Petty Lies is a short Korean novel about a twisty story of animal abuse and revenge, as a mother, two brothers, and a tutor get caught up in a series of lies. A tutor writes a letter to the mother of someone she tutored, starting by telling a story about recent animal abuses, and then we are drawn into a story with many perspectives.

This is one of those novels full of mini twists and revelations as you hear things from different perspectives. I didn't find the twist to be particularly exciting though, and by the end I found it a bit confused as to why each thing had happened. It was tagged as horror on NetGalley, but I think that was probably more due to the large amount of children abusing dogs that feature in the book, which seems to be a reason why a lot of people give up reading it (the blurb I read had a content warning for strong animal abuse and death, so it was apparent going in). Some of the pronouncements about how animals are treated versus humans felt quite culturally specific, so it was interesting to see how that element in the book is likely not meant to be as shocking as some people might take it.

Overall, I found the book easy to read and fairly gripping, but the plot lacked suspense or meaningful twists that added much further to the story. As someone who enjoys splatterpunk horror and similar genres I found the violence tame, but I think many people will not like the amount of animal abuse in the book so it is worth heeding that warning going in.

"He couldn’t have expected this, either. That his petty lie would become a lethal poisoned needle that would snatch away people’s lives. And more than that, he could never have imagined that the same needle would veer around and hurtle toward himself."

Petty Lies is the translation by Sarah Lyo of 사소한 거짓말 by 박설미 (Sulmi Bak). [The Korean original does not appear to be on Goodreads]

The novel begins with a letter, the chapter titled "I am a Bad Tutor (Mira's letter)" - "나는 나쁜 가정교사입니다(미라의 편지)" - which starts

"안녕하세요， 유재 군 어머니
제가 왜 갑자기 어머니께 편지를 썼는지 궁금하실 거라 생각됩니다． 그 이유를 차차 써내려가기 전에， 이 편지의 팔 할은 과외 전에 미리 써놓은 글이라는 걸 알고 계셨으면 합니다．
지금부터는 집중해서 제가 하는 말들을 읽어 내려가야 하실 거예요． 1년 전에 일어났던 일에 대한 얘기를 꺼낼 예정이기 때문입니다．
네， 압니다．
아득히 먼 옛날 일을 지금 와서 굳이 언급하는 이유가 뭘까 생각하고 계시겠죠． 하지만 어제 일처럼 또렷이 기억날 만큼 제게는 무엇보다 중요한 사건이니 아무쪼록 끝까지 이 편지를 읽어주셨으면 합니다.

Hello, Yujae’s mother. I expect you’re wondering why I’ve suddenly written you a letter. Before I give my reasons, I’d like you to know that four-fifths of this letter had already been written by the time I started tutoring your son.
You may need to pay attention from now on as you read my letter, as I’m about to discuss events that happened one year ago.
Yes, I know.
Why now bring up the far-distant past? you’re thinking. But since those events matter more to me than anything else, so much so that I remember them as clearly as if they happened yesterday, I hope you’ll read this letter to the end."

I have deliberately stopped quoting the letter there, as the next paragraph Mira, the tutor, reminds Jiwon, Yujae's mother, of an incident last year where a dog was mutilated, something which seems to have been triggering for many English-language readers judging from reviews. And this may actually speak to a cultural difference which underpins the text, since here two different characters in the novel lament how animal cruelty or even striking a child are regarded as much less seriously that striking an elderly person - I'd say it is the opposite in the UK, where elderly abuse is the forgotten, and underfunded, topic.

Mira reveals in her letter that: the abused dog belonged to her family; the consequences of that abuse extended beyond the animal; her suspect is one of Jiwon's sons; and hence she wormed her way into their home as a tutor planning revenge.

What follows is a series of letters and diary entries and a twisted story involving: Mira; Jiwon and her sons Yujae and Yuchan; some of Yujae's classmates; and Yujae's original tutor, a university alumni of Mira, who helped secure her position.

And however much person A thought they had tricked person B, it turned out that with C's help it was actually B manipulating A to think they'd tricked B. Except in reality C was helping A who knew that B knew they had tricked them ....

It's all a bit reminscent of the my link textBattle of Wits in the Princess Bride, and indeed even involves an odourless, tasteless, deadly poison - although Vizzini in the movie brilliantly managed to have the battle entirely with himself. And, that scene lasting only a few minutes, this is a similarly quick read.

It's all rather contrived - and the logic of some of the final twists rather escaped me.

Petty Lies was a quick enjoyable read with an interesting concept and setup. I enjoyed the letter format, but did find it hard to believe at times. The characters were well crafted and I enjoyed the journey. The book was very plot focussed and didn't stop to think about itself too much which would make an enjoyable read for those looking for an interesting crime read. Reader beware there are some intense animal violence parts in the book, but overall it is not a scary or tense read in my opinion, though I tend towards more horror reads typically, so may have just been a bit desensitised. If you enjoyed Strange Pictures it is thematically similar.

I have read many translations from Korean, both English and German, but this must be the worst writing I have come across so far. I at first thought the author must have translated the book herself, but it seems like the translator focuses on translating very literally without minding the differences of the target language.

Something to think about on how people lie to each other to get what they want. A horror and psychological thriller at the same time.

Four views on events from the death of a dog, the owner and the son to a dysfunctional family who live among their own self denials and lies.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) | Raven Books for this ARC. A nice translated book!