A review by pezinho
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It's sad how to Kojima, the thing that makes their friendship possible is their trauma or "signs". It's as if she can't see him for anything else other than his signs, while he sees Kojima as a friend and someone who understands him. 

Because her signs are not something innate, but something she actively decides to do to stick out, she can't understand how it is to have to deal with something out of your control like he does, so her judging him for wanting to change felt even more tone-deaf. To me, it showed she never truly understood him.

I enjoyed seeing "Eyes" relationship with his mom develope closer to the end of the book. It was hopeful to see him be able to open up to her, speak his mind and make the decisions he felt was best for him, to actually have control of his own life for once.
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