Trái Tim Của Quỷ

by Mahokaru Numata, Đỗ Phan Thu Hà (Translator)

Trái tim của quỷ - Bí mật kinh hoàng đằng sau bốn cuốn nhật ký.

Ryosuke là một chàng trai với gia cảnh bình thường, vốn dĩ anh tưởng rằng cuộc đời mình sẽ trôi qua êm đềm như vậy mãi. Cho đến một ngày mọi sự đen đủi trên đời theo nhau ập đến cuộc đời anh. Vị hôn thê sắp cưới đột nhiên biến mất, người mẹ anh yêu quý gặp tai nạn giao thông qua đời, bố anh mắc phải căn bệnh ung thư khó lòng cứu chữa, bà ngoại thì bệnh tật nằm trong viện dưỡng lão.

Những tưởng những sự việc kỳ quái chỉ dừng lại ở đó, thì trong một lần về thăm bố Ryosuke tình cờ phát hiện 4 cuốn sổ cũ nằm trong tủ âm tường. Những cuốn sổ với tiêu đề Yurigokoro cùng với lời lẽ vô cùng dị thường.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Japanese Literature, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Japan

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Phu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ryosuke có một khoảng thời gian tồi tệ. Mẹ qua đời vì tai nạn giao thông, cha mắc bệnh nặng, cửa hàng của Ryosuke đang có nguy cơ sụp đổ, vị hôn thê Chie của anh ta đột ngột mất tích. Trong lần về thăm nhà bố mẹ, Ryosuke phát hiện bốn quyển nhật kí với tựa đề "Yurigokoro". Từ đó, Ryosuke phát hiện ra được bí mật trong gia đình của anh ta, cũng như lời thú nhận của một kẻ sát nhân.

Cuốn sách được xen kẽ giữa nhiều góc nhìn, nhưng chủ yếu là góc nhìn của Ryosuke và phần Nhật kí.
Mình thật sự thích phần Nhật kí và nó khiến mình liên tưởng tới sách của Natsuo Kirino . Xuyên suốt phần Nhật kí là một lối kể lạnh lùng, đáng sợ, bởi chủ nhân của cuốn nhật kí là một kẻ tâm thần - giết người để tìm niềm vui; liên tiếp sự kiện rùng rợn được tiếc lộ thông qua những cuốn nhật kí.


"Không riêng gì tôi, có lẽ trong lòng mỗi người đều có một kẻ sát nhân, chỉ là lẳng lặng chờ thời điểm hoàn thành thức tỉnh, nếu không trên đời này sẽ không có tàn sát hay chiến tranh."

Bản thân mình không thích phần của Ryosuke lắm, người đọc biết rằng Ryosuke nhớ ra một sự kiện kỳ lạ trước đây - khiến anh ta nghi ngờ người mẹ vừa qua đời là giả. Và khi "thắc mắc" của Ryosuke và phần Nhật kí được kết nối với nhau mình cũng khá là ngạc nhiên.

Diễn biến sau đó lý giải việc "mất tích của Chie" và đưa đến chủ đề "Táo không rụng xa gốc", cả hai đối với mình hơi nhàm chán. VÀ MẸ ƠI!!! Ở cái kết tác giả tung ra một cú plot twist và đối với mình cú twist là gợi nhớ về Holy Mother nhưng tiếc là cú plot twist của cuốn sách này không làm mình ngạc nhiên, bởi khi đọc qua 50% cuốn sách mình đã na ná đoán được - nên mình đã chuẩn bị sẵn tâm lý với cú plot twist nên chẳng ngạc nhiên mấy. Tình yêu trong câu chuyện rất chi là cao thượng. và chúng ta biết được rằng, Một con quỷ cũng có một trái tim để yêu thương.

Nhìn chung đây là một tác phẩm khá ổn, nhưng tiếc là ngoài phần Nhật kí, thì còn lại không quá mới và không quá ngạc nhiên với mình. Mình sẽ giới thiệu cho bạn nào chưa tiếp cận nhiều với thể loại thriller. Lưu ý là phần Nhật kí hơi biến thái :)).

