Real World

Reviewed by Budd

Natsuo Kirino, a well known author in Japan, releases her second English translation with Real World. Real world follows four Japanese high school girls as they assist a boy that has just committed matricide in his escape.

The book is a really quick read and you actually care about the characters and start to sympathize with the “Worm” character. You almost understand why the girls are helping him. The characters are the lifeblood of this novel and Kirino fleshes out what seem to be stereotypical Japanese students into something a little more.

This is ultimately a book about consequences. Actions and inactions have consequences. The characters, still young, learn this throughout the novel the hard way. Well, at least the female characters do.

This isn’t a great book, but it is a good book. I haven’t read any of Kirino’s other works so I don’t have anything to base it on. The book does have an edge to it and can get very dark in places. I would suggest this book for high school age and up do to darkness and sexual content.