I am a huge fan of Rin Chupeco! I first fell in love with her writing in "The Bone Witch" - if you haven't read it you really should - and her latest book "The Girl From the Well" exceeded my expectations for her writing.

I am also a huge fan of children's horror stories, and this one has that handled. A truly terrify story that is still readable for young readers. It is definitely a story that will stick with you once you have finished it. And those are my favorite kinds.

This book was genuinely terrifying. A perfect sort of terrifying that makes you want to keep reading, even though you know that you’ll sleep with one eye open after you’re done.

This book reminded me, how much I enjoy Rin's writing. It was the spookiest thing I've read this year and it's not even spooky season. I made the biggest mistake of listening to this at night and i have to say, I could not go to sleep after that.

The characters are written in a way that they stick with you even after you've read the end. I find myself wondering what their lives would look like now, or not lives. I truly enjoyed this.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This reinterpretation of the legend of Okiku is both haunting and chilling, but at the same time, frames the girl from the well into a human perspective, showing the reasoning behind her actions. Amidst the horror and the gore, the story also provides a mystery and the right amount of eerie to keep you haunted and reading for more

She is a legend that has been told across countries and centuries. In Girl from the Well, Chupeco gives us a different look into the well and depth to the girl. Chupeco humanizes the girl from the well and allows the reader to understand how she came to be while also providing the horror sensation. While at the core, this book is a horror story with gore it infuses a mystery to make the gore relevant to the plot.

I've read most of Rin Chupeco's books and I never seem to LOVE them. I enjoyed the overall plot and the characters, but I felt myself getting bored closer to the end. Rin did a good job making the system of how the ghosts work, I liked that the ghosts are attached to their murders and they decay over time. Just overall the story fell flat for me.

A creepy Japanese ghost story!

The narrator is Okiku, a revenge lonely ghost, a well spirit with hundreds of years old in Japanese myth.

"I am where dead children go."

Okiku is a lonely ghost in white who does not care about human beings, until Tark, a boy who got in trouble with a woman in black with a mask. He needs her help!

"We do not go because people do not let us go."

This is an example of the good and evil ghosts fighting, a freaky idea and chilling atmosphere with lots of exorcism and purification. Do you like these things? So this book is definitely for you!

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Fire via NetGalley for giving me a chance to read The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco. I have given my honest review.

The Girl from the Well is an interesting and creepy story. The concept of how the girl from the well came from and what she does was great. It was hard to put down once I started reading it. I would recommend for all horror fans to read.

As someone who loves a good atmospheric novel, I really enjoyed this one. There is a haunting quality to the book stemming from the history and the dark stories that the characters inhabit more than just from the fact that there are ghosts in the book. I loved reading from the spirit Okiku's perspective. It was interesting and unusual, and it gave a sense of being both in the action and detached at the same time. I loved that she was such a big part of the story and that she plays such an interesting part in the story of Tarquin and the others. I highly recommend this for adults as well, not just as YA fiction. It is well worth a read and I am looking forward to reading more from Rin Chupeco.

4.75 stars
I had reservations going into this book because I had read 4 books from the author that while I did not hate, weren't the best reads for me. And this was also an old release. But I ended up really enjoying this! It was atmospheric, definitely spooky (for me) and had a lot of gore that I appreciated. And while this had fantastical/paranormal elements that I enjoyed but were not fully explored, it did not take away from my overall enjoyment reading this book. I loved the characters that we are following and I was tensed and worried with what will happen to them in the end.

I gave this a three out of five stars. The first time I tried to read it I dnfed it at 62%. Now, I have finished it. I enjoyed it a lot and want to read the next book and other books by this author.

I love Rin's books and with the approach of Spooky Season, I dove right into this one. Despite reading the synopsis, I wasn't too sure what to expect and given that I'm a bit of a scaredy cat I was hoping it wouldn't be too scary!

I wouldn't say this book was particularly scary, in all honesty, but it was kind of creepy in places and mostly because dolls freak me out a bit!

The narrative was interesting as we get the POV of the ghost as she watches a lot of the events unfold and it's clear there's a mystery surrounding Tarquin and his tattoos. A spooky mystery, that grows deeper the more the book goes on until the pieces finally fall into place.

I actually really loved Okiku and while I was sad for her, I deeply enjoyed the way in which she wrought vengeance on those who deserved it. It was genuinely satisfying to read and I was rooting for her! Though I wasn't initially sure how she connected to Tarquin, I'll be honest!

Tarquin was okay, I felt for him and his situation but I honestly had little interest in Callie. Not to be mean, but the most interesting character to me was Okiku and I was so curious about her past and her overall role to play within the book!

I'm going to be honest, and while I loved Okiku, her narrative took a little while for me to get used to as she's mostly just watching and observing, but then I'd get thrown by the POV switch and the change of person used to do so. I wasn't a fan of it, if I'm honest. As Okiku seemed to comment on what she thought or seemingly knew the other characters were feeling because of her ghost powers (I assume), I kind of would have prefered to just stay in her POV.

While I enjoyed aspects of this book, and there were some brilliant twists and moments to it, I did find some of it a little bland and had to push myself to keep reading in places. Mostly because I had no interest in Callie, so her POV's were difficult for me to read, and like I said, I struggled a little with the narration and the choice of prose.