Và ngoài lề : cuốn sách này đã chuyển thể thành phim năm 2017. Khi đọc sách mình mới biết, hóa ra trước đây mình đã "vô tình" xem qua Phim chuyển thể trên qua phần Tóm tắt phim trên FB :))), nhưng những gì mình xem qua chỉ có diễn ở phần Nhật kí thôi nhưng lúc đó cũng thấy nội dung điên điên.

[Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great atmosphere. I loved the unsettling "feel" of the novel. I would give it between 4 to 4 1/2 stars.

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st book #witmonth
This was surprisingly good and sad??? Like towards the ending, I felt saddened by it all, like how the heck am I sympathizing with the serial killer more than anything 😭. The whole family is kinda precious and its like i cannot hate them even if they are evil. Dang it

Nan-Core was dubbed as iyamisu, a genre that is called "ew mystery" novel where readers would let out an ew while reading the book. And I have to say i do have those moments while reading it. Its not too grisly or gory but it have some few scenes that actually quite triggering to me especially on the self-harm ones that almost made me stop reading for how graphic the depictions are. But other than these few gores, Nan-Core somehow turns out to be a quiet melodrama mystery and thriller. The mystery behind the notebooks found in Ryosuke's father's closet sparked a conflicting memories and unanswered questions Ryo have of his own parents. His girlfriend went missing suddenly, then his father got diagnosed with cancer and not long after, his mother got into a car accident and passed away. Its one misfortune after another until Ryo discovered 4 secret notebooks in a manila envelope and a handbag with the name Misako, his mother's name attached on the bag with a lock of hair wrapped with a handkerchief. Ryo had a sudden flashback of memories and the eerie feeling that his real mother had been replaced and the mother he had was not his.

Reading this got me so invested of trying to know what the heck is this family secret so mysteriously intriguing and also so intense. The notebooks that Ryo uncovered was a diary of a serial killer/a sociopaths that we dont know the gender of the author until we get the reveal. The mystery behind the author was fascinating because they talked about the inability to feel fear, joy or any kind of emotions other than seeing death that trigger the arousal of pleasure in their mind. Nan-Core was actually the term misheard by the author that meant "anchor" which the doctor said they dont have in their life but to the author, Nan-Core sort of feels like fulfillment and desire to kill.

What i like about reading the notebooks written by the serial killer, we get glimpses into their past lives, what triggers them to murder but all the killing seems to sparked from some kind of helplessness and also fascination. Some of the killings are brutal, graphic and some are tame. I love the family dynamics the most between Ryo and Yohei, his younger brother, the secretive parents but both of them truly care for their children and once the real twist comes out, its more mellow and unsurprising but one that actually made me feel sadder for the characters. There were themes of isolation, struggles on communication, the true genuine love formed between two guileless and sinful people and how the love they had were precious and unlike any others.

In the end, I rooted for their happiness despite the heinous and unforgiveable actions but these people are just too pitiful to hate 😭.

[Marie-Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and surprisingly fun (even heartwarming!) for a book featuring a family of sociopaths. Just twisty enough to be engrossing without being particularly intricately plotted. A nice diversion despite all the, er, murder and stuff.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I read CONFESSIONS I've been looking for more Iyamisu that's been translated into English. Sadly, this is one of the only ones I could find. Iyamisu is a Japanese subgenre of thrillers that explores the darkest parts of human nature, and this one certainly qualifies.

For American readers, most Japanese fiction will feel overly formal and almost clunky at first and it can take a while to acclimate. I don't know if it's the writing or the translation, but in this book it was worse than usual, to the point that it was hard for me to get in a narrative flow. Still, the story and the structure are unique and interesting and it was a quick read.

Ryo's mother has just died and his father is terminally ill when he finds a handbag, a lock of hair, and 4 notebooks at his parents' home. The handbag triggers a forgotten memory of when Ryo was 5 and spent a long time in the hospital, when he came home he was convinced his mother was an impostor. The notebooks are the confessions of a woman who has killed several people. Ryo tries to piece together who wrote the notebooks, if the stories in them are real, and why this memory hits him so strong.

[Blake Fraina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this item to review because it was listed as an LGBT title. I also found a brief description of it online that included this statement - "Nan-Core is at its heart a detective story, but its regular incursions into Japan's LGBT community mark it out as a vivid and unusual offering."

Well, let me set the record straight (pun intended), there is absolutely no LGBT content in this novel. None. Whatsoever.

