At page 129, I realized that I love this book. That’s the point at which Cassie is on a plane and another girl tells her about Japanese ghosts.

I collect antique Japanese dolls. I hope none of them contain malevolent spirits. Strangely, this book inspired me to purchase some more antique Japanese dolls on Etsy! ( )

3.50
For me, "The Girl from the Well" read like a more fleshed-out creepypasta.com story: full of ghosts and spirits, strange tattoos on a boys skin, a mother in a mental hospital, a really oblivious father, and a big ol heap of murder. This book had some very interesting aspects to it, like the Japanese ghostlore and mythology. Those bits were some of the best in the book!

The writing, while descriptive and even a little lyrical at times, is fairly basic. It strays more into "let me tell you everything that's happening" more often than I think it should have, but in a strange way it sort of worked here. Sometimes the tale strays off course, however, Chupeco pulls everything together at the end in a solid way.
I definitely think a teen around 16ish who loves horror would enjoy this book! It reminds me of a teenagers-in-the-woods-style slasher flick: fun, horrific, and just a little predictable.

>>>Content warning: this book is Graphic with a capital "G". There are several grisly murders described in detail and with lots of cussing. There is also talk of pedophilia and child abuse, which may be harmful to some readers. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was such a unique and thrilling tale of an old Japanese folklore. I loved how the author used such freedom her writing created such distinct voices for each character. The haunting voice of the main character was such a staccato you could almost feel the pain it took for her to try to communicate.
While I admit I was at first confused by the violence and aggression at the beginning of the book, as well as the duel plot lines, I soon found myself so captivated by the events unfolding at all my confusion was forgotten. New and exciting characters and sceneries where introduced and the main theme began blossoming.
I couldn't get enough of this book. I cannot wait for this author to write more. A great debut! ( )

I'm sorry, I just love this series!! I wish I had read this one before The Suffering, but the stories still held up so well. Getting these amazing point of views from the damned, the cursed and frightening. The ending is a fun reward Making me want to reread so soon ( )

I'm being a little generous with the rating, but for a debut novel it wasn't bad, but not quite what I was expecting. There were some creepy scenes that I liked, but it never really got scary, at least not to me. The characters were pretty dull and I didn't care about them at all. They could have been developed more. The writing wasn't bad, but it was confusing at times. This is supposed to be from the POV of Okiku (1st person), who is a 300 year old ghost, but at times the writing switches to 3rd person omniscient, which was just confusing. The switch usually occurs mid-page/mid-paragraph, which makes it even more confusing. I love the fact that this didn't try to turn into a romance. I'll admit, I was a little afraid that it would. Although, I enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood, I hated that it kind of turned into a romance. When I read horror, I want horror, not romance. If I want romance I'll pick up a romance novel, but I want horror, so I appreciated that this novel stuck to that. I liked parts of this book, it just wasn't executed that well to me. However, this is the author's first novel, so I'm still interested in picking up more of her books to see how her writings have changed/improved. ( )