I Should Read That

Book review¹

A series of drawings made by a young woman before her death.

A child’s disturbing picture of his home.

A desperate sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments.

Each contains a chilling warning.

Each reveals a terrible secret, hidden in plain sight.

Uketsu’s eerie mysteries have captivated millions of readers. Can you find the clues in these strange pictures and uncover the sinister truth that connects them all?

A chilling blog post, a child’s mysterious drawing, a murder victim’s last sketch. All of these are clues in Strange Pictures, a new crime book by anonymous Japanese YouTuber Uketsu. I hadn’t seen any of Uketsu’s videos, but was sufficiently intrigued by this unique storytelling style and I ended up loving this book!

I absolutely devoured Strange Pictures in one evening. I’m on a real crime kick at the moment and Pushkin Vertigo is fuelling my reading, but Strange Pictures is a little different from their other offerings. Rather than a straightforward narrative, Uketsu incorporates pictures and images into their writing, giving readers a visual aid to the story they’re telling. In another author’s hands, the use of the pictures may have felt gimmicky, but it’s clear that Uketsu is a great storyteller and this method works so well.

These bite-sized mysteries intriguing on their own, but seeing the bigger picture was one of the most rewarding parts of reading this book. Much darker than I anticipated, Strange Pictures is a haunting story that is hard to put down.

Apparently there are two more coming and I can’t wait to read them!

1. This book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ↩︎