All in all, it was wrapped up well and there was an adequate level of tension for the final act of the book, I just struggled a little at points to get there!

In this book we have a teenage boy Tark, who is plagued with some sinnister things, that happen around him, until one day he meets a girl ghost Okiku, the famous girl from the well, who goes on vengfull missions, to get rid of child abusers, mollestors and murderers. And here the battle between good and evil beggins.

I was so pleasently surprised by this book. Finally we have a ghost storie, with a real ghosts. I loved Okiku as an angel of revenge. She did what no one else could. I loved that she wasn't portraied as a hero or a villan, but something in between. Somehow it made her more real.

I also enjoyed reading about Tark, he was a typical teenager, with some tantrums or constant bad mood in adition with everything else that happened to him.

The side characters were also quite enjoyable to read. Only father was in total oblivion about what happened with his family.

The story itself was well thought out and I was intrigued from the first page to the last.

The only thing that kept me from giving a higher rating was portrayel of Japan and japenes culture. There were few parts that didn't sit with me well (for example, when Tark said ''those people''), sometimes it sounded a little bit degrading.

So, in the end, I think you should definitely check this book. As for me...I can't wait to read the second book.

I loved the unique nature of this story and I found the characters compelling. My biggest qualm was it felt like it took a while for the main story to really get going as well as the ending felt like it dragged once the main conclusion finished.

The lore was really fascinating though and I especially loved the parts in Japan.

As a major horror lover, and someone who was absolutely terrified of the Ring when I was growing up, this story definitely gave me the thrills and chills. I loved learning more about Japanese folklore and myth, and definitely think this is a story for horror lovers to check out!

Absolutely love the reissue of this spooky ghost story. The new cover is gorgeous and fittingly spooky. Give this to your kids who love darker anime and manga shows or anyone who loves a chilling horror story.

CWs: Murder, violence, death, suicide, kidnapping, beheading, mentions of depression and anti-depressants (briefly), a character is in a psychiatric facility, malicious spirits/demons, exorcisms

This was an interesting and good read. It took me a little while to get into the writing style, but I enjoyed reading the story.
The narrator is Okiku who is a vengeful spirit that preys on those who hurt children. She becomes drawn to Tarquin, a boy with strange tattoos and a masked spirit in black who hovers around him. Tark’s cousin, Callie, is also one of our main characters, and she suffers a traumatic experience with Tark that results in her being able to see both spirits.
The plot was really intriguing. I was interested in learning more about Okiku and also about Tark’s relationship with his mom. I felt that by the end of the story I had learned a lot about Tark and Callie, and also Okiku. I did feel separated from all of the characters the whole time I was reading. The narration style made it difficult for me to really connect with the characters. It also left me struggling to feel the fear that was gripping the characters. Many of the moments in the story were pure horror, but I didn’t really feel much of that coming across for myself as I was reading.
Overall I enjoyed this one. It was a quick and easy ghost story.

3.5 rounded up to 4/5.

Okiku is a lonely soul. She has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the spirits of the murdered-dead. Once a victim herself, she now takes the lives of killers with the vengeance they're due. But releasing innocent ghosts from their ethereal tethers does not bring Okiku peace. Still she drifts on.
Such is her existence, until she meets Tark. Evil writhes beneath the moody teen's skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. While his neighbors fear him, Okiku knows the boy is not a monster. Tark needs to be freed from the malevolence that clings to him. There's just one problem:  if the demon dies, so does its host.

Hmmmm… this was a hard one to rate because there were things I really liked about it: Chupeco’s ability to instil fear in me through her terrifying and atmospheric descriptions, the cultural aura of the story and the in-depth characterisation. But… then there is that one thing that always seems to through a spanner in the works; I find the pacing of her writing off in this story, just like in ‘The Sacrifice’. For me, the buildup at the beginning took too long… the climax hit too quick and the ending dragged and ruined the whole impact of the plot.
Generally I enjoy Chupeco, her style, her concepts and her flair for description but her pacing really detracts from the overall mood of the story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire, and Rin Chupeco for the opportunity to read The Girl From the Well in exchange for an honest review.

Okiku is a wandering spirit, her death and myth connected to one of Japanese culture hundreds of years in the past.

To make up for the terror of her death, Okiku has found it to be a bit of a hobby to seek out child murderers and kill them. She knows who to target because the souls of the children cling to their murderer.

When Okiku encounters Tarquin, she is fascinated by his strange swirling tattoos. She also sees some obscure woman following him around, knowing the entity is some beacon of evil.

After Tarquin's mother passes away, him, his dad, and eventually his cousin, go to Japan to her home to scatter her ashes. Among the village, they learn of a dark secret linked to Tarquin's tattoos. And of course Okiku has found a peculiar interest, so she is a quiet spectator.

This story is told from the perspective of the spirit Okiku, which is an interesting way to tell the tale in some regard, though it felt like a lot of exposition because of the way it is told, with very little dialogue. I would categorize this book as young adult based on the character ages and the darker edge for a slightly older audience, though I find a middle grade audience would like this book as well. I enjoyed the Japanese lore that eventually got explored in this novel and am pleased to see there is a second one, which looks to be told from a different character perspective.