The story begins 26 years ago with the death of a student. Described as being perfect in every way, both physically and personality-wise, Misaki was the kid everyone adored, and many were devastated when they died. To cope, students started pretending they were still in class 3; they left their desk as it was and continued to chat with nothing as if they were still there. At the end of the year, the principal set up a chair for them to graduate, and when the class took a group photo to commemorate the memory, allegedly, a ghostly Misaki was in the background smiling. Returning to the spring of 1998, Koichi Sakakibara is being discharged from the hospital and is soon entering high school. He meets the enigmatic Mei Misaki in the hospital elevator and later again as he joins class 3, the same class where Misaki's ghost appeared. The rest of class 3 does not seem to realize or acknowledge Mei's existence, leading readers to question whether or not she exists. Is she another spirit or phantom, like the Misaki before her? Due to his association with her, Sakakibara also receives silent treatment, but when their classmates start dying left and right, it is up to them to uncover what is happening. Why is it only class 3? Why is Mei treated like a ghost? What is the connection between the curse of class 3 and the death of Misaki 26 years ago?
The story takes readers on a wild ride, warning them what happens when we let fear get the best of us and what happens when we treat people like separate beings, another thing that is not human. In times of great stress and terror, we tend to become less human and instead become similar to the monsters we feared once. As demonstrated within Another, the more classmates that died in class 3, the more suspicious the remaining students became of each other. They grew more hostile, violent, and erratic, and even readers would start questioning the characters alongside them. Unlike other novels, Another demonstrates what happens to us when things start going downhill; there is very little positivity or cheesy "Everything is going to be okay" moments because nothing is okay. It keeps the tone consistent and begs readers to wonder how they would react in a similar situation. You may wonder if some characters are acting irrationally, but even you would wonder how you would do in a similar situation.
I think that what first drew me to the novel was how morbid the beginning was. Like how the author drew many readers to his work, I wanted to find out what happened to Misaki and was pleasantly surprised to discover how the name and individual were related to the plot. Many of the deaths are rather gruesome, but all the unique and horrid ways that kill the characters captivate readers and motivate them to continue the novel. Furthermore, the ending was a twist I did not see coming; however, unlike other twist endings, this twist seemed to make sense and did not feel forced compared to the twist endings in novels. I liked the writing style as the author managed to keep it vague yet specific and detailed, two contrasting elements I never would imagine going together. In doing so, he maintained the mysterious mood of the story while describing every death scene in such vivid detail that readers could imagine what was going on as if they were watching a slasher film. I will admit that the beginning was a bit slow, and it took a while for any action to occur; however, the novel's second part compensates for the lack of action at the beginning. I rated Another a 5/5, despite its shortcomings (the slow start and mediocre main character), because it was probably one of the best horror stories I have read in a while. The story was dark but engaging and entertaining. Once I got into it, I did not put the book down and wrapped it up in around two days. I am not usually interested in the horror genre since I already have difficulty sleeping, yet this novel made the lack of sleep worth it. A memorable read with character deaths unnerving me and inspiring my fear of everyday objects, I highly recommend picking up Another and getting invested in the mystery of class 3.
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