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His fiancée, Mami Sakaniwa, has disappeared. In order to find her whereabouts, Kakeru Nishizawa needs to confront her past. This work, which readers have overwhelmingly praised as "a story that gives answers not only on love, but also on all the worries of life," has finally been published in a paperback edition.
(Translator: DeepL)
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(3.61/5)This is not a mystery book, as one might assume (at least I did), but a book about relationships and marriage culture. It had moments that drew me in and that I really enjoyed, but in the end there were too many slow parts that made me dread doing my weekly reading for the book club. On the other hand, the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.
I still wouldn't call it a bad book, and I think there are a lot of people who would enjoy it. I think it's the author's style to make these intricate an
Don't be misled by the beginning of this book, this isn't suspense or mystery. It's a long, detailed study into societal pressure to get married, how people go about finding a marriage partner, and why they succeed or fail in that goal.
While there is a lot of interesting cultural detail, and good insight into Japanese attitudes towards relationships and marriage, the book felt to me needlessly longwinded and didactic. It didn't help that, like in かがみの孤城, I felt zero connection to the character
Slow Paced Look at Marriage
If you like exciting thrills and twisty, turny mystery, then this is not the book for you. If you like slow paced, deep thinking, and reflective discussions on society, then you'll like it!
This book follows Kakeru as he looks for his missing fiance. To find out what happened to her he must delve into her past, and in doing so explores issues surrounding 婚活 (finding a spouse), familial pressure and control of children, and societal expectations surrounding marriage.
The biggest theme of all is