Now that I've cleared that up, I'll commence with my review.

The first 80% of this book is deeply creepy and disturbing. At times, the atmosphere created by author Mahokaru Numata is so airless and filled with dread that I was anxious about continuing on with it for fear of where it was going. At the outset, the story is extremely simple. Ryosuke, a young man whose father is dying of a terminal disease and whose mother unexpectedly dies after being hit by a truck, discovers a series of secret journals at the bottom of a closet in his parents' home. They were written by a serial killer that Ryosuke quickly understands to be one of his two parents. The writer is completely without remorse, recounting, with an almost clinical chill, the almost orgasmic satisfaction of killing. The content of these journals, while not particularly graphic, is the most effective part of the novel.

Slowly, with the help of his younger brother, he unravels the mystery behind the journals, which is when the whole thing begins to fall apart.

There's a kind of pointless subplot involving the sudden disappearance of Ryosuke's girlfriend that I kept thinking was going to tie in with the serial killer thread, but pretty much didn't. And the final 20% of the book completely abandons the horror story feel and reads almost like a garden-variety noir. And the ending? I don't want to spoil it with specifics, but suffice it to say it's a huge letdown.

Five stars for the set-up and maybe one star for the resolution and denouement. We'll split the difference at three.

[Tenma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young man discovers a set of old confession notebooks tucked away in his father’s closet. They were titled “nan-core”; which is a meaningless term that was used to describe a lump on the head of whoever wrote these notebooks. The confessions reveal dark and gruesome secrets that force the young man to question his identity.

The plot is intriguing, albeit predictable. Yet, it was very engrossing. Overall, the novel is similar to “confessions” by Kanae Minato. A great novel with a hideous cover art.

[Iman Danial Hakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.7


Weird but surprisingly nice.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently there’s a film adaptation for this book! But I probably won’t watch it because I liked the book very much so I don’t want to be disappointed by the movie.

I gotta feel bad for the main character, Ryosuke, because not only is he broke, his fiancee went missing, then his mum died in a road accident, and his dad is dying from terminal cancer, and his grandmother has severe dementia. Ryosuke runs a dog cafe so I thought it was going to be a cute and cosy read. I think it does get there, if you’re able to overlook all the murder. When looking through his dad’s stuff one day, he discovers some notebooks that turned out to be something like a Memoir of a Murderous Psychopath, and the more he reads, the more sure he is that his mother is not his real mother at all but a replacement and that everyone has been lying to him all his life. He becomes obsessed with this hidden piece of his family history. I wondered why he didn’t put the same energy into looking for his fiancee but it’s all good because his nosy auntie employee with too much free time on her hands got that covered.

I found the diaries very compelling, more so than the present-day storyline. The narrator recounts her childhood and how she was diagnosed as lacking a sensory/cognitive/emotional anchor, which she misheard as “nan-core.” She then uses this term to conceptualise that sense of lack in her life; the only thing that seems to temporarily satisfy her is killing someone, but even that doesn’t work every time. The murders themselves are inconsistent—some are truly chilling but one was arguably assisted suicide and two were of men who were sexual harassers, so no great loss there. She turns to sex work for survival and meets her future husband, and it is this relationship that teaches her how to genuinely love and care for someone. Her development of a conscience spurs her to atone for her sins, albeit in a really warped way. Can a psychopath learn to love and be loved? This book seems to be saying yes.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was amazing, couldn't even put down but then the other half was kinda meh and rushed imo

[krmilia (jason todd's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

three stars but not in a bad way.
this book made me feel conflicted. it was interesting, it was compelling, it was definitely something, and it made me root for objectively shitty people, which i originally thought it would be completely impossible? but also, i felt. well. i don't know -- that is. i am not sure what to tell you. was it good? yes! was it strange in a good way? yes! did i also think it could've been done better? yes. the chie's plot was so... mhm-m. i don't know. mild. i guess. to be honest, i had completely other expectations to her line (staring with her being killed and more of it) but what it ended up as was... well. it wasn't horrendous. but it was ultimately useless to me. but, once again, i enjoyed the ride!

