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holdentwalker 's review for:
The Kamogawa Food Detectives
by Hisashi Kashiwai
[2.5]- If you liked 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold', you'll also like this. Although I can't help but feel this book's English translation and international promotion is simply riding the coattails of that previous novel's success. Although technically, I did like this a bit better than BTCGC.
There are a couple of oddities to this, though. One is that the plot moves very, very quickly. The transition from the food mystery being described to its solution is sometimes literally one page. In hindsight, I wouldn't have minded if there were some actual detective work going on, but just like BTCGC, the novel takes place in one room and centres a rotating cast of characters, which is something I found dull about both texts.
Further, I feel like this is for kids. It does not have the emotional depth of BTCGC, which does read as literary fiction. This book was giving Enid Blyton. However, when considering an international audience, I don't think your average monolingual English child will know or be keen to understand the nuances of Kyoto's culture, so it is unclear who this book is for.
There are a couple of oddities to this, though. One is that the plot moves very, very quickly. The transition from the food mystery being described to its solution is sometimes literally one page. In hindsight, I wouldn't have minded if there were some actual detective work going on, but just like BTCGC, the novel takes place in one room and centres a rotating cast of characters, which is something I found dull about both texts.
Further, I feel like this is for kids. It does not have the emotional depth of BTCGC, which does read as literary fiction. This book was giving Enid Blyton. However, when considering an international audience, I don't think your average monolingual English child will know or be keen to understand the nuances of Kyoto's culture, so it is unclear who this book is for.