A twisty, interconnected puzzle mystery filled with sweetness, scares, surprises … and a bunch of overcomplicated drawings.

My daughter and I stayed up way too late reading this one! (She’s fourteen and still lets me read to her, which brings me ridiculous amounts of joy.)

“Strange Pictures” starts off with a short prologue in which a psychology professor is lecturing about a case she worked on long ago: a little girl called “Little A” who murdered her abusive mother at the age of 11. The professor explains that, after asking the Little A to draw a picture and analyzing it, she became convinced that the girl could be rehabilitated – and now, many years later, the she has heard the Little A is grown and living happily as a mother….

Next, there are four separate short stories that leave the reader to wonder who “Little A” really is, and if she really could be rehabilitated. It kept us guessing for sure!

Overall, we enjoyed the complex characters, the surprising connections, and the satisfying ending. Several scenes had us either tearing up or squealing in suspense! We were underwhelmed with the pictures and the meaning behind them, though. Each time the characters figured out something about the drawings, it felt like they had to make big leaps in logic, which was disappointing.

Even so, the emotional core of this book really kept us hooked. We cared deeply about the characters and needed to know what happened to them! While most of the writing was more utilitarian than literary, the ending paragraphs were so beautiful I read them twice. Out loud.

Oh, and one last complaint…why can’t I have the Japanese cover with the bloody Bento box?!