Reviews with content warning for Sexism - What You Are Looking For is in the Library

This was so charming and had me tearing up more than once. A similarly feel-good read as Before the Coffee gets Cold by Kawaguchi, but I found the characters more endearing here (however, I am a library worker so I'm definitely biased). I understand the repetitive aspect of the storytelling but I did find a few points to be overdone. The only thing I really disliked was the focus on Ms. Komachi's size. Overall, a must read for those who believe in the magic of libraries and the power of books.

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clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

wowowowow what a cute book!!!! i loved the cosy yet hopeful vibe this book had!!! ugh i understand why people love this so much. i want to just say the reason my rating is so “low” is simply because;

a) the book gets a bit formulaic at times - person’s life is doodoo, they go to the library, their life is a bit less doodoo solely by chance

b) these people’s lives are getting “better” often in abstract ways, or the changes literally happen at the drop of a dime. i would’ve preferred to see their progression be a bit more slow, even with chapters ending with less clear endings but still seem realistic (i get this is a magical realism book + it’s only like ~250 pages for so im asking a lot here but hey im being honest about my experience).

i will say i do like how there were individual chapters following 5 people in very different situations. i will also say i love how each story is connected, whether that be just simply because they all visit the library & were disillusioned with life prior to visiting, or in more significant ways such as characters reoccurring. i think its best for me to talk about my thoughts with each chapter, so here i go

chapter 1 (tomoka): i really liked this story! it was a nice chapter to ease me into this book. it’s also quite relatable seeing as i’m also a uni student, i get not liking part-time random retail jobs 💀 the ending was really cute though, and honestly i felt her chapter to be the most “believable”

chapter 2 (ryo): i’ll be candid, this was probably my second-least favourite chapter. i found ryo as a character to be a bit of a shithead because of how he is with his gf, but idk him visiting a cat cafe was very cute vibes. i wanted to visit a cat cafe whilst reading about a cat cafe. pretty mid imo

chapter 3 (natsumi): i liked this a lot! i enjoyed the theme of misogyny in the workplace + the commentary of being a working mother. the ending was really sweet as well! i would say this is probably my fav chapter!!!

chapter 4 (hiroya): easily least fav chapter, simply because sometimes i feel like him 💀💀 granted im at uni so im not a NEET but idk reading about him was a look in the mirror i did not like! i did think the ending was cute and honestly has kinda motivated me to look for a job at a bookstore? thanks for that hiroya ig

chapter 5 (masao): this chapter felt redundant to me. like we just had hiroya explaining life without a purpose because of not having a job….. and these chapters are back to back. i will say this story felt stronger simply because masao wasn’t a whiny baby (looking at u hiroya) but it felt repetitive with the themes!

overall this was a nice book! i sure had a fun time. sometimes i like my books to lack deeper meaning - if i don’t have to watch 3 youtube video essays to understand ur cozy book its a win for me. plus sometimes i just want to vibe not think whilst reading, and this book did that so well.

also shout out books within books i love this trope 🙏🙏

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jolineliest's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

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risemini's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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arturo_luzen's review

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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anjalisb's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The fatphobia in the book really ruined the stories for me. Fatphobia is just unnecessary and unpleasant. The fatphobia also gets more graphic and nasty with each characters story. I also found this book to be really repetitive - it is the same storyline a number of times over with characters "finding" a positive spin on their lives.

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This was just fine. It didn't quite live up to the expectations I had for it. Because of the title, I was expecting to spend much more time in the library than we actually did (I was expecting this to be a more optimistic/less bittersweet version of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, one of my favorite books of all time). As the book went on, I found the writing style increasingly more endearing. Each of the short stories focuses on a different main character (I was happy that they were somewhat interconnected) facing a relatable existential problem, each of which I connected to on a personal level, even if their situations were not identical to mine. The overall message seems to be that you don't have to wait for some distant, vague goal to be achieved in order to be happy, you find happiness in the present. I really liked the exploration of this message. Although I liked each of the short stories and found them relatable, I wasn't too invested in any them, thus this hit more towards the middle of the road for me. Another big downside to this book is the amount of fatphobia directed towards the librarian; it was frankly something I found quite irritating as it appeared in every single story (I am aware that Asian beauty standards aren't the most inclusive, but that is not an excuse).

I also didn't like in the first story that all of a sudden the main character realized the reason she wanted to improve her cooking was to make a MAN happy. I really liked that she was doing it for herself, but then that line had to be thrown in there to ruin it for me.

Overall, I liked the message about seeking present happiness, but disliked my lack of investment and certain details of the stories. I rated it 3.25 instead of 3 stars because I found each character's situation so relatable and I like how they were explored and (for the most part) addressed.

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