Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker is one of those books where you feel like you’re constantly trying to get your bearings. The story is wild from the start: a mysterious house in Japan, a protagonist fleeing after a blackout murder, and a second timeline following a samurai-era storyline that slowly begins to intertwine with the present. The premise alone feels like a fever dream, and the book absolutely commits to it.
What really worked for me was the pacing. Once the pieces start moving, the chapters fly by because there’s always another question forming in your head. Every reveal leads to two more mysteries, and I kept turning pages just to figure out what on earth was actually happening. The dual timelines and supernatural elements keep you guessing the entire time, making it feel like the ground is constantly shifting under the story.
And then there’s the final act. Just when I thought I had at least a vague idea of where things were going, the book completely swerved. The final act reveal genuinely caught me off guard and reframed so much of what came before it.