This is a collection comprised of one novella and two short stories. The title novella is told in the 2nd person form, narrated by a child while speaking to her stepmother. The child, Hina, lost her mother in a very tragic (and strange) accident, and shortly thereafter, this new woman took her place. Her father is barely in the picture, so she is "stuck" with this strange new woman day in and day out, a prison sentence of sorts. It's a very claustrophobic environment. She seems to shut everything inside until she starts reacting, and it's like a volcano that eventually erupts, and the final scene is horrific and very, very disturbing. This tale really stuck with me, although at times it was a bit difficult to follow along with the narration.

The second entry is the short story What Shoko Forgets, about an elderly woman in a medical facility recovering from a stroke which affected her memory, and she "sees" things, but she isn't sure if they're real or not, and she feels trapped in this new reality. A man "visits" her every night, and it's all very unnerving.

The third entry, Minute Fears, is about a boy who is convinced he has been cursed, and his mother, who is torn between her desire to spend time with friends and staying home to tend to her terrified son. It's a tense back and forth that builds up to an ending I was not expecting at all, and it really hit me.

Thanks to Pushkin Press for an ARC via NetGalley.

If Fujino could write a decent ending, two of these stories would be great:
- Title story is a fast paced novella told by a child to “you”, the self-centred and self-absorbed mistress of her dad. Because the mistress is so unlikeable, I didn’t have much sympathy for her so wasn’t troubled by her getting a comeuppance at the end. The ending however needs work as the actions of the bookseller make no sense and I don’t believe that the small child could have achieved what was described.
- Shoko sees a vulnerable patient possibly assaulted (?) each night by an unknown person and their life in the rehab ward by day. It just stops rather than develop to a satisfying ending where justice is done.
- Fears starts well then just stops - whilst an ending, it’s not a good one or a satisfying one.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am not a big horror reader, but I enjoy contemporary Japanese fiction, so I decided to give this short story collection a try. Of the three tales, the title piece definitely felt the strongest to me; however, that may simply be because the longer word count gave the author more time to introduce the characters and really set the atmosphere. I'd say these are disturbing, psychological stories rather than gory, outright horror. They were interesting narratives, especially "Nails and Eyes", and I found them fun to read, but they didn't captivate me beyond that. Nonetheless, I would be keen to read a longer-form piece by this author in the future. I am giving Nails and Eyes four stars. It's worth a look if you enjoy modern Japanese literature and uncanny tales.

This book is split up into a collection of short stories, the first story is called nails and eyes and is about 50% of the book. It took a little bit to get into it but I was hooked. It tells the story of a woman who starts a relationship with a married man from the perspective of the married couple's three year old daughter. It relays the trauma she has, after her mother dies from an apparent 'accident'. I wish the story was longer as i felt it ended too abruptly and definitely wanted to know what happens next.
The second story was my least favourite, taking place in a hospital/rehabilitation center, it was boring compared and almost made me stop reading.
The last story was also great, it tells the story from the perspective of a mother who has a child who believes himself to be cursed. I enjoyed this story and I did not see the plot twist coming.
I would definitely keep an eye out for more from the author, Japanese authors just have a way with writing that immediately hooks you into a story, no matter how ordinary it may be.

An interesting short story collection, the bulk of which is a story based on the title. I really enjoyed the methodical writing and randomly inserted bizarre moments to keep you engaged, however the airy and open ended conclusions to the stories didn’t feel like the correct fit. It was such a jarring contrast to the rest of the writing but maybe that was the point and I was just yearning for a solid ending. I really did love the first story, I think the character development and introspective nature only can come from really examining all the things we hate to admit about ourselves. And I just devour stuff like that.

I had super high expectations for 'Nails and Eyes' after reading the premise but each story just kind of fell flat for me. The first short story, and the namesake of this novella, I struggled to find the purpose of the story and found the characters either not very well developed or just a little bit irritating. I felt a lot of stuff was repeated which isn't great considering this novella is only a measly 112 pages anyway, so I'd like everything written to be new, fresh & exciting. I also reaaaaaaally struggled with the second person narrative, so maybe my not liking this book is just on me!

Then with the two smaller stories, I could barely figure out what was going on right up until the last paragraph and it just didn't feel like it fit into the horror genre at all... maybe magical realism???

I love Japanese horror novels for their atmosphere, tension building, bleakness and psychological impact. When I saw that NetGalley had Eyes and Nails by Kaori Fujino available to read and described it as a collection of short feminist horror stories, I was thrilled! Over the last 24 hours, I've been tragically let down by each story.

The first story for which the collection is named is told in second person perspective by someone who somehow has childhood memories of everyone cheating on each other. It wasn't exactly what I expected from a horror novel, but I will concede that, in spite of its unbelievability, the author's prose does have promise. It might have landed well with me if it hadn't ended so badly.

The second story follows Shoko, who has suffered a stroke and is in a recovery clinic. Something happens to her every night and she doesn't remember what it is. Honestly, neither do I. It, too, ended badly. That I do remember.

The third story is, by far, the best. In it, a woman leaves her distressed son at home with her husband and comes back to find out that he's picked up a disturbing rumor from the nearby playground. This one could have kept going and kept my interest, but it ended so abruptly and left me wondering what would have happened if the story had continued.

I can't bring myself to give this one more than two stars, and that's because I think that if Fujino continues to write, she could create something really spectacular. She has great potential and does know how to create an atmosphere. I think she just needs to work on making a cohesive plot that makes any kind of sense.