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

As his father is dying of pancreatic cancer, a young(ish) man named Ryosuke discovers a set of notebooks hidden in a box in his father’s study. The handwritten confession contained in the notebooks is shocking, and Ryosuke begins to suspect that the woman who raised him may not be his biological mother. Then again, a part of him has always known that something was strange ever since he was four years old, when his family moved from Tokyo to Nara while he was in the hospital. It may well be that Misako, the person he was told to call mother when he was brought home, replaced his real mother, especially if the woman who gave birth to him is the same person who has written something resembling a “murder diary” in the notebooks he’s found.

The woman who admits her darkest secrets in these notebooks knows that something is wrong with her. She has trouble empathizing with other people, and nothing in life brings her joy. When she discovers that witnessing a death makes her feel human, she can’t stop thinking about it, and she takes indirect action that results in the death of a young boy and one of her female classmates. Killing, she realizes, is her “Nan-Core,” something a doctor once told her parents that she was lacking and whose pronunciation she misremembered as a child. Her “Nan-Core” is what makes her feel alive, and she continues to search for opportunities to trigger it as she grows up, goes to college, and starts working at an office.

It’s not much of a spoiler to say that Misako, the woman who wrote the confessions in the notebooks, is indeed Ryosuke’s biological mother, and that the woman who called herself Misako as she raised him and his brother is a surrogate. Ryosuke wants to find out how and why this happened, and most readers will quickly come to the obvious conclusions, which are later confirmed by Ryosuke’s father. The most intriguing element of this family drama is what happened to the original Misako, whose fate remains a mystery until the very end of the novel.

Despite all the murder and spousal abuse, Nan-Core tells a surprisingly gentle story. The novel’s focus is not mystery or violence, but rather the evolution of the relationships between the members of Ryosuke’s family as he and his brother learn more about their parents and begin to see them as people. The secrets hidden within these relationships stem not from malice and neglect, but from attempts to do the right thing under difficult circumstances. In the end, the gentle Ryosuke is able to borrow strength from his mother’s confessions; and, when his story finally intersects with hers, the result is extremely satisfying.

Nan-Core’s story can be melodramatic at times, and the lack of any real consequences resulting from the characters’ actions is a bit fanciful, but none of this detracts from the charm of the novel.

[Hesper · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing premise bogged down by predictable plotting (the twist is easy to figure out within the first third of the novel), and a somewhat unintelligent main character,* whose problems are solved for him by the far more compelling supporting cast.

The journals (four, not three as the description claims) that set the story in motion are its strongest, most inspired portion. Too bad the narrative framework in which they're embedded lacks their vitality. For me, they're what made the book worth reading.

*It's debatable that Ryosuke is the main character. He certainly is the point-of-view character, but his presence is so confused and anemic in contrast to just about everyone else around him, that I had a hard time seeing him as more than a narrative device. The fact that the voice of the journals is so achingly bleak, and lovely, and terrifying, only makes poor Ryosuke seem that much more pointless.

[Neeny Boucher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the strangest books I've ever read and it is utterly compelling. It breaks all the standard rules of 'Western' writing i.e. it tells more than it shows and the interiority of the main character is writ large.

Told from Ryo's point of view, he makes a shocking discovery contained in some notebooks at his parents' place: a murder confession. There, he sets out to unravel a mystery, trying to decipher fact from fiction, and answering the question of whether we truly know people, even those closest to us.

[Fusako · Rating 5 out of 5]

こんなのは私の好きな小説じゃないと思いながら、それでも途中で投げ出したい気にはならず、引き寄せられるように結局最後まで読んだ。
うまい、うますぎる！「猫鳴り」も読んでみたくなった。
ユリゴコロとは、ココロノヨリドコロ。

心の拠りどころ、ありますか？

[Izumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

先天性精神異常。
人の死に逝く様子に真の安らぎを感じる人の手記を読む。
なんて怖い話だー、と目を背けたいと思ったのに読みきってしまった。
よいお話でした。幸せそうな結末です。

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

三星半。剧情进行到一半的时候真相其实就呼之欲出了——竟有点让人想到《保持缄默》那部片子，画风当然截然不同就是了。虽然故事里出现的各种“不正常”是悬疑小说里常见的元素，作者的细腻笔法又一次（咦我为什么要说又）把家族情啊纯爱啊成功地跟天生杀意、“半成品”人类这种小暗黑的想象织在了一起。日记的部分比较有亮点。

