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!

After thoroughly enjoying Strange Pictures, I had high expectations for Strange Houses, and while I did enjoy it, it didn’t quite live up to its predecessor.

The premise is intriguing—an oddly designed house with dead space and suspicious architecture—but the execution felt a bit too matter-of-fact. The mystery unravels through a steady stream of exposition, and while it's suspenseful in parts, some of the characters' leaps in logic felt a little too convenient. The long-winded explanation toward the end dragged for me, and the writing (or perhaps the translation) felt a bit flat at times.

That said, I still found the concept compelling. It taps into a childhood fascination I’ve always had with hidden spaces and secret rooms, something that brought a touch of nostalgia. The format mirrors Strange Pictures, and while that one felt more interactive and gripping, this still held my attention enough to finish it in one sitting.

Looking forward to Strange Buildings next—fingers crossed it recaptures that same spark!

Review coming up on my BookTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinisreading

I really enjoyed this one! Uketsu is honestly such a genius. It was a little similar to Strange Pcitures which made the ending somewhat predictable but Uketsu still managed to take me by surprise, especially with that cliffhanger!

4.25

I was really interested in reading this cause I really enjoyed his other book, Strange Pictures. Like Strange Pictures this was a quick, addicting read.

It starts with a friend who contacts the narrator because he wants to buy a house in Tokyo, but the house's blueprints seem strange. Along with an architect, they start to make assumptions of why those blueprints were so odd.

As the plot advances we start to uncover the mystery of the houses and the reasons behind their strange and creepy layouts - Because yes, they are really creepy (and they reason behind them is even more so). The end is a bit open - I was not the biggest fan of that - but the story was really good overall.

Those who loved strange pictures are going enjoy this one too. Looking forward to more books of him.

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Upon discovering a set of floorplans for a house hiding a bizarre secret, the narrator attempts to unravel the mysteries contained within its walls and the dark secrets linked to the house's former occupants.

Similar to last year's Strange Pictures by Uketsu, Strange Houses uses a series of diagrams to convey a tricky puzzle-based mystery. However, instead of drawings and pictures, this newly translated novel features floorplans of the titular strange houses to convey the mystery. While the prominent use of floorplans does present a fresh spin on the mystery genre, the significance and use of the diagrams is unfortunately somewhat less compelling and mind-bending than the sketches from the preceding novel. Additionally, the floorplan aspect becomes less prevalent as the novel goes on, disappearing completely within the concluding quarter of the novel. Floorplans and maps are already a staple of Japanese mystery fiction and perhaps this made this particular novel feel less fresh than Strange Pictures as a result, though the floorplans do take centre stage for a good portion of the narrative. The tricky houses presented in the narrative were redolent of Yukito Ayatsuji's The Bizarre House Mysteries series.

While Strange Pictures contained a series of interlinked narratives which gradually intertwined with one another, Strange Houses takes a more singular approach and a slightly more linear structure. The different segments of the original novel provided shifts and changes to the feel of the narrative which felt absent from this effort. While the 'creepypasta' feel is still present here, it is less prevalent than in Strange Pictures. That said, the narrative is compulsive, and I easily got through the book in a day.

As with Strange Pictures, the prose, dialogue and characters are all very functional and the focus is on the technical aspects of the mystery and building an unsettling narrative. A lot of the story is told through transcribed dialogue, which was appreciated in this context as an efficient way to convey the puzzle-based narrative.

In terms of the mystery, readers should go in expecting individual puzzles linked to the floorplans that can be unravelled, but should not expect an overall fair play mystery in the traditional sense. The narrative takes the form of a twisted creepy mystery which unfolds for the reader. This is similar to Strange Pictures, though I do feel that the mystery narrative contained within that novel could be pieced together by a dedicated and observant reader, whereas the narrative of Strange Houses relies more heavily on withholding information from the reader in order to reveal it later for dramatic effect which works within the context of the story. That said, I still think that Uketsu's fresh approach to a Japanese mystery narrative remains interesting in how it defies typical schools of Japanese mystery such as shin honkoku, shakai etc and a worthwhile addition to the Japanese mystery canon.

As with Strange Pictures, there is no dramatis personae included for spoiler reasons. Readers wishing to fully understand the narrative would benefit from keeping track of character names and their relations and family ties on a notepad. This is especially relevant during the final quarter of the narrative, as the reader is hit with many names in rapid succession and it is very easy to lose track and therefore lack the ability to fully comprehend the conclusion of the narrative. This bombardment of characters and names during the concluding segment in conjunction with the linear narrative and a slightly ambiguous ending unfortunately do result in a less satisfying conclusion than the one found in Strange Pictures, though perhaps one that does justify a re-read more than its predecessor.

In many ways, Strange Houses is an interesting and compelling Japanese crime novel which lives in the shadow of its predecessor. Many of the elements on display are compelling, but were executed better by the author previously. That said, Strange Houses is an easy recommendation for readers who are looking for an interesting and off-beat narrative, provided they are willing to arm themselves with a pencil and a notepad for that concluding segment. At the end of the novel, Pushkin announce the upcoming translation of Uketsu's next novel, Strange Buildings, and I will be there, notepad in hand, when it releases.

i’ve read the manga up to volume 3, so i knew most of the plot but there is no solution in the manga! so i was hoping for that in this book and it was there! we finally learned about “the child” and it was darkkkkk! the final twist was what surprised me though! whodunit was revealed but howdunit was left to the imagination of the readers!

between the manga and the book, the manga was more better and enjoyable because of all the illustrations! those make the story more creepy and tense! the book is well written too but the lack of illustrations made it less interesting!

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the copy!