Another - light novel (Another (novel), 1) (Volume 1) Hardcover – October 28, 2014

this series is by far one of my favorite light novels i have ever read. i can even say its top of my list of ever book i have ever read. it is a kinda murder mystery school curse kinda book and it follows a young guy who is in a school where bad things happen. that is all i am going to say because i do not want to ruin it. but it is amazing. the story telling is great. and the characters are wonderful. this is the 1st book in a series of 2 that the author has published here and i enjoyed it great. now i am reviewing the hardcover light novel version so this wont apply to the paper back manga version of this. the dust cover is a nice touch i always enjoy book and movies that have them. the art on it is wonderful and isnt to tall or long for the book. i have had a book or two where the dust cover was a tad to big and it would bend when set down. the book itself is pretty big but it is the full story instead of a 2 part book so that would explain why but even though its a big book it isnt that hard to hold and read. the chapters are set up into little parts so if you need to stop half way through the chapter its easy to keep your spot by reading to the next point. all in all i am glad i bought the book and read it. its one i would read over and over again. would recommend this book, second book and the manga version.

This was an excellent read! I had difficulty putting it down. It is a horror story, so there are parts that can be a bit suspenseful, but I think even people who are scared easily will be able to enjoy this book to the fullest. The characters and their actions lead the reader to try and solve the mysteries of the book right alongside the characters. The story was nothing short of fantastic.A comment on the translation: I did not notice any obvious translation errors like you see in other light novels, in fact I feel this book kept the spirit the author intended flawlessly. It read naturally and was coherent throughout.If you are looking for a good read, look no further than Another.

I want to fanboy gush all over this review, but the fact is this is only half the story, and because of that it is boring as a standalone volume. With that said, having read both volumes, the book as a whole is an incredibly well told story and by the second volume the book becomes a page turner that the reader can't put down.The characters themselves are incredibly believable, even as they do things that don't seem to make much sense until later on in the story when the author describes their motivations. There was great a chemistry between Mei and Sakikabara that starts boiling from the moment he first sees her.Having seen the anime and live-action movie(Which is nigh unwatchable) I can say that I am grateful that hatchet press brought over the source material. Yukito Ayatsuji weaves an exciting tale of supernatural mystery and suspense that truly draws you in and makes you want to keep digging into the frightening world of Yomiyama if for no other reason than to find out who is the causality.I would have given the book five stars, but the break in the middle of the story didn't leave me with the cliff hanger/wanting more feeling that the publisher was going for. It just left the story feeling somewhat flat an unfulfilled. (But I assure you it is worth reading this book for the amazing page turner that is volume 2)

Great storyline, very original, I can hardly put the book down, also very well translated. Totally enjoyed it.Many thanks to Yukito Ayatsuji.

i lovethis book

I had heard of the anime and tried to watch it, but the something about the style, voices, etc just really put me off. I was intrigued by the story though and found that this book is what actually inspired the novel.For me, the book was 1000xs time better than the anime. What seemed too unrealistic to be entertaining in the anime was downplayed in the book and written to seem like such a thing could happen in any small town Japanese high school, or a high school of any country, really.I did not find translation errors to bother me at all. Once the story got going, I literally could not put it down. I had to buy Part 2 in a heartbeat (really don't understand why they sell them in 1 and 2). For me the whole dolls thing with the main female character was boring and odd, but I enjoyed the novel just fine by skipping those parts.The main storyline is unique and I sincerely hope there will be more, though the author has mentioned he does not see it happening in the near future (boo!).I love stories that affect a finite group of people and force those people to deal with the conflict and each other. You really got to see how human nature might handle a situation and it's entertaining to put yourself in the situation and compare your ideas of what you might do to how the characters actually handled it.Overall, a great translation of an excellent novel, and one of my new personal favorites.

I bought the book after watching the anime. While the story is overall the same. The anime made certain additions that made the story way more interesting. This doesn't take any merit from the book, which is actually a pretty good story with quite a few surprises for those who haven't watched the animation, but it might be one of those rare occurrences in which the adaptation turns out to be better than the source material, at least for me.Going back to the book. The dark atmosphere is properly developed and the story is intriguing. I would think of it more along the lines of a dark mystery novel with some supernatural elements and not of a horror story per se. Koichi, the protagonist, provides a good insight of how the entire situation unfolds through the course of the book, but with the exception of a few scenes here and there, he seems to be a little too detached from the situation. The character development in the book is not particularly the best either, I would say that with the exception of Koichi, and perhaps Mei, it is lacking for the rest of the cast, yet it still makes sense given that everything is seen through Koichi's eyes, and Mei is the person that interacts the most with him.