4.0 out of five stars
I was actually familiar with both the manga as well as the live-action movie that released in 2024, so this book was at a disadvantage here--I was not walking into reading this entirely blind, and I was quite familiar with the source material as well. to avoid spoilers, I will refrain from commenting on the plot points, and concern myself with the writing styles entirely.

this being said, it still managed to surprise me.

the novel begins in medias res- cutting through layers of exposition that would have otherwise brought the narrative down. even so the actions of the characters remain understandable, and the plot moves fast enough for the reader to not grow tired of their inaction.

what took me out of the narrative was the repeated switching of writing styles- from a screenplay style to a descriptive one, disoriented me for a moment, and I found myself repeatedly tracing back my steps and rereading a page.

overall, the pacing and the plot twist were excellent, and although I had some issues with the writing style, it did not impact overall reading experience.

thank you to netgalley and pushkin vertigo for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review

A murder leads to questions surrounding a windowless room in a house. Could this strange floor plan lead to more murders and possibly a hidden family secret..?

This was a strange but intriguing book. I really enjoyed the floor plans and illustrations that were included in the book and I read the book in one sitting. Gripping and thrilling; 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I had liked Strange Pictures much better, this one on the other hand was way too convoluted, but not just because of the number of characters with similar names, just because of the plot itself and the ending that leaves a little too many unanswered questions.

Strange Pictures mi era piaciuto molto di piú, questo invece era decisamente troppo convoluto, ma non solo per il numero di personaggi con nomi simili, proprio per la trama in se stessa ed il finale che lascia un po' troppe domande senza risposta.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

With a similar format to ‘Strange Pictures’ I had very high hopes for this! Unfortunately when the initial theory of the floor plan was revealed, I just didn’t like it. I struggled to get on board with it and therefore struggled to pick the book up as a result. In Strange Pictures there was at least variation between the different characters which before everything connected; this one just focuses on the same family throughout. Overall, the story wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me, it was at least quick to get through.

Well, shit. That was absolutely wild.

Having previously read Strange Pictures by Uketsu and devoured it in one sitting, I have now had a similar experience reading Strange Houses over the course of one feverish afternoon/evening. Uketsu is a master of crafting a gripping narrative. You can't help but want to keep reading to know what on earth is going on, and the extra-textual elements that are included make it even more interesting to guess along with the characters to solve the mystery.

Now, I have to say though that Strange Houses doesn't quite live up to Strange Pictures - while the narrative is gripping, it is largely just one mystery that slowly unravels and mostly through exposure in conversation with the different characters, whereas Strange Pictures had a more clever structure that brought together different elements in order to form a whole in the end. Also, without giving too much away, Strange Houses is a much wilder tale - while not being completely unbelievable (we live in a strange world...) it is a lot more far-fetched and removed from more common experiences of reality.

I was left with some questions to mull over towards the end. Not everything is fully explained in the end which leaves you theorising about the sequence of events. I suppose this might have to do with the fact that there is going to be a follow-up to this. I hadn't realised that this book would be part of a duology until I got to the very end, and was somewhat surprised. I am not completely sure if the same story continues in the second volume or if it will have the same concept but with a different case? I can't find much information about Strange Buildings and how it will link in with this book. What I do know though is that I will be eagerly awaiting the publication of Strange Buildings and read it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I already know it will be an extremely gripping read, judging by Uketsu's track record so far.

I haven’t read Strange Pictures, but when I saw Uketsu had a new book coming out revolved around sinister floor plans, I knew I had to read it. The format is original and engaging, but I found this just a little too predictable, even for someone newer to the genre. That said, I will definitely pick up Strange Pictures! Thank you to the publisher for the ARC!

The typical conciseness and brevity of language that comes with Japanese writing, makes this book an easy read, but what I love about it most is when you put it down you find you keep mulling it over in your mind, pondering the possibilities and you just have to pick it back up again.

Strange and disturbing... in a good way!

