i’m actually quite surprised by how much fun i had with this. 

this book automatically gets a bonus point from me because, not to toot my own horn, but i’m usually great at picking the culprit in mystery novels. this one? i had no clue! and it wasn’t even because i wasn’t trying to work it out & was just along for the ride. nope i was trying my hardest! but if a book can blindside me regarding its culprit yet have it still make sense? yeah immediately a great book in my mind.

the only reason i don’t see this as a 5-star is that im still a tad confused at how the “murders” occurred based on the culprit, but hey i might reread this a bit in the future to see if i can see the signs. i won’t lie the ending did confuse me a bit as well… im gonna have to google what actually was being conveyed in the epilogue because honestly im lost.

also there is a little ding in my mind for

both the women being killed so early on :( i mean i get why! and they would’ve died anyways so like does it really matter when it is? but to me yes it does because theres literally like 6 female characters & 5 of them are dead (the last female character literally is irrelevant so).

but like i said this is a minor ding this didn’t ruin the book for me.

i really enjoyed the characters as well as the setting. shout out to my homies agatha & poe. this is my first proper “locked in” mystery and honestly i had a blast! i loved this book and im 100% going to be reading ayatsuji’s other stories TRUST