actual rating: 2.5

I just really wasn't into this. It's a bunch of loosely connected short stories - which I didn't realize when I started, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up at all if I had realized - about serial killers in a town where two death-obsessed girls go to school. I would have liked something that had a more straightforward narrative since some of the stories are actually about the two girls and some they just show up very briefly towards the end. It might just be that I'm missing something in translation or it might be that I just don't like this kind of story but I just found myself skimming a lot of it.

This book really surprised me! Nothing is as it seems in this series of interconnected stories. Can be confusing at times (because it’s written in the Honkaku style of mystery meant to trick and deceive the reader) but when the truth(s) are revealed it’ll have your mind blown.

Disturbing, yet beautiful. I love these short stories that piece together in the end. I got a little lost at the end, but that was it. It’s an easy book to follow, an easy book to pick off where you stopped. It’s a psychological mind fuck, which I really liked.

3.75 ⭐️

Japanese horror really just hits different.

Goth is one of those books that sits with you. It’s very dark.

Psychopathy. Madness. Obsession. And a bit of grief. It’s all packed into this very strange, deeply demented anthology— if that’s what we can call it.

The stories are interwoven, following fifteen year old Morino— a quiet, murder-obsessed teen girl, and her nameless male counterpart— who is quite disturbed. Both students are drawn to each other for one reason only. Their overwhelming obsession with brutal deaths.

Otsuichi has created a small town filled with serial killers in this novel. Morino and the nameless narrator always take part in trying to solve these vile and vicious murders— sometimes putting themselves in harm’s way.

And when I say in harm’s way, I mean cosplaying as serial killer victims to get a rise out of an active murderer. Now if that’s not some dark shit, I don’t know what is.

Though the storylines are always significantly and sometimes outlandishly different— the premise rarely changes. Morino and the unnamed boy are digging for clues and addressing killings and killers head on. It’s such an interesting concept. An entire town full of killers— what more can be asked for by the pair?

The stories oftentimes hit the fan with well written descriptions of gore, disturbing— and sometimes heart wrenching scenarios, and plot twists that smack you in the face. There’s a lot packed in here. And since the stories take place from different perspectives, sometimes it’s hard to tell who is narrating up until the last page in the chapter. This never deterred me, but made me excited. I thought it was pretty cool how Otsuichi made you play the murder-mystery brain game while reading. No wonder it won the Honkaku Mystery Award— though the author didn’t think it was deserved.

Sometimes reading Goth was like reading a fever dream— a dark fantasy with glimpses of a potential reality. I loved every part of it. The book was like a shape shifter— weaving into perspective, in and out of crime scenes, and taking us into the mind of the demented/mentally ill.

Goth was a lot to digest, but I loved it. I highly recommend this one to readers who are into Japanese horror books or just want to read about brutality and two kids trying to understand and relate to the killer.

I do recommended reading the author’s note in the back. It’s humorously informative and details the author’s meaning of the novel and its expectations. He even apologizes to the Goth community for using the title of the culture but not necessarily adding it into the book. If you’re looking for deeper insight and meaning about the novel, it’s a perfect post-read.

Hannibal meets... Murder, She wrote? I don't know, but this was a fun creepy read. Short stories somewhat linked by 2 amateur teen (goth) detectives. Warning for dog lovers, though -- there's a story 1/2 way in that does not end well for anything 4-legged.