I am a longtime fan of Kylie Lee Baker and Japanese Gothic is a triumph. I loved the atmosphere and this speculative horror meets mystery is captivating. You can’t look away. Keep reading this book review of Japanese Gothic for my full thoughts.
Summary
October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.
October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.
One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.
Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Japanese Gothic balances this feeling of creeping up on you while also being instantly eerie. There’s this instant connection of dread, of knowing there’s something in the corner, and not being sure if we just imagined that shadow. The atmosphere descends. It reminds me of those old horror movies I watched as a teen which have scarred me forever. At the same time, this thread of mystery of unreliability creeps up on you. We aren’t sure about the connections and if we can trust anything we see. At this nexus, Japanese Gothic exists and thrills you. We can’t look away as we see Sen’s treatment from her father.
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All we see is this singled minded pursuit of honor and vengeance which comes at all costs. We see how we can be honed into a sharp blade for purposes not our own. In Lee we witness the unanswered questions which fester into questions that keep us awake at night. Into what ifs and hopes balanced on the edge of a knife. There’s this delightful and terrifying supernatural edge as the pit of our stomach drops. I loved how Japanese Gothic explores monstrosity and what makes us redeemable or not. Lee and Sen are trapped. They’re trapped in what they might consider the past, in the history of our families, and in this house.
Find Japanese Gothic on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.