[Roscat112 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.75 stars rounded up.
This was my first time reading Iyamisu, a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature. I really enjoyed the writing, even if the style was very different compared to what I'm used to when I read thrillers (the author does a bit more "telling-rather-than-showing" in some chapters, especially those narrated by Ryosuke). Nevertheless, there is a strong element of suspence and the setting is quite vivid. The strongest parts of the book are the notebooks that Ryosuke finds, rather than his own storyline: of course, Misako is purposely written as a more engaging narrator than Ryosuke (to justify his morbid fascination with the notebooks), but I found that his character was just not as interesting as the others who surrounded him (even his brother Yuhei, with very little page-time, manages to shine more than the narrator).
I loved Misako and the way her character evolves across the length of the book : I really appreciated the fact that she was not the usual static character that we find as a villain in a lot of thrillers. Since she's basically the protagonist of the story, the author is forced to develop her in more ways than one, and by the end of the book the reader finds themselves strangely attached to this deeply weird and flawed woman who just cannot be different from what she is. I also appreciated the way Ryo's dad's character was developed, especially how he filled the "only sane man" role in the novel, even if he was the first person Ryo suspected at the beginning.
From a purely "technical" point of view the plot twist at the end is unfortunately too obvious to the reader, since after Misako stops writing the notebooks the attention abruptly shifts to Ryosuke's life and ms. Hosoya, who was a sidelined minor character until then, suddenly has a thousand interesting character traits. Moreover, Chie's entire character (she's not really a character to be completely honest) and her disappereance, which is the secondary mistery that is supposed to make Ryo's story interesting, is just a plot device to introduce the twist at the end and reveal Misako's identity. I didn't mind the "heartwarming" ending though, even if it is a bit in contrast with the tone of the book at the beginning.
Overall, I really liked the emphasis on the psychology of the characters, which is what drives the novel forward in the end, even if I would've liked for the author to give us a final glimpse of what's going on in Misako's head, but I understand why it was not possible.

[QHuong(BookSpy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Cuốn này không nặng đô như mình nghĩ. Truyện đan xen giữa câu chuyện hiện tại của nhân vật chính Ryo kể và cuốn nhật ký mà Ryo tìm thấy. Mình thích đọc phần nhật ký, giọng văn lạnh lùng thể hiện tâm lý bất ổn của người viết, tiết lộ bản chất thoả mãn của việc giết người, nhưng đồng thời cũng cho thấy một kẻ sát nhân có trái tim, có cảm xúc, và biết yêu.
Phần kể chuyện hiện tại của Ryo nói về gia đình mình, biến cố về người mẹ bị thay thế và câu chuyện người yêu Chie mất tích. Mình thấy giả thiết người mẹ bị thay thế khá thú vị, có sự kết nối với cuốn nhật ký chưa rõ tác giả (Ryo nghi ngờ có thể là bố, mẹ hoặc một ai đó khác là tác giả), cho dù giả thiết này về sau được chứng minh đúng hay sai thì cũng không tạo được quá nhiều bất ngờ. Còn câu chuyện cô người yêu mất tích mình đã hi vọng có liên kết gì đó với cuốn nhật ký, nhưng diễn tiến về sau hoá ra rất đơn giản và không đặc sắc lắm. Hướng giải quyết của mạch truyện về cô người yêu diễn ra gọn nhẹ không có nhiều khó khăn.
Cuối truyện có một twist khá là ấn tượng với mình, có sự liên kết tới cuốn nhật ký, tuy vậy thì khi đã vượt qua cái cảm xúc bất ngờ khi đọc twist này, thì một suy nghĩ khác ập đến với mình là "khoan đã, nhưng Ryo lại hơi có tình cảm với...." khiến mình thấy hơi buồn nôn chút.... Tác giả đâu cần phải nhét cái chi tiết đó vào làm gì, tự dưng làm mình liên tưởng và khiến twist đặt ra cái tình huống gượng gạo với Ryo.
Vẫn như một cuốn trinh thám tâm lý Nhật khi mà tác giả chèn vào chủ đề vấn đề xã hội về gia đình, tình cảm mẹ con, đứa con được sinh ra và lớn lên trong môi trường như vậy. Truyện không thể hiện sự phức tạp, cầu kì trong nội dung nhưng vẫn nhấn mạnh được thông điệp của tác giả.

