A review by lotuspages
What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

3.25

This is a cozy, anthology-like novel which lays out the stories of five people at varying stages of life, who all feel lost or disconnected. There is no major "plot" to speak of here, but a calm and reflective atmosphere permeates. I generally enjoyed getting to know each character and their unique story, particularly the later chapters which I felt increased in the complexity of their introspective questions. As the stories progressed, I started to notice connections between them; a seemingly inconsequential side character in one story may come up as an acquaintance in another, for example. As all of the stories revolve around a library belonging to a specific ward in Tokyo, this isn't altogether too surprising, though it did feel like a fun little Easter egg whenever I happened upon one. I came to realize, however, that these networks between characters are not simply a playful aside on the author's part, but instead reflect some of the greater themes of the book. Though the particular struggle that each character faces is unique to them, they are all on some level relatable to anyone who feels that they reside outside of society's "norm" in some way. Likewise, the conclusions that each character comes to vary based on their circumstances, and yet the foundation of each is the value of community and connection to other human beings.

While I enjoyed the overall message and spirit of this book, a pretty major fault for me was the prose. As this novel was originally written in Japanese, there is some difficulty in determining what is representative of the author's true voice, and what is the result of an overly direct and unrefined translation. Either way, I found the prose to be somewhat choppy and dry, which was felt like it undermined the introspective nature of the content. Also, there are a lot of editing mistakes. And I mean a lot, certainly more than I've ever seen in a book of this length. It definitely should have had one more pass by an editor before printing. That kind of thing may not be an issue for some, but it's really noticeable to me, and takes me out of immersion (and also just annoys me).