I wasn't familiar with the author and his previous work before reading "Strange Houses" but I will definitely will want to explore his earlier work. This was one of more original novels I came across recently and I really appreciated the addition of detailed pictures, in this case - floor plans. Looking at the details together with the characters and reading their theories on what secrets the strangely built houses bear felt very atmospheric and tension-evoking, even though nothing scary was happening in real time (and the at times the theories felt actually quite far-fetched and silly...). This requires a skill to write such a story and a skill to translate it.

Got a lot of enjoyment out of this fairly quick read.

I felt this one is a bit disjointed and that could flow better presented as a graphic novel. But maybe is just me, I might not be the target audience for thid style of book. I found the ides of the floor plan very ibterestibg, though.

I read the mysterious Uketsu’s Strange Pictures when the translation was released at the start of this year, and was excited to hear that a translation of another was in the works. This one feels less creepy than the previous book, and focuses on one main story/mystery rather than the interconnected stories of Strange Pictures. It’s a short read, less than 200 pages and some pages are taken up by diagrams so I flew through this in a few hours. The mystery is engaging and much of the dread and horror comes from the idea of terrible things happening behind closed doors in a place that should be a safe place - someone’s home. Some of the conclusions that the characters jump to with very little evidence require you to suspend your disbelief, but I don’t feel like this is a book that should be taken too seriously. The mystery is engaging, the story becomes more complex as the book goes on and the weird family dynamics were an intriguing addition. Overall, a solid read for those that enjoy a mystery.

Blimey! Read this in one sitting...I couldn't stop reading this.
Not totally shocked with the concept of rituals and mysterious going ons within this story, but it does get you thinking. The extra part at the end also changes the way you might think may have happened to the characters in the book.
A fascinating mystery from Uketsu!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for letting me read this great book!

Das ist definitiv nicht meine Stärke, mir dauernd etwas vorzustellen räumlich, das hat mich überhaupt nicht überzeugt. Such sprachlich nicht meine Vorliebe.

Strange, creepy, wildly surreal – this is a book that can make you imagination run wild. This is especially true if you read it late at night, alone, in an empty flat, perhaps one with some weird doors or cupboards. Homes are meant to be safe, and the book plays on the fear of the danger that waits inside of what is supposed to be a secure haven for us. The story is simple and unadorned in any descriptions, as it mostly concentrates on conversations between different people about the building plans, which are available for the reader to see. The slow progress of the book reminds unpeeling wallpaper and finding yet another layer behind it. In the end, the truth hiding behind the story is twisted and cunning, even if not very realistic to people unfamiliar with the Japanese culture of ghosts and horror hiding between the ordinary. But I loved the style in which the book was written and translated, and I will definitely be reading the next scary tale from Uketsu. In the end, people love being scared while reading the book in their own bed – except, perhaps, when the story is about strange houses…

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the arc!

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

While I found it to be a lot less unsettling/creepy as compared to 'Strange Pictures', its companion novel, 'Strange Houses' was no less addictive. I devoured this in two sittings and the only reason I took a break from it was to avoid procrastinating.

The format of Uketsu's novels make them compulsively readable. As a lifelong fan of puzzles, I enjoy a mystery with a visual accompaniment. These stories are 100% plot driven and the characters almost feel like mouthpieces through which the mystery is unraveled. If full fleshed out characters is a requirement for you to enjoy a book, this might not be the one for you. The characters often jump to the wildest conclusions based on almost no evidence quite often, which is why I didn't give it a higher rating. The dialogue isn't the best either. had to suspend disbelief sometimes while reading this.

What makes the book so compelling is how the plot takes something seemingly innocent and then spirals into something so sinister that the reader has no choice but to read on to find what happens next. The blueprints, the focus of this book, were very exciting to figure out! There's just so much creativity put into it! However, there was something about the pictures in strange pictures that was so...magnetic and I found that to be missing in Strange Houses' floor plans.

The plot twist was more wacky and less scary than Strange Pictures. (Peak disfunctional family drama is all I'll say) Although a big part of marketing this book is inviting the reader to 'solve' the mystery along with the narrator, there's way anyone can guess this particular plot twist. I wish some important plot points weren't left up for guesses by the end, though.

