A review by cinnakuuri
Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I picked up this book thinking it would be a light novella about how delicious red bean paste is made, but I was not prepared for the onslaught of emotions it came with. It had me thinking a lot about who we deem useful to society, and more importantly, how we treat the people we deem "useless," such as the disabled and incarcerated. Should we really determine the value of a human being by how much they're able to contribute?