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placeholder13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent
caroisreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Our narrator is a fourth-grade boy who is fascinated by the woman who sells sandwiches at the grocery, described mostly by her electric blue eyelids. From his perspective, she is beautiful, silent, and perfect in how she packages sandwiches. This portrait shatters as he hears, unwillingly, the opinions of others about her looks, how monstrous she is. But in his innocence, he holds tightly to his fascination with her, drawing her obsessively.
It was heartbreaking thinking of how our loveliness as women, our beauty and Identity, becomes so twisted by society. I took this young boy's awe as a reminder to us that someone still sees us, and holds us in that light.
You'll enjoy this is you love themes about women, childhood, Japanese fiction, and want a quick but substantial read.
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Death
axel_p's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Grief
risemini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
linguaphile412's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Gun violence
kaddyren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death
Minor: Death of parent
shushkeepitdown's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Death, and Death of parent
wellfedpages's review against another edition
- 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
in the eyes of the beholder?
or a clinical ratio?
This was a sweet story about childhood love / crush, heartbreak, friendship & familial bonds that also challenges the notion of who / what is beautiful.
What is it that draws someone to another person?
Is it just surface beauty or is it something more?
Is there really something wrong with #MsIceSandwich ?
Or is it something that people made up because she was too different, too confident, didn't give a f*ck about people's opinions?
Is she beautiful?
Or is she just beautiful to him?
Through the eyes of a neurodivergent unnamed little boy, Kawakami explores these themes and also highlights the transience of life
Everything is fleeting
Everyone will be gone one day
Sometimes when you least expect it
So instead of keeping one's feelings bottled up or waiting to spend time with someone, say what you have to say & give them your time while you still can
That seems to be the moral of this tiny novella
It also unearths the many ways parents love their children, breaking the stereotypes, while giving us a glimpse into the complexity & joy of being a single parent.
But the most beautiful relationship in the book for me was the one between the little boy and his grandmother. It reminded me how little time we have with our grandparents
Or with anyone we care about
Love is about being there
Even if they can barely speak, barely hear, or even no longer recognize you, your presence is what matters.
And finally, swaddled in all the sweetness was the boy's magical dream full of double entendres. A hidden sexually laden excerpt in an otherwise innocent book
Perhaps it was intentional, a hint at a young boy's fantasies
Or maybe it was written such so that younger readers can still read this book at the surface level, while others can glean more
This was my first #MiekoKawakami book, but definitely not the last
Hope to read Breast And Eggs & Heaven soon
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Body shaming
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming
Minor: Death of parent and Death
shrutislibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Removed from a present yet absent mother & a bedridden grandmother, the boy devotes himself to visit the sandwich stall every day over the summer. Every day he orders the same egg sandwich at the counter which he doesn't even like eating. All the while committing every detail of Ms Ice Sandwich's face to his memory, every edge & line ingrained in his mind's eye only later to be reproduced on paper. He is happy to go along in this way: observing from a distance, happily floating, existing, alone in this bubble of euphoria he has created for himself until one day the unexpected sharp pinprick of rumours about Ms Ice Sandwich punctures his cosy bubble & tilts the world over for him. Will he ever look at Ms Ice Sandwich the same way again? Or feel the same emotions she once ignited in him when he looked at her face every day while buying a sandwich?
It's heartwarming, yet disheartening, it's meandering yet full of spunk, it's hopelessly teenagery & yet dashed with gut punches of truths aimed at grown-ups. The world of Ms Ice Sandwich is the world of bold accented electric blues, the smouldering heat of asphalt roads in summer and staring dead-eyed at rude customers without a hint of fear of the "I'm gonna call the manager so quick on you" attitude.
This novella is so hard to write about because I am still trying to grasp, think & reach for words that would tie up the ending. This was a story of a life-changing summer, a summertime boy finds a sense of things that used to be & sees them through a new lens navigating the befuddled terrain of adolescence with an unlikely friend. Kawakami's sparse & flowy writing style authentically captures the anxieties, bubbling frustrations & anticipated nervousness of this young boy on the cusp of pre-teens. In the end, the boy, after dreaming of an escape with his princess on his back, wakes up from this dazed slumber of a lazy afternoon nap in summer and is gently nudged back to reality by Tutti's steady presence. The boy learns to appreciate the friendship he can have with Tutti rather than dwelling on what could've been with Ms Ice Sandwich (or never could've been).
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Cursing
Moderate: Grief