While still being a pop-culture itemthis novel shows the big gap that exist between a LN and a regular novel. Just from this work come multiple movies and adaptations the skip big parts of the source material while usually a light novel results in 2 or 3 anime episodes, maybe 4 or 6 if they really stretch it out. While I really liked some of the changes made on the main character (making it a female, single parent, without any residual esper powers) I really disliked taking out the original side kick and reducing the supernatural to just Sadako.

While the movies are pretty accesible for the international market the novel has certain sensibilities that would get lost in someone without a basic aclimatation to japanese folklore and plot tendencies. For starters there is a more extensive reference to supernatural elements in nautre (that in the original mvoie got reduced to espers and the sea, to make it only Sadako and her mom in the american version), it also has some morality issues like taking a rapist as a not so bad person that could get a pass in japanesse mature stories but would enrage anyone that expects more sympathetic characters (let's remember that before occidental culture got in there Japan considered that marriage got arranged or through rape, not cool but there's nothing we can do about that now).

The author is often compared with Stephen King and I feel the swinging quality makes it a proper comparison. Maybe it's a result of the translation but it can be a bit of a harder read than most of King's novels. Still, the prose is good by any standard, much above the reduction to dialogue and technical language that propels LNs, and the plot is complex enough to end up adapted into several different movies.

Nothing too new if you've already seen all the Ring franchise but the ignored elements ad change in tone make it an interesting item if you wanted more.