Review; Ring by Koji Suzuki

Recently I read the Japanese horror novel The Ring by Koji Suzuki, and today I'll post my review of the book.

Description from Goodreads

A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece's inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan tokyo teeming with modern society's fears to a rural Japan--a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic--haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape's mystery before it's too late--for everyone--assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

My Thoughts on the Book

Ring was an interesting read, as it was a bit engaging tagging along on the storyline and plot, as well as solving the puzzle pieces of the mystery. That said, there is a handful of quite unlikeable characters, in addition to how the book deals with toxic masculinity, transphobia, and rape (just so you're warned).

Another thing is that it's labeled as horror, and even though there's a couple of horror elements weaved into the story, I honestly felt it was more like reading a paranormal mystery than anything else. Perhaps I'm a bit immune as I've read quite a bit of horror over the years, but if you're in search of spine-chilling horror, please look further.