Daijhanna

If half stars were a thing, I'd rate it 3.5. It was okay. Good even, at points, but not great. I didn't find the plot line overly thrilling, and some of the plot threads veered off in a weird way that wasn't good (a shame because Ito does good weird very well!). I didn't have any strong feelings toward any of the characters, and though the intro was very interesting, I felt it petered out as the end came around.
That said, the art was amazing! Beautiful and horrifying in that distinctly Ito way. I may not have loved the story but my eyes were never bored!

I planned to read a couple stories a day until I reached to the end, but I was engrossed with the stories and finished it in a day.

The stories were all well written, but my favourites by far were Dear Emma (amazing opening) and He Wrote Me a Song. I thoroughly enjoyed the overall bittersweet feeling I got while reading this book (especially Cane Sprouts!). I thought the overall darkness that can exist in everyday life and relationships was captured and portrayed in a way that was compelling and felt real.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I'm looking forward to what Hannah Lee Kidder writes next!

*3.5

I was disappointed in this book. While I think all the puzzle pieces are present for a really entertaining and spooky read, they didn't quite come together for me. I found the pacing was quite slow for a majority of the novel, and while the head hopping was tolerable, the actual main POV character was unlikeable to the extreme.
A lot of elements of this novel are age-soured, so while I didn't like the main character or certain portrayals of people in the book, I understand that there they were acceptable for the time this book was created.
I came to this book after watching the movie adaptation(s), so that may also skew my opinions. I greatly preferred the movie, both in plot, pacing, and choice of protagonist and backstory.
Overall, I won't be continuing with the trilogy, but I'm glad it exists because it inspired my favourite movie(s) of all time!

This was a great read! The beginning was a little slow, which made me put it down on my first try, but when it picks up later on– man! I even really liked both side stories, which I thought were strange to have in the middle of a story, but ended up being REALLY awesome, and good breaks from the main plot. Definitely would recommend!

So so SO strange! I buddy read this with a friend and had we not stopped to discuss after every chapter, I'm not sure what I would've gotten out of this book... There is so much going on, and so much that is and is not said that it would be super easy to plow through this book and give it a bad rating for being nonsensical, but there is genuinely just A LOT to sift through.
I loved the gradual changes to the narrator, I loved the crazy almost incomprehensible world and creatures. and the QUESTIONS. I have so many–current, because not much is answered...but I still really enjoyed it and am eager to continue on with the trilogy!