“I am where the dead children go.”
The Girl from the Well (The Girl from the Well #1) by Rin Chupeco is a young adult horror story that you won’t want to read alone in the dark.
“You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.
A dead girl walks the streets.
She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.
And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.
Because the boy has a terrifying secret – one that would just kill to get out.
The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as “Dexter” meets “The Grudge”, based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.”
I loved this story! How the author presented the story just made it just come alive. There was such a perfect combination of detail and story-line that it almost felt like I was watching a movie in my head. There were times when I was getting just as nervous as the characters were in the book. I ended up reading a majority of the story while I was under the dark covers which probably was not the smartest move on my part, but I think it was the perfect setting as a reader.
The pace of the entire book was smooth. I didn’t have to struggle through any parts which can be attributed to the writing style. The only times where I had to even reread a part was during the pronunciation (in my head) of the Japanese names. I have not read very many books set in the Japanese culture, so this book had a unique feel to it that makes me want to read the second book right now!
Another part of the book that was amazing was the characters. Rin Chupeco made the white and black women into a work of art. I was scared of both of them and how unpredictable they were. Tarquin felt like the kid who just gave up on trying while Callie was the one who was really pushing for answers. The two of them went great together. Then you had the dad that you just wanted to shake to wake him into reality. What I think really drew the characters together were the random children who could see the women. Rin Chupeco can really create great characters.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book to the point of rating it 5 out of 5 stars. I didn’t see very many things wrong with it other than the ending wrapped up a little slow, but the ending releases some surprising aspects that make up for the small amount of slowness. If the amazing cover doesn’t draw you in, the white woman will. This is definitely a horror thriller that you will not want to miss!
More Book Information:
Published : 5 August 2014
Publisher : Sourcebooks
Genre : Young Adult Horror
Pages : 267
How I Read it : NetGalley
Rin Chupeco is about to release the second book in The Girl from the Well series, The Suffering, on September 8th, 2015! Stay tuned for some fun posts regarding this book coming soon!
Let me know if you have read this book and what your thoughts were! Get ready for more book reviews coming real soon 🙂
Happy Reading,
Treestand Book Reviews 
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