"Hellmaking isn't justice...noone will forget; noone is forgiven. It doesn't restore balance, and it won't make anything fair. It's a service people come to because they are hurt, and sometimes they've made that hurt into a bomb, and we take that bomb out of their hands and blow it up for them, because we can do it with no bystanders getting caught up in it...

"Hakai Hyo is the thirty-third hellmaker, bounded to a matriarchal curse when her ancestors destroyed the balance between fortune and misfortune. Through a bargain with a Demon, Kyo and her Brother Mansaku are set for the Island of Onogoro, where God's walk amongst Humans.

Through en - the siblings are connected to those who wish to spread unluck onto others. I was pretty interested in the different types of curses: Noroi (where bodies and minds work against the person), and Tatari (where external forces bring misfortune and distorts en), it also made me think of 'curses' and ill wishes we may say in a state of rage, and the depth of emotion behind them. The notion of Gods was also very interesting; how naming during worship sustains them and they do not become nameless and forgotten entities. The premise around unluck attracting further unluck brings to mind the saying "misery loves company" and can there ever just be a unlucky person? I really enjoyed all these rhetorical questions ❤️

This is a steadily paced story, regular scenes with irratic beings, flesh rainwater, ghost baiting and murder. Hyo becomes drawn to a particular case on the island through en. Through this, there is an one eyed heiress, theatre tropes,

Personally, I  would have liked to explore the drivers behind those who commission hellmaking, as this may have given me more details as to their personalities, their 'voice' which may help focus my attention during the multiple POV dialogues