One of the best parts of reading this was discovering by the end that Uketsu's next book, 'Strange Buildings' is coming soon. I'm looking forward to reading the manga adaptation of this soon- the art style looks amazing! I'd recommend this to fans of interactive murder mysteries as well as those who are looking for something to get them out of a reading slump...trust me, this is one of the most addictive books you'll ever read.

Very disappointing, for me at least
I can't claim to have been wowed by the first Uketsu novel either, but I was able to read it and was, in certain parts at least, absorbed in the book. Strange Houses, though, was another matter. The book is disjointed, badly so. And written like a series of dialogues, making it read more like a play or a graphic novel (into which format it has already been adapted). A good central mystery would have helped gloss over some of these stylistic choices, but the book grows more and more tiresome and repetitive as it progresses. The blueprints of the strange Houses no longer hold any allure after the first and the final revelation, when it comes, feels both preposterous and underwhelming, reached upon less by investigation than deductions made in the air.

It starts with a floor plan and from there it doesn't stop... This book has been an amazing read. It's relatively short, but it's well-structured and fast-paced. You can't get bored, and you turn every page to discover WHAT, WHY, and HOW.

New characters drop when needed. The floor plans are shown and used cleverly (about this, I suggest getting yourself a paper copy OR memorizing the loc. in the ebook, so you can go back and forth if needed).

Pick this book if you like:
-Mystery/Thriller with a touch of horror (relatively graphic description)
- Short reads
- Family history and drama

Strange Houses was one of my most anticipated reads of this summer so I can't thank the publisher enough for sending me an e-copy before publication. I received the copy via Netgalley; this review is my own, and I'm leaving it voluntarily.

I really loved Strange Pictures so I was stoked when the publisher approved me for an arc. Thank you!

From the above you can guess that my expectations were high. However, I‘m sorry to say that this book did not live up to its predecessor for me. The explanations seemed a bit long winded and everything felt somewhat repetitive (which may have to do with the fact that here it‘s about various house layouts which are obviously visually similar whereas Strange Pictures had very different images i.e. more variety). So while I still enjoyed the book and wanted to know how the story ends, it wasn’t my favourite by the author.

I've heard of Strange Pictures and Uketsu, so was intrigued by their next book. The beginning is really creepy, the mystery of this strange house is fascinating and, together with the floor plans, a little bit spooky. It's a short book and it's a very quick read, but after the initial intrigue and creepiness, it becomes this slow burning mystery with an unsatisfactory ending. That being said, I'm still a bit curious about their next book and wondering whether to pick up Strange Pictures.

3.5 stars

The use of architecture in this store was definitely unique and very original.

I obviously didn't learn from strange pictures and think about what's not being said and ultimately the ending made me sit straight up but ultimately as a result 🤣.

The reason I couldn't give this a 4 stars or above is because it faltered a bit in the middle. I can't explain it, it felt like the pull of the story was lost, which was a shame.

I'm so stressed because I have no ideas if one of the characters is okay. We just have to assume she reunited with her family and all is well but we have no assurance of that considering the ending 😭.

I can't wait new revelations the author has in store for us.

Please check the trigger warnings for this book

I want to start saying the digital layout of this ebook was a mess. I received a digital copy so I can only judge the layout by it, but it was a very bumpy read. The pictures weren’t properly translated (their captions were still originally in japanese) or aligned. However, I turned the hardship into a parallel game and managed to figure things out even without the translated information. Some pages even had actual programming lines instead of translated captions and it needs editing and revision as soon as possible. However, I can’t discount the score of the book itself because it was an amazing read and not the author’s fault.

This book was brilliant and I want a thousand of these right now! I read it through a couple hours and it feels like a live investigation where you start curious and end up shocked with how the author takes you through a vague mystery that very quickly drowns you into a horror story.

Japan is well-known for their intricate puzzles in games and disturbing horror genre, so when you mix both of them into a book there’s no surprises when it becomes a masterpiece where you’re not sure if you’re just reading the story or if you’re living through it.

I also want to highlight that my favorite stories are the ones where they have so many characters assuming so many things that you feel like you’re being deceived left and right. The sensation that you’re solving a crime where everyone is lying to you and messing with your head turns confusion into an even deeper thrill to find the truth.

I’m definitely shelving everything Uketsu writes from now on!