Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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Well…damn. I’ve finished this last Saturday evening, and I’m reeling until now. No wonder this is still considered one of Christie’s best, and remains to be controversial until now. This was truly superb and well-written. Each character was well developed. The flow of the story seems formal (as with Hercule Poirot), but in hindsight, it is a gripping narrative.

Review: Confessions

Confessions by Kanae Minato
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This review is also found on Goodreads! :)
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[WARNING: Contains strong language]

Let me just come right out and say it: holy...shit. That was so good! It was pretty horrific, but it was beyond good. The few people (hi Mom! hi boyfriend! hahaha) who follow my reviews know that I love reading gore and crime, so it might not come as surprise that I loved Confessions. The book does not lack troubled characters. In fact, all characters are troubled and each backstory justified it. They did not seem ridiculous at all. Some novels tend to overplay just to make the characters seem interesting, but Confessions had no problem with that. Or maybe I'm being biased. After all, I have been forever in awe with how Japanese writers excel at storytelling, especially when it involves mysteries and really fucked-up characters.

Minato wrote it in a prose so blunt and no-holds-barred. The story was made rich by how it was narrated. Each individual narrating it delivered his and her own unique dark and twisted voice. Despite the narrative revolving mostly around one scene with switching perspectives, the retelling by each character never became dull. The story took a lot of turns--it was quite a whirlwind to follow. And that ending, I looked up from the last page with a "Well...fuck!"

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