A little bit of Japanese lit seemed in order. I hadn't read anything from that corner of the globe for a while and "Nails and Eyes" looked like a good option for dipping my toes back into the proverbial waters.

And, as it would turn out, this was an accurate accessment. "Nails and Eyes" was indeed a good re-entry. Not the best, mind you. Not an excellent read, but a pretty darn good one.

So what made this book fall short of excellence? I think it mainly lies in length. Let me explain :

"Nails and Eyes" is composed of 3 short stories with the titular story taking up the bulk of the book. The writing is good, going into detail with a sort of detachment that I personally found appealing. Most impressive was the way the author built up the suspense, particularly in the two shorter stories. In those the suspense was perfectly built up before climaxing in a perturbing endings. They were strange in the best possible way.

The longest story, however, went on for way too long. It began to drag halfway through and by the time the ending came about, I was more relieved that it was finally over than satisfied.

This is my honest review of an arc. My thanks to NetGalley.

Arguably <i>Nails and Eyes</i> is the best story in this collection. Narrated by a 3 year old addressing his father's girlfriend, the perceptive young girl outs the older woman, her father, the affair(s), death of her mother, with devastating detail. <i>Too detailed.</i> It is this that makes the story creepy, weird and takes away from reality, unless, of course, this is the reality the 3 year old has built herself. The stellar writing takes the creepiness to a different level where the observational capacity of just a little girl is forgotten and the lives of these everyday people is seen through a window.

The other two stories are quite alright, but didn't hit home.

Another name that I'm going to be keeping an eye on for horror. In these three short stories, especially the titular one, she manages to perfectly capture the creeping suburban dread that happens in the household, and marry it to body horror in the best kind of way. The end to the titular story is going to stick in my head for a long time. Definitely pick this up - perfect for a commute read.

Nails and Eyes is a short story collection consisting of 3 mildly disturbing stories. The first and titular story gave off some very unsettling vibes and all three stories showed that Fujino has a talent for creating atmosphere. The final story in the collection, Minute Fears, was a great little ghost story, and probably my favourite of the 3. That said, I am not a huge fan of short stories. I hoped that this collection would be the one to change my mind, but unfortunatley that was not the case. An enjoyable read, but nothing mindblowing for me.

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I actually enjoyed the two shorter offerings in the edition more than the title story. I found 'Nails and Eyes' a little drawn out without much payoff, although I did think the child narrator was a nice touch. My favourite story was 'Minute Fears', which was quite a traditional horror and was suitably creepy. I would read from this author again, but I didn't love this as much as I hoped to.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Weird, creepy, disconcerting. Very much captures "mundane horror" or the quiet, creeping, background horrors within an everyday life. A welcome addition to my "Japanese horror" shelf.

"Nails and Eyes" by Kaori Fujino is a spine-tingling journey into the depths of psychological horror. Set against the backdrop of family secrets and loss, Fujino crafts a chilling tale of obsession and indifference. As the young girl grapples with her new stepmother's eerie presence, the narrative grips you with its masterful control and builds to a conclusion of haunting power. With two additional stories adding to the tension, "Nails and Eyes" introduces a bold new voice in Japanese literature that will leave you breathless and unsettled.

three small stories. i wouldn’t consider them “scary” but creepy. and i did truly enjoy them. i wished there was more to all of the stories.

"Nails and Eyes" by Kaori Fujino is a collection of subtly disturbing Japanese literary horror stories that explore themes of obsession, family dynamics, and psychological tension. The novella within this collection features a young girl who has lost her mother, and her father invites his secret lover into their family home to care for her. As the child narrator tries to curate a perfect life, she becomes increasingly fixated on her stepmother's actions, ultimately leading to a disturbing and powerful conclusion. Alongside the novella, the collection includes two additional stories that delve into the complexities of the human mind and the eerie atmosphere of Japanese horror. "Nails and Eyes" introduces a unique voice in Japanese literature, offering readers a chilling and thought-provoking experience.

My favourite Japanese author's best work translated into English. I enjoyed the exquisite translation and the splendidness of this novel was not lost at all.

Thanks ever so much to @pushkin_press for sharing this title with me on @netgalley!

Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino, translated by Kendall Heitzman.

Sigh, this wasn’t for me, sadly. A series of short stories trying to do a lot with very little, but unfortunately I felt so detached from it all. One of the stories is written in the second person which is certainly a choice and not one that resonated with me. I felt very little connection to these stories and failed to see what was so unsettling and horror-like about them.

Really loved this paring of stories. Following the ‘girlfriend’ through her experience integrating/losing herself was creepy and touching.

I like this one! I'm a scaredy cat, so horror novels are not for me, but this one wasn't creepy or scary, but more on the EERIE side. The three short stories cover diverse topics like gender or the bond between a mother and a daughter. I liked the writing style and will be keeping my eyes peeled for more from the author.

Nails and Eyes provokes the uncanny and unease in the form of several short novels that are loosely tied to the other. The story which matches that of the title leaves the reader in my view questioning just what happened to Hina's birth mother, and if how she appears to be the narrator how truthful her perspective of her new step-mum is in regards to the perceived relationship with the bookseller. Fujino definitely plays with the notion of the unreliable narrator in a manner that drives a thriller, horror aspect. I would consider this an ideal autumnal season read - in the run up to Halloween as it has all the hallmarks of a good suspenseful tale, I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of other books within this genre for example - Sayaka Murata's Earthlings. You won't be disappointed!

Nails and Eyes might just be one of the best collections of short stories I have ever had the pleasure to read.

Admittedly, the first story was a little hard to read and would be for anyone squeamish about eye injuries!! But as a glasses wearer, I appreciated this story all the more for its relatability - thisbwroter truly gets what it's like to have vision problems, and expertly crafts a story to play on these fears but also entertain and satisfy the reader.

The rest of the collection are equally intriguing and the writing is strong throughout- I think the only negative is that I wished there were more ! I think there were only 3 stories in total but they were so riveting, I wanted more!

I read a lot of translated Japanese fiction, and quite a bit of Japanese horror as well - but this fell a little flat for me unfortunately. I think I'll pass on ordering for our collection.

I loved the quiet yet unsettling tension in these short stories, especially Nails and Eyes which sat with me long after I finished reading it.

Kaori Fujino’s Nails and Eyes is a collection of one novella and two short stories that straddle the line of disturbing. The title story, Nails and Eyes, is narrated by a three year old girl who despises woman destined to become her stepmom after the tragic death of her own mother on their apartment balcony. The young girl observes her father’s girlfriend with intense acuity, seeing beyond what the woman presents to the world. In the second story, What Shoko Forgets, an elderly woman in assisted living is seemingly assaulted every night, only to forget it again come morning. The last tale, Minute Fears, is about a mother attempting to assuage her son’s terrors of the neighborhood playground.

While I generally enjoyed these stories, Fujino leaves a lot to the reader’s interpretation and perception. I often wondered if I was missing something or if I had perceived the contents of the story correctly, getting out of it what I was supposed to. This left me with a less than satisfied feeling after reading this collection.

These three stories are engaging and intense, and exactly what you want out of a story designed to disturb. The author commands attention and control, and delivers a fresh and thought-provoking contribution to the world of Japanese horror/thriller literature.

The title story is worth getting the book alone - the 2 other short(er) stories are good, but the main event is what makes this a wonderfully creepy book. Told in the notoriously difficult 2nd-person the title story builds up such a sense of creepiness that it unsettles and surprises. And then you have to go back and read it again because you have just gone 'what?!?'.

A new author to me, but I will definitely be on the lookout for more in the future.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)