ALC Review: Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

Release date: 14 April 2026

Rating; 4/5

Narrator: Natalie Naudus

Narration Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: In this lyrical, wildly inventive horror novel interwoven with Japanese mythology, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds.

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.

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Review

Upon reading Baker's dedication, I actually wondered—no, scoffed—to myself, "the story can't be that crazy."

It is. It's absolutely and wholly bat-guano crazy.

Content warning for graphic violence.

In the book, not my review.

Dang.

Baker's been around a while. I haven't read Baker's writing until now. I checked this ALC out because of influence from a bookish friend who usually steers me in literary directions well off my beaten shelf that oddly prove of great interest to me. I'd say this book was the kind of fascinating that I'll only enjoy once and try to forget afterward with great effort.

Japanese Gothic is not for the faint of heart. Those who can't tolerate horror, descriptive violence, tragic stories of abuse, or dark stories of hauntings should steer well clear of this one. I usually do. The stars must have aligned, so to speak, just right for me when I pushed play on Sen and Lee's story. Naudus has just the right voice for this one: sonorous and hypnotic, perfect for the lulling needed to dreamily saunter into Baker's world and stay there until you are allowed to leave.

I'm certain the combination of narrative style and Naudus' narration are what held me in a stranglehold. I loved the writing, the unreliable narrator, and the mystery that drove my need to know why, who, and how all the time. The dual, non-linear timeline structure felt perfect for this kind of plot. Though the end left me marginally underwhelmed, the rest of it was good enough for me to not really care so much.

I would recommend those who wish to pick this one up experience it in audiobook format. The fantastically stellar narration, probably one of my favorites from Naudus, enhances the story so much.

Overall, 4/5 for the book and 5/5 for the narration. It's not even close to my usual literary fare, but I liked it a ton anyway, despite its genre and gruesomeness.

My thanks to Libro.fm and Harlequin Audio for the ALC, for which I willingly give my own, honest opinion.

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