I loved this. Very unsettling air throughout the entire titular piece. Especially considering that you do not know what you are supposed to be feeling unsettled by at any given time. Every bit just feels uncomfortable. The shorter stories were fine. I wish that the final story had been placed first in the collection, as placing it last made for a "meh" feeling as I ended this book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Pushkin for the ARC

Fascinating read. I found out out the book through an Overdrive webinar on upcoming fall titles. I don't typically read horror or short stories, but the book talk was intriguing.

Story 1 will haunt me and anyone who wears contacts or who has eye issues.
Story 2 was certainly creepy, I wonder if this is story could be the start of a longer piece
Story 3 was a quick read and the abrupt ending was blah... which may have been the point?

I'm glad I read these! They will stick with me.

AHHHHHHHHHH! That was AMAZING. I just love translated horror. I am so thankful to Kaori Fujino, Pushkin Press, Edelweiss, and Netgalley for granting me digital access to this collection of stories and novellas that convey a slow burn with a lasting, searing scar. Nails and Eyes is set to hit shelves on September 12, 2023, and yall don't want to sleep on this beauty!

In there different tales we get spooked out of her skin, at least I did.

Story #1 depicts a daughter's POV of her father having an affair, her mother tragically dying, and then getting lightly abused and neglected by her new stand-in mother who she gets revenge upon in the most wretched, but somehow justified way.

Story #2 tells us about Shoko, a stubborn elderly woman in a rehab facility that is getting bothered by a much younger patient and nobody seems to believe her.

And Story #3 is a Bloody Mary type of tale that has me thinking back on every word I read, trying to filter through what was real and what was a trick of the lore.

Short and sweet and to the point, this collection is a 5-star read for me, forever and ever.

This was a fun and creepy quick read. I was gripped enough to read it over one sitting and would definitely recommend it.
The perspective/voice that the title story was told in confused me slightly. The little girl seemed to have an omniscient awareness of everything. Although to some degree I do enjoy the confusion that this gave me (is she pushing her narrative onto her step mother etc etc?). I just can't decide what the authors intentions were but it definitely left me unsettled either way.
This will be a good addition to our translated lit table. It's worth the read.

5/5 for Nails and Eyes by Kaori Fujino, out on the 27th July with @pushkin_press - this is literary horror at its most creepy! #bookstagram
#readmore #readmorebooks #bookclub #reading #amreading #tbrlist#booklist #books #booksofig #booksofinstagram #instabook #bookaddiction #bookworm #newreads #currentlyreading #booksta

What is said, is not said, and what should not be said. This novella is all of these things. Told in hindsight though lacking clarity this is a strange tale of the paranoia of children that is borne of a world they don’t understand and how these experiences warp our reality. Sure some of the imagery is a tad unnecessary but at just over 100 pages this is a great afternoon read.

This is a book containing three short stories that were written in Japanese and translated into English. The first story is about a young girl who's mother recently died. Her father immediately asks a new woman to move into the house, to potentially be the young girl's step mom. Despite the story being told through the perspective of a young girl, she is very mature and understand the concepts of cheating, death, and affairs. The second story is about a woman who is in the hospital, recovering from a stroke. The third story is about a mom and son and their relationship. All these stories feature woman as the main characters and are all slightly unsettling. There aren't necessarily horror stories, but they aren't mundane either.

A collection of three disturbing stories, each is worth reading for its own sake. Labelling them as horror is overstatement - they are grotesque, tense and creepy but definitely not horror. Cool book cover, memorable contents.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for an Advance Review Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review

3.5 stars!

Oo I liked this!! The novella Nails and Eyes really got my attention. I loved how it was written? It was written as if the young girl, Hina, is recalling and telling the story of her 'stepmother'/father's girlfriend to her. I have some questions still about this lol about Hina, her mother, the other woman, the bookseller so many questions

The other two stories are short stories and I also liked these, What Shoko Forgets and Minute Fears, but the latter fell flat for me compared to the other.

But What Shoko Forgets -
I liked how that was written the sublte mention of the number of people in the room n the breathing etc. Really amped up the tension on what was happening and there are also sooooo many questions I have about this one.

Despite really liking these, I wanted something more. Just a smidge lol I have so many questions and wanted some sort of answers just to make more of the story. But they're fantastic!

Nails and Eyes is a short story by Kaori Fujino that won a prestigious literary award in her home country of Japan which tells the story of life-changing events in the life of a young girl. Struggling with the death of her mother she watches mutely as the woman her father was having an affair with while her mother was still alive moves in. Despite its brevity this is a slowburn story with the climax being all the more shocking because of that.
As a bonus there are 2 more (very) short additional stories in this edition.
Kaori Fujino has a very distinct writing style,she's very big on what can seem like minor details while often being ambiguous about the big picture then hitting the reader with something shocking seemingly out of nowhere.
I'm not sure this book is for everyone because of the author's writing style, I enjoyed it, some I suspect might find her almost obsessive attention to what often seems like irrelevant detail wearing.

The title novella yields a subtle form of unease throughout which seems to be located in what isn't said. Told in that difficult 2nd person form, it raises questions about what can be known as the narrator appears to have access to her stepmother's feelings that, in reality, must be closed to her. In that sense, this raises issues of perception and imagination or fantasy, indicated figuratively through the focus (ha!) on eyes and contact lenses.

A nicely layered tale with some macabre touches (how did the mother get locked out on the balcony?).

Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC!
Nails and Eyes is a collection that surreptitiously snatches the reader's attention and holds it captive until the very final line. While the stories aren't outright chilling, Fujino expertly constructs a vague sense of unease that builds and spills over the pages.
While Minute Fears stands out the most, this collection makes for a perfect read if you're in the mood for something unsettling and intriguing. 3.5/5

An enjoyable way to spend an hour or two.
Gives slight feelings of unease even on the every day matters.

If you like translated fiction, it's definitely worth your time.