Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 6/19/2021 + 1178 more book reviews

This was a very bizarre look at the life of several young women in late 20th century Japan. The main narrator of the story is unnamed but she has a very beautiful younger sister named Yuriko so she is mostly referred to in the novel as Yuriko's older sister. The story tells of the narrator's struggle to get into the prestigious Q High School for Young Women by scoring high on the entrance tests. But when she gets there, she finds that she is a definite outsider with other girls considered insiders who have been in the Q system since grade school and who come from rich families. There are other outsiders including Kazue Sato, a very awkward young woman who also scored well enough on the entrance exams to get in. Then Yuriko, who had been in Switzerland with her mother and Swiss father, comes back to Japan and gets entrance into Q based solely on her extreme good looks. The novel goes on to tell how both Yuriko and Kazue are murdered years later after working as prostitutes. Yuriko had been a prostitute for years and used this as her only source of income. But Kazue actually graduated from Q University and had a good job as an office manager. So why did she turn to prostitution?

The book uses other sources in its narrative. These include the diary of Yuriko, Kazue's journal, and the confession of Zhang who is charged with the murders. Based on these other narratives, it is unclear really what is the truth. All of the narrators in the story appear to be unreliable with different stories told by each of them. Readers are left to decide for themselves what is the truth in their mind.

The author of the book makes several points and observations about life in Japan and how the classes are basically determined from birth. If you come from a rich family, you have it easy but if not, you have to struggle to get ahead. She also makes a point of the status of women in Japan and how they can become "monsters" in their own eyes as well as in the eyes of others.

The last part of the novel included Kazue's journal as an older prostitute and this really was a disturbing and sometimes disgusting narrative. She became a prostitute basically to get revenge on society and to try to find some kind of love. She was always alone and never had any romantic human contact. This part of the book was hard to stomach and was very heart rending. I don't think I have ever read anything quite like this novel. It was twisted and really showed the struggles of some women in modern Japan. I also have a copy of Kirino's Out but I'm not sure if I will read it anytime soon.

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