story that seems very familiar, even if you are not a fan of the horror genre. Certainly an interesting idea to explore such a well-known Japanese story, but it didn’t really have enough to make it stand out.
Our main character is a young boy called Tarquin, a loner who has found it difficult to make friends. He is best remembered for the strange tattoos that are all over his arms, tattoos his mother gave him only a few years before she attacked him.
Initially it was something of a grind to keep reading. It was clear that there was something strange about Tarquin but it didn’t really get interesting until he was able to explain part of what was happening to his cousin.
The suggestion that he was being used as a vessel to house a malevolent spirit but was protected from her by Okuku, another spirit, was a tough idea to swallow. I liked the obvious use of Japanese folklore and yet it all felt too derivative to really stand out.