The Only Child
Book Review - The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo
When I first heard about this book, I originally agreed to a book feature. I later switched it to a book review because I’d gotten in a historical fiction rut and I wanted to change things up a bit. I’d heard the author of Bird Box, Josh Malerman, described The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo as, “Wholly absorbing, but without any pandering on the author's part, so that the language, the style, and the mood grow about you, as you slip deeper into the story and realize, quite suddenly, you are immersed. An eerie, electrifying read.” It sounded intriguing, so I gave it a go.
The Only Child by Mi-ae Seo is about a criminal psychologist, Seonkyeong, who’s been asked to interview a serial killer. Oddly, the serial killer had been silent about the killings until now and he’s requested Seonkyeong specifically to do the interview. Meanwhile, Seonkyeong’s step-daughter comes to live with her and her father after her grandparents died in a house fire.
This book was creepy - the last book I read that was this creepy was Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris. I was so happy to be done with that book, and yet I didn’t (couldn’t?) stop reading it. The Only Child was similar to Behind Closed Doors not in plot but in the sensation that you don’t want to know what happens but also you have to know what happens. I found this particular plot to be especially difficult to read given I’d just lost my house in a fire and there were hints at animal cruelty sprinkled throughout. However, I can’t disagree with Josh Malerman, it was definitely “an eerie, electrifying read.”