Okiku wants vengeance … and she gets it. Whenever there’s a monster hurting a child—the same way she was hurt three hundred years ago in Japan—her spirit is there to deliver punishment. But one American boy draws her like no other. The two are pulled into a world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from the American Midwest to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan. The boy is not a monster, but something evil writhes beneath his skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. Can Okiku protect him? Or is her presence only bringing more harm?
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“Arnd’t crisp, clean diction smooths over the non-English vocabulary, allowing listeners to luxuriate in the Japanese folklore. Her lyrical delivery of poetic scenes heightens the jolt when evil strikes…The calm tones and even pacing Arndt maintains belie the surrealism of Talk’s and his mother’s experiences while simultaneously racketing the tension. …Although appropriate for teens, this elegant, atmospheric story easily appeals to adults.”
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Booklist (audio review)