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A review by izasballad
The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
3.0
“The Lantern of Lost Memories” follows three stories of three people who have died and relived one of their memories before they go to the afterlife. First of all, I love the premise of the book. The stories are very touching, but some stories delve into darker themes (check the trigger warnings). The storytelling and the parallels are some of my favorite parts of this book. It is a beautiful and heartwarming read.
I don’t think it brings anything new to the literary world. As much as I like short books, I would have liked this more if we were given more stories– it felt quite lacking. Another thing that I struggled with is the writing. I am not quite sure if that is because of the translation or the writing itself (e.g. lack of emotion), but it was difficult for me to connect to the book because of it. Despite these, I find this book still a beautiful reflection on life and death. The concept is amusing if you think about it; how beautiful would it be if we could go back to our memories, relive them, and make lanterns out of them for us to be able to see before we pass away. The book shows how our actions, however small and mundane, can have a long-lasting impact on others.
It reminds me of the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series, so if you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this as well! It is a short, but heartwarming read; I recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for providing me with a copy of this book in advance!
I don’t think it brings anything new to the literary world. As much as I like short books, I would have liked this more if we were given more stories– it felt quite lacking. Another thing that I struggled with is the writing. I am not quite sure if that is because of the translation or the writing itself (e.g. lack of emotion), but it was difficult for me to connect to the book because of it. Despite these, I find this book still a beautiful reflection on life and death. The concept is amusing if you think about it; how beautiful would it be if we could go back to our memories, relive them, and make lanterns out of them for us to be able to see before we pass away. The book shows how our actions, however small and mundane, can have a long-lasting impact on others.
It reminds me of the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series, so if you enjoyed that, you might enjoy this as well! It is a short, but heartwarming read; I recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for providing me with a copy of this book in advance!