Blog Tour: Review: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

The Girl from the Well

By: Rin Chupeco

Pub. Date: August 5, 2014

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 304

Source: Netgalley

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night. 

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.

 I received this galley from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't really know what to expect from The Girl from the Well. I knew there was a ghost, a boy with secrets and I knew it was being described as similar to the movie, "The Grudge". I read the first chapter, had no idea what was going on and decided to stop. A few days later I was still intrigued, picked it back up, and ended up loving it! So definitely give this book a chance, it's totally worth it!

What makes this book so interesting is the POV it's in. Okiku was murdered hundreds of years ago, and spends her afterlife killing those who have killed children. She walks the earth alone, but she has a purpose. I loved her voice and her descriptions of things. Even though she has been around for over 300 years, she is so detached from people, which made her POV so much more interesting to read. Everything changes for her when she meets Tark. A strange boy with creepy, moving tattoos on his arm.

I loved Tark! What a sad, broken, funny, sweet guy. All we know from the beginning is that his mother put those tattoos on him when he was very young and that she tried to kill him. We have no idea why. He had so much love for him mom, even though she has done nothing but hurt him. The whole situation was so hard to read. I also loved Tark's cousin, Callie. She was so supportive of Tark and I loved their relationship.

I don't know much about Japanese supernatural culture, so I really enjoyed learning about all of it in this book. You could tell that the author did a lot of research for this story, and it paid off! I was turning the pages so fast to learn more about all of this.

I really enjoyed The Girl from the Well. I thought it was interesting, fast paced and highly original. I will definitely read more from this author!

Despite uncanny resemblances to Japanese revenants, Rin Chupeco has always maintained her sense of humor. Raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. She’s been a technical writer and travel blogger, but now makes things up for a living. The Girl from the Well is her debut novel. Connect with Rin at www.rinchupeco.com.