023
Great story. Part two kinda fucked up, it'd be better without it, but the end fixed stuff so fine with me. I like the open ending.
July 7, 2024
Enjoyable ghost story set in Japan (if you like Ringu or Ju-on, this is same tone).
August 30, 2024
Well, he was right in the author note/comic - I wasn't a fan of the ending. But, other than that, not bad for a foray out of bizarro fic into horror. Looking forward to more from Mellick, as always
February 9, 2024
Easily one of my new favorite books. It was very much like an anime in book form which I hope doesn't come across as silly, but if anyone is looking to get into reading who likes anime/manga, this would absolutely be the book I'd recommend! It sucks you in, it's easy to digest and follow but it's still exciting, interesting and of course, very adult, haha. Lots of times books that I could put in the "easy" category for either adults getting into reading or for foreign speakers, they are children stories or comedies or short form writings, but this is obviously meant for a more mature audience which makes me so happy!
The characters and storyline were both fantastic and I really like the ending (and the explication which I honestly am not sure if it's real or just there to mess with people, but it's definitely not boring)!
The characters and storyline were both fantastic and I really like the ending (and the explication which I honestly am not sure if it's real or just there to mess with people, but it's definitely not boring)!
April 5, 2025
holy moly I loved this book! Ysuke (main character) knows he doesn't want Akiko, he doesn't like what's she's doing to him and doing to others, he can see this in dangerous and hurting him, and yet he longs for companionship so badly and to be loved he gives in every time. He does truly love her, if only briefly. He is so conflicted and reading this I found I kept going "YSUKE NOOO!" I really loved this book and the ending was CRAZY!!! There is a lot of sexual assault so please go into this book with that in mind if you do decide to give it a read.
TW(s): sexual coercion, sexual assault/rape, explicit sexual content (breif)
TW(s): sexual coercion, sexual assault/rape, explicit sexual content (breif)
June 5, 2025
It is obvious CM3 has a love for J-Horror, and this is his love song to the genre. Without giving away anything, it is well written and has a decent pace. If you dig J-Horror, check it out!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews