REVIEW: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

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.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.

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MY THOUGHTS
I'm not very familiar with the story that this book is based off of, but you don't necessarily have to be in order to enjoy this book! This book was disturbing, creepy, and I loved it!

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the POV. The POV is mostly from Okiku's perspective. Okiku is a very interesting perspective because she's, well, a vengeful spirit which makes her a very interesting narrator. Her perspective is also interesting because she, since she's a ghost, she is oftentimes (when she's not killing anyone) just floating around in the background, telling up the events happening in front of her. It's kind of a perspective I don't see very often in books, reminded me of Tiger Lily, only because of the narration.

I also, of course, loved the creepiness of the book. I love ghost stories, they scare the hell out of me, but I find ghosts stories very intriguing! This book was no different! I loved how creepy this book was and I was very interested to figure out what exactly was going on. Yes, I read this book in one sitting.

And now, something I was very happy to find out about this book: THERE WAS NO ROMANCE! Yes! While I can sometimes be a romantic, romance usually annoys me in books and I was so glad that I found a book where there was no stupid, pathetic romance to distract the characters and the reader (me) from the actual plot. 

So, I keep raving about this book, what problems did I have with it? It's odd, but some of the things I loved about this book, I also didn't like. I loved the unique narration, but it made me feel disconnected from the story. I loved the creepiness, but it wasn't creepy enough for me (which is odd, since this was a very creepy book). These "issues" are very small and are not really a big problem. Overall, I still loved this book.

IN CONCLUSION
If you're looking for a fact-paced, horror-filled YA book with NO ROMANCE! Yes, you definitely need to pick up this book, you will not want to put it down.
I am definitely looking forward to more from Rin Chupeco.

I hereby give this book

4 Wheels!

Meaning: It was amazing!