[Ririn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"That there was no hate. That it's a chronicle of family love."

Wow, what the hell?! It started out creepy and disturbing and then into a lot of huh? (in the Chie subplot which I don't care much because there aren't a lot of show, just tell. In fact all we know about Chie's problems came from Ms Hoyosa. I mean isn't that sound kinda fishy??? hmmm) but then the end (while the plot twist can be seen from a mile away) the end broke me with mom and dad T__________T they loved each other so much *cries a river* and I love Yohei, he's the only sane one here XD

Maybe it wasn't just me, maybe everyone has a killer lying dormant within, waiting for the conditions necessary to rouse up and fall into place. How else were acts like genocide or war possible? I remembered reading in some book that senseless acts of killing increase during peacetime.

So is this a story of psychopathy? family love? romantic love? motherly love? all in one packaging?? I wish it didn't give me whiplash??? And that part about new mom sitting with a pillow next to a sleeping Ryosuke?? We never have a full explanation about what that was??? Is this just Japanese lit being Japanese?? or??

When she smiled, standing there with her hair growing damp in the cold rain, that phantom of my youthful mother, wearing her summer dress, her arms bare, carrying a white handbag, flickered into view.

My darling Ryosuke.

Apparently there is a movie? O.o

[Linh Lê · Rating 4 out of 5]

Đọc xong quyển sách mà cứ cảm thấy lòng day dứt, khó chịu. Mình không biết nên thấy cảm động hay thấy căm ghét với kẻ sát nhân trong câu truyện này. Lúc biết bà giết ngừoi thì mình thật sự không thể nào chấp nhận nổi một con người tàn nhẫn đến vậy. Rõ ràng chẳng phải không cảm nhận được cảm xúc mà bà cũng biết yêu, mặc dù luôn căm ghét và không muốn sinh Ryo ra nhưng khi buông những lời cay độc xong, trước giây phút lâm chung bà không thể nào xuống tay với đứa con trai của mình. Chứng tỏ đã có phần nào tình người trong lòng con quái vật đó. Nhưng có lẽ điều đó chỉ dành cho gia đình của bà. Đến lúc con quái vật bị bố mẹ thả xuống sống và buộc đá, chẳng hiểu sao mình lại có chút không cam tâm. Một người đang yên đang lành bị chính bố mẹ mình xử tử và bị em gái thay thế. Phương cách cũng chẳng đúng chút nào. Chẳng phải mình thương cảm với nhân vật gì đâu, nhưng rõ ràng điều này đi ngược lại với lẽ phải. Nếu xử trí bằng cách giam trong tù có khi lại tốt hơn. Nhưng rõ ràng là người trong gia đình thì không thể làm thế với ruột thịt của mình. Mình cũng nể tình yêu giữa hai người trong phim nữa. Họ yêu nhau, che chở và làm chỗ dựa cho nhau những lúc mà xã hội chẳng ai chấp nhận họ. Nên dù bản chất có thay đổi thế nào, đã lỡ yêu là yêu đến tận cùng, dù người bên họ không phải mình. Thật ra đến tầm giữa truyện là mình cũng nhận ra Misako là ai rồi. Đọc cả truyện theo tâm lý của nhân vật Ryo làm mình cảm thấy khó chịu khi sau này tư duy của anh lại thay đổi một cách mù quáng như vậy. Việc mẹ là kẻ giết người đâu khiến bản thân cũng sẽ trở thành thứ đáng khinh như vậy đâu.

[Ursula · Rating 4 out of 5]

One good thing about this book is that it puts iyamisu (eww mystery) into my literary map. That, and also the fact that this book is fascinating and immersive.

Nan-Core is full off twist and turns that caught me off-guard. Perhaps because I’m not an avid mystery reader, or perhaps because the book is simply that unpredictable.

It follows Ryo, a young man whose unlucky circumstances uncover his family’s dark secret, leading readers into the unsettling mind of a serial killer and the ripple effects such a legacy leaves behind.

Told through streams of consciousness and shifting perspectives, the narrative remains easy to follow. The translation was also fluid and immersive, making this book a captivating reading.

