Confessions

I recently rented "Confessions," an audiobook through Libby—I'm absolutely obsessed with this app! It only took a glowing review on Instagram for me to dive in, even though I had no idea what to expect. This is my first experience reading a book by a Japanese author, and I recommend checking out the trigger warnings, as this story isn't suitable for everyone.

The narrative revolves around the heartbreaking death of four-year-old Manami, the daughter of Yuko, a beloved middle school teacher. Each chapter is narrated from a different character's perspective, revealing their take on the unfolding events. The story begins with Yuko announcing her retirement and dropping a bombshell implicating two of her students in Manami's death, though show more she doesn't name them.

As I listened to each confession, the puzzle of what happened to Manami gradually pieced itself together. It was fascinating to see the role everyone played, whether intentional or not.

At its core, this story is a gripping tale of revenge, but it also delves into complex relationships, societal judgments, and themes of abuse and neglect. The narrative is dark and unsettling, culminating in an ending that completely blindsided me! Despite being nothing like I expected, I found it captivating and thought-provoking. show less

After her four-year-old daughter is found dead under suspicious circumstances, a middle school teacher puts into action a plan for revenge.

This book started out very strong. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, who fills in more details surrounding the girl's death and subsequent events, beginning with her mother's account as told to her entire class. I couldn't put it down for the first half or so, but when we get to the final two narratives, it starts to falter. The stories become repetitious, and the twists come out of left field, seemingly thrown in more for shock value than anything else. But really, this is a story about mothers and their children. There are a couple of very bad mothers in this book, and their show more children are also very bad. Hmm, not sure I'm buying the blatant mother-blaming here. In terms of learning more about Japanese culture from the inside, this was an interesting read, but as a thriller, it fell short for me. show less

I recently rented "Confessions," an audiobook through Libby—I'm absolutely obsessed with this app! It only took a glowing review on Instagram for me to dive in, even though I had no idea what to expect. This is my first experience reading a book by a Japanese author, and I recommend checking out the trigger warnings, as this story isn't suitable for everyone.

The narrative revolves around the heartbreaking death of four-year-old Manami, the daughter of Yuko, a beloved middle school teacher. Each chapter is narrated from a different character's perspective, revealing their take on the unfolding events. The story begins with Yuko announcing her retirement and dropping a bombshell implicating two of her students in Manami's death, though show more she doesn't name them.

As I listened to each confession, the puzzle of what happened to Manami gradually pieced itself together. It was fascinating to see the role everyone played, whether intentional or not.

At its core, this story is a gripping tale of revenge, but it also delves into complex relationships, societal judgments, and themes of abuse and neglect. The narrative is dark and unsettling, culminating in an ending that completely blindsided me! Despite being nothing like I expected, I found it captivating and thought-provoking. show less

Confessions by Kanae Minato is a gripping Japanese revenge thriller that absolutely deserves a place on every reader’s TBR list. Told through a multi–point-of-view structure, the novel allows each character to present their own version of events, gradually revealing the truth in layers. This narrative style adds psychological depth and keeps the tension constantly rising.

Japanese authors often stand out for their ability to blend simplicity with deeply unsettling ideas, and Minato does this brilliantly. The writing feels clean and controlled, yet the emotions underneath are intense and disturbing. What begins as a tragic classroom incident slowly transforms into a chilling exploration of guilt, justice, and revenge.

The pacing is so show more compelling that I finished the book in a single day. Every chapter shifts perspective in a way that reshapes your understanding of what you’ve just read. Just when you think you know where the story is heading, another revelation changes everything.

While the characters are complex and memorable, it is the climax that truly sets this book apart. The ending is shocking, dark, and unforgettable — the kind that lingers in your mind long after you close the book. show less

Mama’s coming for you

Confessions by Kanae Minato; translated by Stephen Snyder (Mulholland Books, $15).

Yuko Moriguchi is a single-mother and a science teacher in the equivalent of a junior high school outside Tokyo. But she’s got a lot to avenge, and the consequences will be disastrous.

Already left by the father of her daughter, 4-year-old Manami, Yuko is further devastated when her child drowns in the swimming pool at the school where she teaches. Even though the police rule the death accidental, she is not satisfied, and with good reason: Her baby was killed by some of her own students.

A mega-seller in Japan, Minato’s debut novel (written while she was teaching home economics; it’s more complex than the straightforward, show more Lifetime movie sort of revenge plot. After all, these killers are only 13 years old.

And that fact makes it very difficult to know who to root for, especially once it become clear that one of the killers may be a sociopath and equally clear that Yuko’s desire for revenge is spiraling out of control and damaging people who had nothing to do with her daughter’s murder.

This is a fascinating and dark novel, a train wreck of humanity deftly recounted in alternating points of view that creates a mosaic-like portrait of blame, fault, and pain.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com show less

Confessions has one job to do, and it does it well. There is no flash to the story. It is as straight-forward a narrative as one can get. Each of the narrators tells his or her story with no fuss, little embellishment, and a sincerity that is chilling in its emotion or lack thereof. Moriguchi sets the tone as she dispassionately tells the tale of her daughter’s murder and her revenge. The rest of the stories follow the same pattern, revealing more about the key figures involved in the drama and ratcheting up the tension as Moriguchi’s revenge takes effect.

Where the story starts and where it finishes are a complete surprise. Readers get inklings that the story is going to take such a dark turn, but even the savviest reader will miss show more just how disturbing it is going to get. The truly amazing thing is that the revenge plot and its aftermath are not unreasonable. In fact, the whole plot has logic about it that does somewhat excuse the narrators’ behaviors. There is still plenty of behavior with which readers should and will find fault, but the idea of restitution, and the methodical way in which Ms. Minato justifies it, is a powerful one that places a reader’s sympathy on characters who may or may not entirely deserve it.

Confessions is one of those twisty novels which drives home the point that it is impossible to know exactly what someone else is thinking, feeling, and experiencing. The various confessions are scandalous in what they reveal about all of the characters, especially as readers are already experiencing bias given what others have previously shared. The story is also a particularly telling statement about modern judicial systems and the lack of justice in certain scenarios. Confessions will simultaneously shock and awe at the depths people will go to seek revenge, acceptance, and/or attention. show less

My 3rd book of Asian Readathon 2020. Good lord, this book was fucked up. But, my god, was it amazing. This was my first foray into Japanese fiction and it will not be last. I read a fair amount of dark and twisty things, but this went above and beyond anything I've ever read before. I audibly gasped while reading it. The twists and the turns were incredible. This book should really have the success of books like Gone Girl & The Girl on the Train because it's that awesome. It's incredibly intricate where the layers get peeled back slowly until you reach the mind-blowing ending.