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gillthequill's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5 Stars. A Reddit post recommended this book for me. I really enjoyed the first stretch of this book. I thought it was going to be a nice look through a series of vignettes of an intergenerational friendship. I enjoyed the loving descriptions of eating and drinking, the focus on environmental details and descriptions, and the moments between the two characters. But as the story went on (really from the chapter The Cherry Blossom Festival), I felt like the novel was losing me. Was it the sudden halting and uncertain romance? Was it the acknowledgement that whatever these two have, it will not last? Was it the sense of... smallness I felt towards the protagonist, childish and aimlessly drifting through her own life? I'm not sure. Either way, it was a well written book... just to me, fell flat towards the end. I don't know what I was expecting (digging deeper into the alcoholism between the two characters, maybe a more overt discussion of their loneliness, maybe even an expansion of the Beach chapter, dreamlike and symbolic to make the implied explicit, I don't know) but I'd recommend borrowing this one instead of buying if you have the chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Death
itsheyfay's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Car accident
sandramarinis's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Loved this book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Alcoholism, and Bullying
mixuchi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity
mmefish's review
Absolutely not for me. No plot, no depth, no development and dry prose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
morimyths's review
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- 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? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death
nabila99's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Moderate: Sexual content and Death
saltycoffee's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
sketchydelusion's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
now_booking's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I found this to be a weird sort of other-worldly, meandering novel. I picked it up because a reading challenge I’m participating in demanded a romance novel in translation. Admittedly this can be said to be a sort of romance novel in that romantic love, unrequited romantic love is sort of the main theme of this book. However as a fan of romance novels and a stickler for what I consider the genre rules are, I would say this is more the awkward love story between an awkward Japanese 30-something and her former Japanese teacher who’s about 40 years her senior. Even beyond love, this is a story of intergenerational friendship and kindred lonely spirits finding one another and building an odd relationship.
I started out really liking it for that quiet, understated, observational literary style I’ve come to love in Japanese novels. It was expectedly slow-moving, but I loved the relationship slowly building between Tsukiko and her Sensei. But then somewhere around the halfway mark, this just kind of stagnated and became perhaps a little too abstract and too… meandering for me. A large portion of this had no movement. Characters were introduced like Tsukiko’s old schoolmate with the crush on her for no real purpose and with no real direction. Timelines of what happened when and where were completely blown. Tsukiko’s heavy alcohol use meant that it was always doubtful what was said and what was real and what was imagined and she kind of seemed juvenile for her age. And yet, I did like her as a character overall. The resolution was beautiful but extremely abrupt and out of nowhere and brief and jarring. And I think the book kind of was a little to ponderous for the abruptness of the ending. It almost felt like the author got a little bored and wanted to end things. Overall, I didn’t dislike this, but it’s also not my favourite. I liked the first half, but for my taste, not enough existed to fulfill that potential in the second half. I’m glad I pushed through for the couple of pages of payoff but I wouldn’t read this again.
I started out really liking it for that quiet, understated, observational literary style I’ve come to love in Japanese novels. It was expectedly slow-moving, but I loved the relationship slowly building between Tsukiko and her Sensei. But then somewhere around the halfway mark, this just kind of stagnated and became perhaps a little too abstract and too… meandering for me. A large portion of this had no movement. Characters were introduced like Tsukiko’s old schoolmate with the crush on her for no real purpose and with no real direction. Timelines of what happened when and where were completely blown. Tsukiko’s heavy alcohol use meant that it was always doubtful what was said and what was real and what was imagined and she kind of seemed juvenile for her age. And yet, I did like her as a character overall. The resolution was beautiful but extremely abrupt and out of nowhere and brief and jarring. And I think the book kind of was a little to ponderous for the abruptness of the ending. It almost felt like the author got a little bored and wanted to end things. Overall, I didn’t dislike this, but it’s also not my favourite. I liked the first half, but for my taste, not enough existed to fulfill that potential in the second half. I’m glad I pushed through for the couple of pages of payoff but I wouldn’t read this again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny and Sexism