Oh wow, I loved this book. It's like a picture mystery where you must decipher the hidden meanings of what you see in relation to the story they are woven into. The story is told in three parts with one or more pictures included that have to be 'solved' in the same way to make sense of the hidden meaning. At first, I wasn't quite sure how that would be accomplished, but then one of the characters references optical illusions and it began to make sense. I'm a huge fan of those!

But then all three parts are actually connected into the same story and that just blew my mind. If you keep that in mind at the start, you'll see little clues here and there that will help you tie everything together. The translation is where it gets tricky, as it's hard to tell if it's the author's writing style or the way it was translated. The dialogue is quite choppy and childlike at times. which isn't a problem for me, especially because the pictures are the main focus.

I've never heard of the author, Uketsu, but I researched them after reading this and can't believe what I've been missing. I'm not one for YouTube videos, but man, I really hope this is only the first in a series of stories. I devoured the whole book in one sitting and I already crave more! Plus I love the design of the cover. It drew my attention and then I read the blurb and that was it - I had to read it and I'm so glad I did!

While the rest of the stories were good, that first one is going to stick with me for a while now. This whole collection was a very cool idea put together well but the first story is easily the highlight for me.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. It gave Junji ito vibes with a mix of psychological horror. The pictures were added detail that was fun to go back and try to figure out with the characters, although I usually was unable to lol. I highly recommend this book!

This book was brilliantly clever. It kept me on my toes from beginning to end! I liked how all of the characters were related in some way.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperVia for providing me with an eArc in exchange for my honest review. Publishing date: Jan 15, 2025

I devoured this book. Uketsu has written a story within a story within a story, and they did a wonderful job of keeping me invested and wondering how each drawing and character is connected. I feel like I’m going to be analyzing art differently for a while.
I’m only knocking off a star because I found the timeline and names to be confusing at times.

The title of this novella (written almost like an anthology) says it all. I'm not sure how to classify this but I guess sketch horror/thriller/mystery is a good way to put it.

All of these entries start differently with various characters yet it soon becomes apparent that they are all the same story. And it's one of those stories with twists waiting to be revealed and written in a style which makes it easy to follow but challenging to figure out. And I, personally, loved that.

The clues for these horrific bloody deaths are hidden in sketches, drawings, and pictures. It's about a mother's obsession and the murderous lengths family will go to in order to protect what they love.

It's beauty is in the simplicity. Like a game which is easy to learn but hard to master if that makes sense. This book hooked me from the start and kept my interest with jaw dropping revelations. It's a fantastic horror/murder mystery which reads like one of those true crime podcasts where "truth is stranger than fiction." Except this is fiction but told in a way which makes you believe. I highly recommend it.

I actually really enjoyed this.
The style was a little odd, but I chalked that up to being translated into English, and it didn't take away from the story for me personally.

I loved the actual stories and it was a really fun switch up to what I'm used to in the horror areas.

Very interesting, fun, puzzle-style interconnected stories. I found the translation a little dull but I'm not sure if that's replicating the author's style. Very much felt like a digital/web genre and I enjoyed the multimedia.