confessions

confessions
kanae minato
fiction/suspense/horror
hachette book group
published 2014

After an engagement that ended in tragedy, all Yuko Moriguchi had to live for was her four-year-old child, Manami.  Now, after a heartbreaking accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation.

But first, she has one last lecture to deliver.  She tells a story that will upend everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Confessions begins with a narrative by middle school teacher Yuko Moriguchi.  You are reading as if you are just listening to her speak, without any descriptions other than what she offers.  It takes a bit of getting used to.  I felt like I was missing a part of the story, I couldn't see what and who she was talking of, but when I got used to it I was intrigued.

At each chapter the reader is inserted into the mind of another character, all part of the story with different perspectives on the events Yuko initially introduces you to, but also with narration of events before and after Yuko's revelations.

The story is not an easy subject matter and the ending left me sort of in disbelief.  Yuko's revenge plot was brilliant, but I wondered if I would have the stomach for a scheme such as this.