Review : The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco

Posted by on September 18, 2015 11:14 pm in 4.5 stars reads | 7 comments

the girl from the wellThe Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco
Pages : 267
Genre : YA, Horror
Stand alone
My Rating : 4.5/5

About the Book  :

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret – one that would just kill to get out.

My Thoughts :

I originally read and wrote a review for The Girl From the Well last fall, at the time of the R.I.P. challenge. Unfortunately, that’s also when I took a long break from blogging, one I hadn’t planned for – and my review was then put aside.

Which is a shame, because I loved this book. It’s a YA horror novel with a Japanese Horror (or J Horror) spin. This means a creepy vengeful ghost filled with purpose and its own mythology. It’s dark and unsettling, as horror should be, and much more focussed on the psychological aspect of the story than on the gory details.

I loved every minute of it. Rin Chupeco sets the ambiance perfectly, and her writing had a unique twist on the narrative voice. While this is something that could turn off readers, it definitely worked for me, though it’s hard to describe exactly. It’s a mix between a kinda omniscient third person voice and first person, and it jumps from one to the other without obvious transitions. Consequently the story felt constantly like it was shifing, moving between life and death, inhabiting a part of the world hidden from us.

Most importantly, the author managed to write an interesting ghost/spirit. Her story is captivating, from the past to the present, from life to death.

There’s not a lot of horror in YA, but still The Girl From the Well really stood out from the rest for me. The voice felt new, the ambiance was perfectly eerie and the story was different, while perfectly recreating a Japanese Horror setting – which is a genre I’ve always found interesting.

And I was so excited recently when I discovered there was a sequel published. I had no idea! I can’t to get my hands on it! Hopefully soon!

I also saw they changed the cover for the paperback version of the book. I have to say, I like it. It’s not as pretty as the hardback I have, but it conveys the story’s genre and atmosphere much more closely.

the girl from the well new cover

7 Comments

  1. This sounds so creepy and GOOD!! A perfect book to read in October for Halloween! I’m super interested in it, but have never heard of it before your review! Thanks!!

    • It is absolutely perfect for that time of the year! I would love to hear your thoughts on it; if you can get on board with the narration (which is what seems to turn people off the most), I think you might enjoy it!

  2. This might be too creepy for me but I know lots of people who would love it.

    • Ha yes, it’s definitely on the creepy side, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t like this kind of story! 🙂

  3. This sounds amazing!! I just put it on order at the library.

    • Oh! I can’t wait to know what you think of it. I hope you enjoy it. It certainly has a bit of a different tone dur to the narration!

  4. This sounds amazing! I just put it on hold at my library.

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