The novel reminds me of the age-old nature vs. nurture debate: is violence etched into our DNA, or shaped by our choices? Ryo’s disturbing rationalisation, that his urge to kill his lover’s abusive husband comes from being the son of a murderer, sticks in my head for longer than it should have been. It's an immersive, captivating book that managed to hold my attention long enough that I finished it in 2 days.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Not what I thought it was going to initially be about (the mystery disappearance of the protagonist's lover). Instead, it's about a HUGE family secret (which later ties into his lover's disappearance). My favourite parts are when the main protagonist is reading the diaries he found buried deep within a closet in his childhood home. It kept me guessing with the protagonist who was keeping this huge secret. And just when it couldn't get any better the plot twist at the end has you asking even more questions BUT you still feel satisfied with the ending. It can be a little confusing in some parts and I'm not the biggest fan of how the protagonist thinks of his lover (a little too s**ualized), but overall an interesting and pretty easy read. This book has adult themes so I would recommend this for a little more of a mature audience.

[Чарли Паркър · Rating 4 out of 5]

Скандално подценена книга, наистина съм учуден. С немалко предвидими моменти като за трилър/мистерия, но въпреки това много човешка и балансирано поднесена. Не съм съгласен с 'хорър' тага. Доста бледо, почти прозрачно е застъпен.

Абсолютно задължителна за всеки почитател на не само японски, ами азиатски стил психологически трилър/мистерия.

"Mitsuko and I were failed people. We were like ugly catfish, living on the bottom of a stagnant swamp. But in moments like this even catfish, ignorant of why they are born that way, manage to float to the water's surface to breathe in clean air and, in the light of the sun, witness the world as it is meant to be seen. Only during such moments were we able to be as normal people".

3.75/5

[SierraKiloBravo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Link to my review: https://sierrakilobravo.wordpress.com...

For my birthday this year, Mrs B bought me an English version of one of her favourite books, Nan-Gore. Don’t worry if the title makes no sense, because the original Japanese title (yu-ri-go-ko-ro) does not make any sense either. It is a nonsense word used in the book to describe the feeling people get when they want to kill someone…

Yes, it is intriguing, and I enjoyed reading this – Mrs B has good taste in books!

The story follows the main character as he stumbles across some diaries in his father’s closet, diaries written by someone murdering several people over a number of years. Is it a real diary or a work of fiction? Is the writer his mother? Is there any connection to his missing fiance in all this?

At around 250 pages this is a quick read, but even so, the author touches deep nerves when discussing family life and just how messed up it can be. It is a short book, but is by no means a throwaway beach read. It’s the kind of book that gets you wondering about what is real and what is not, and makes you ask the question – how well do you know the people you call family?

[♥Nica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book while looking for translated mystery novels originally in Japanese. While it did start off strong, I was rather disappointed in the overly predictable plot and the non-twist-masquerading-as-a-twist.

The notebooks themselves could have been a novel on their own; following Misako’s sociopathic journey through life was more interesting than the rest of her family’s story.

I wished the author had been more careful about Ms. Hosoya’s identity though, like she did with the father’s connection with young Misako.

[Marje V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice twist.

Purposely sought out to read a book by Mahokaru Numata because I love, love the film "Birds without Names," which is based on one of her novels. From the synopsis, thought that "Nan-Core" was going to be much darker than "Birds." The first two-thirds of the book is twisted alright, but ... the end ... it has similar feels as the end of the "Birds." Dark as the overall tone of the book is, I don't feel weighed down after finishing it. In a weird way, it's somewhat uplifting.

[Nguyễn Thanh Hằng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truyện lôi cuốn lúc đầu nhưng dần đơn điệu và dễ đoán nửa sau. Diễn biến nhanh và không đi sâu vào tâm lý tội phạm cũng như sự nghi ngờ, hồi hộp. Không có tình tiết cap trào để phát hiện ra sự thật, cũng như lý giải cho tính biến thái muốn giết người của hung thủ, mà để hung thu trở thành người bình thường quá dễ dàng.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dark and dirty look into one family's sordid past that's very good fun to read. It isn't perfect- some of the events seem a bit arbitrary and a few characters are a bit flat, but the narrative is gripping and the narration is perfectly claustrophobic. Good fun.

[Leila Safira · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know the feeling when we feel like our parents were keeping secrets from us from their past? If you do know the feeling, just let it go. Don’t do what Ryosuke did and read stuff you weren’t supposed to.