You Know Me As Lad

I saw this book and the sound of angels singing let me know that it was going to be GREAT. A cornucopia of orgasmatastic greatness that would be well worth everything I went through to find a copy. Amazon was temporarily out of stock and it took me days to find a copy in my price range but I did and I ordered it...and I waited...and I waited...and today it came and I devoured it.

In These Words is a manga about Asano, a psychiatrist who helped catch Shinohara, a serial killer. Now Shinohara has agreed to cooperate as long as Asano is the one who takes his confession. This sounds like the recipe for so much delicious craziness doesn't it? Like nothing good can come of giving in to a serial killer's demands, right? Right. Nothing good does come of it and it was divine candy for my mind and my eyes.

Here's the thing, since Asano started on Shinohara's case he's been having these absolutely psychotic nightmares. Nightmares about him being held captive, raped, and tortured repeatedly. What is it that makes this manga even more of a mindfuck than it would have been if that was the whole story? The way the novel begins. You first meet Asano when he's approached by a wealthy stranger who ends up drugging and kidnapping him. You're never told that the stranger is definitely Shinohara and I wondered for the whole novel if it was a nightmare or a memory. Then I began to wonder if the other nightmares are actually memories and then I got the feeling that Asano has his suspicions too. 

And then there's Shinohara. Holy freaking serial killing psycho. He's creepy, calm, and did I mention creepy. Also, I'm pretty sure Shinohara is the only one who knows what the hell is going on. The reader's lost, Asano's lost, and Shinohara is laughing at everyone and I got the feeling that he's only allowing himself to be held because it's part of his plan. What his plan is, I had no idea and I wasn't able to focus on trying to figure it out because I kept being startled on how absolutely messed up Shinohara is. 

No. Seriously. Bloody, covered in semen, violent, twisted, sexual, knife wielding bucket full of crazy.

Oh, and then there's the artwork. GGAAHHHHHHH! SOOOOO GORGEOUS! I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it.

I say all of this to say that if you love M/M and especially if you love the darker stuff, that you need this graphic novel in your life. Don't be put off by the fact that it's manga and you need to tread it a little differently. There are instructions inside on how to read manga. It takes a minute to get used to but then the story sucks in you and takes over your life while you're reading it and it is sooooooooo good.