I didn’t have high hopes for this book because I’m jaded when it comes to how women are portrayed in Japanese media, and it didn’t help that the author was a man. I was willing to give it a chance though (well, tbh it was our book club’s pick so I kind of didn’t have a choice), but I found the story uninspired, filled with stereotypical characterization I’ve encountered in Japanese stories. Maybe, just maybe, Japanese men should let Japanese women tell stories about themselves and their experiences.

Edit: I did’t even go into the actual writing. Technically, this was bad. So much repetition and unnecessary descriptions.