clovetra's Reviews (262)

what absolute insanity.
so first off i have to say this easily my favourite ito collection. i loved how there were consistent characters i.e. kirie & shuichi (ugh my loves). the only reason i'll say this isn't a 5 star is because i loved vol 1&2, however i didn't enjoy vol 3. ok lets rate the chapters baybeeee
the spiral obsession part 1: amazing beautiful stunning. i love the "origin" story. it also sets the tone super well and the visuals are stunning. 4/5
the spiral obsession part 2: i loved the insanity of this chapter. the pacing was amazing, beginning to see shuichi's spiral (heh) into insanity was fun. 5/5
the scar: quintessential uzumaki story. so fucking weird and i loved seeing the images we all recognise as ito's work. ending is insane but tbh what story doesn't end wildly. 5/5
the firing effect: lowkey forgot about this story. visuals eat but idk the story is mid. 3/5
twisted souls: insanity. the visuals esp at the end had me gasp out loud. the story overall was a bit messy imo but the ending made up for it. 4/5
medusa: was quite insane. i liked seeing kirie in the firing line of the spirals. the ending is cute & i love her relationship w/ shuichi here. also hair battling is cool. 4/5
now onto volume 2:
jack in the box: LOVED IT. batshit crazy & idea was great. kinda irrelevant for the plot overall. 3/5
the snail: also giving quintessential ito. enough said. 5/5
the black lighthouse: idk i didn't like this one. it kind of didn't follow the theme of other chapters & seemed a bit too far-fetched for the universe. 2/5
mosquitos: least favourite story of uzumaki. so random & did not fit this anthology. also irrelevant 1/5
the umbilical cord: same deal as mosquitos except slightly more fucked up. 2/5
the storm: weird, never expanded on, but crucial to the plot so i kind of get it. 2/5
ok now volume 3:
to me volume 3 doesn't have chapters. idc that they do. they all follow sequentially so im going to like just stream of consciousness this bitch. this volume kinda sucked ass! literally if u asked me anything significant that happened i could maybe name 3 things. i liked the snail plot (i love the snails bro they're so fucked up and i just like snails full stop). i get this takes the spirals to a new level but idk man i kind of didn't like it. i know i complained about this exact issue with flesh colored horror but i hate when ito explains the fucked up things happening!!!! and this is exactly what vol 3 does. i did enjoy the time skip & the visuals but they were nawt enough. the ending was also incredibly lackluster. and the extra chapter <b>galaxies</b>.... where does that fit in the timeline? im just confused at this point. 
overall i liked this, but i felt as the chapters progressed ito lost his way a bit. this is easily my favourite junji ito story tho. lets hope as i go thru his more recent works the more i enjoy them SKFJSKF

oh wow that was fucking WEIRD!!!!
now let me say out of all of ito's works ive read, these are easily the worst. idk they just hit different. i mean it makes sense this is early on in his career but. yeuck
ok let me break down my opinions on all the short stories;
the long hair in the attic: ngl kinda sucked!!!! the story felt all over the place, the body horror felt like it had no connection to the story, and it didn't really make sense. 2/5
approval: this was literally not a junji ito story. you cant tell me it was. this shit had no body horror!!!!! thoroughly disappointed in this one. easily the worst of this anthology(?); 1/5
beehive:made no sense. was not scary. i will say though the ending was a bit freaky, but from coming off of tomie....... this was nothing. like i said tho the ending ate - tbh it was the only redeemable thing about this story; 1/5
dying young: yet again not really any body horror which was disappointing. i will say i liked how the endings of these stories slowly get more and more fucked up. this one was a bit insane but tbh i didn't overall like the plot. i can see if/why people would like this, i just didn't; 2.5/5
headless sculptures: now we're getting somewhere!!!! fucked up body horror to the extreme. my god that one shot of the teacher actually made me nauseous. first time ever ito has managed that with me. i will say tho this isn't *the* best of this anthology simply cuz the ending was anticlimactic; 3/5
flesh colored horror: EASILY THE BEST. so incredibly fucked up. everything ate with this. did it make sense? not really. did the narrative, ending, and visuals make up for it? 100%. also i love when ito explains stuff, i know its literally the antithesis of a junji ito novel but when motivations for character's insanity is briefly touched on? chefs kiss; 4/5
overall this was mid. the stories got progressively better though, so there's that. i think ito was still trying to find his style here, so im not too mad at finding it mediocre, as i know more works i'll enjoy await me >:)

oh i want to be shot
fully i was reading this getting ready to give this 3 stars. literally the last chapter alone made this 4 stars.
im rarely a book crier but GOD the ending got me
this was so sad and for what
ngl i kind of didn't like frida? idk if i was supposed to like her or not. but by the end i defo was more. neutral. like she kind of was girlbossing too hard for me to hate her ngl
i'll be honest, it took a bit too long to get to the school part of this story. like we all know going into this book that she's going to the school. i get that it was necessary, but maybe pacing it with flashbacks would've been better? i don't know. it felt like a bit of a slog because i knew all efforts were in vain
also frida is so dumb my god. girlie really was trying to not get harriet back in that god damn school
i really enjoyed the commentary of expectations of motherhood vs fatherhood. it felt very relevant and was handled nicely.
all the characters were a bit insufferable, but i will say i did become interested in them. meryl had me in a chokehold by the end. 
this book was quite depressing, don't read this if you're a mother my god. if i had a kid and read this i would actually want to be like margaret.

oh wow how i loved this.
let me first off say this was given to me through a giveaway here on StoryGraph, and i am so thankful for audrey for giving me this!
this was my first audiobook, and boy was it a treat
i loved not only the story, but the narration techniques, the music, and how i could truly *feel* gregor's despair. also ngl audrey's little recaps are a blessing.
the story itself was so beautiful. i loved how simple it was to grasp the underlying metaphor, yet i could still easily fall in love. kafka's writing has a sort of lyrical sense to it, and im addicted.
also i loved how pathetic gregor was.
i just loved everything about this. i cant put into words why greatly, i just really had a good time reading this.
also this made me cry and literally only 2 other books have done that to me