Japanese Gothic - Kylie Lee Baker

JAPANESE GOTHIC

KYLIE LEE BAKER

*****

2025

Lee can't remember exactly where he hid the body, but he can remember the blood. Hiding out at his father's centuries-old home in Japan, Lee knows something is wrong with him, and he knows it has something to do with his mother's disappearance almost a decade ago.

1877

A female samurai, Sen, stalks the borders of her home to protect her family from slaughter after the abolition of the samurai class. She's not sure how they'll ever survive, not without her father, who has returned from war with a different soul behind his eyes.

When Lee and Sen find one another through a door between their worlds, they're both looking for answers. But what they find in the creaking old house they share is beyond what either of them could imagine...

MY REVIEW

*****

I previously read Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker, which was a 2025 Kindig Gem for me, so I was very excited to read her latest novel – Japanese Gothic.

It’s 2025 and Lee Turner has killed his roommate and fled to his father’s house in rural Japan. His room in the house surrounded by sword ferns contains a window which sometimes disappears and a closet that leads to a concrete wall.

It’s 1877 and Sen is the daughter of one of the last remaining Samurais. Her family are hiding in rural Japan, in a house surrounded by sword ferns, and her closet leads to a concrete wall. But one night there is light coming from the closet and Sen and Lee’s worlds start to blend together…

Japanese Gothic really solidified Kylie Lee Baker as a must-read author for me. Just like Bat Eater, it blends Japanese culture and folklore with thriller and horror genres, to create something which is unique and difficult to put down. Although I don’t know much about the culture of the Samurai, I feel like I came away with an appreciation and increased knowledge about the subject. Sen is such a layered and interesting character – a woman trying to be the best warrior she can for her Samurai father who does not appreciate her and a mother who is afraid of her. The idea that her family are the last of the Samurais, at a cost of her father returning home from battle instead of dying honourably was interesting.

Lee’s timeline is also gripping and intriguing which meant I didn’t feel like I was racing through one point of view to get to the other one. He has a history of substance abuse and is addicted to sedatives which makes his thought processes muddy, and he becomes an unreliable narrator, being unsure if what is happening is real or not. He thinks he has killed his roommate but can’t remember how or where he hid the body. He also wants to find out what happened to his mother who disappeared when he was young which adds a sense of urgency and motivation to his conversations with Sen as he works out how he can see her and whether he can commune with the dead.

The story had me hooked completely and the pace is fast and doesn’t let up at any moment. There is a real sense of unease running throughout and unanswered questions which kept me up at night, frantically reading to find out what was happening. The conclusion was an interesting twist which I did not see coming and perhaps does throw out a few more questions regarding the characters established backstories and reveals, but I didn’t mind in the payoff of a great story.

Overall, Kylie Lee Baker has done it again with a twisty gothic thriller steeped in Japanese folklore – a 2026 Kindig Gem! Thank you to NetGalley & Hodder and Stoughton for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LINKS TO BUY

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