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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
relaxing
slow-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
The story starts with a great prologue: we're introduced to the life of a young woman who has a deeply strange experience in a mundane setting that makes both her and the reader intrigued to uncover and understand the mystery she has uncovered.
Bafflingly, she never appears in the book again.
This book has a lot of potential it never quite fulfills - there are lots of (perhaps too many) interesting characters who appear across most of these short stories, but once you have spent one or two stories with them they fall into the background and remain relatively unexplored.
The individual stories are nice enough, but the book as a whole never really goes anywhere plot wise nor emotionally. Not my favourite Japanese comfort novel - it's pleasent and inoffensive, it has interesting ideas, but it ends up being a bland nothing. A pity.
Bafflingly, she never appears in the book again.
This book has a lot of potential it never quite fulfills - there are lots of (perhaps too many) interesting characters who appear across most of these short stories, but once you have spent one or two stories with them they fall into the background and remain relatively unexplored.
The individual stories are nice enough, but the book as a whole never really goes anywhere plot wise nor emotionally. Not my favourite Japanese comfort novel - it's pleasent and inoffensive, it has interesting ideas, but it ends up being a bland nothing. A pity.
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Fatphobia, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A slice of life novel about different characters within a Japanese convenience store. It was a peaceful book with each character growing or learning about themselves against the backdrop of a seaside town in Japan and delicious combini meals.
lighthearted
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
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
No