Title: Am I Beautiful?

Author: Jon Athan

Publication Date: February 15, 2021

Number of Pages: 298

Format: E-book

Publisher: Independent

Genre: Horror, Splatterpunk

Synopsis:

Adam Miller, a successful marketing manager at a travel agency, visits Tokyo, Japan on business. During his trip, he has a one-night stand with a young Japanese woman, Miki Someya. But Miki latches onto him. She follows him— stalks him —through the streets of Tokyo, professing her love and begging for his. Adam manages to avoid her, but he loses control of himself when she confronts him and threatens to follow him home to tell his wife about their affair. In a fit of drunken rage, Adam attacks her. He beats her black and blue, then he carves a smile on her face with a pair of shears.

Afraid and ashamed, he flees the country and escapes prosecution. But years later, when children start vanishing in his city and the only suspect is a woman with a scarred face, he suspects his past has followed him home… Inspired by a classic urban legend, Jon Athan, the author of Lovesick and Maneater , brings you a disturbing new vision of sadistic romance. This novel contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Personal Thoughts:

Rating: 💫

The last Jon Athan book that I’ve read was just an okay read for me, I liked it but it didn’t have that lasting impact. This, on the other hand, was very engaging yet so gory that it kept me turning the pages. It’s a sadistic dark romance that I sometimes crave when I’m tired of all the romcoms and the thrillers. I also appreciate the modern take on the Japanese urban legend, Kuchisake-onna.

In this novel, we follow Adam Miller on his business trip to Japan. He then meets a young Japanese woman, Miki Someya, and had a one-night-stand with her. It was all good until he noticed that Miki is stalking her across Tokyo. One night, as they confront each other, Miki threatened Adam that she will follow him home and tell her wife about their affair. In a fit of drunken rage, Adam loses his cool and beats Miki almost to her death. Then, he flees Japan and went home to his family in LA. Years later, his monstrous actions that night caught up with him and things started going haywire from there.

I definitely enjoyed this book, but let me warn you that this is not for the faint of heart. It got really disturbing for me during the murders that happened throughout the story. And though it kind of dragged for me in the middle, it was still a good read and I will definitely read more of this author’s works. I also recommend it for fans of extreme horror. ♡