Specs
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(2.78/5)Might be worth it as a set, but as an individual story, is very lackluster
So, I know that this is part of set with another novel, and I will give it the benefit of the doubt that it could be more interesting if read as a set. However, just reading it as a stand alone novel, I was considerably underwhelmed.
The two main characters, especially the male lead, are incredibly boring, if not outright obnoxious people. His backstory is supposed to imply growth but just feels like wasted pages.
Speaking of wasted, the author creates a whole premise of parallel worlds that everyone in the universe is aware of, and does absolutely nothing interesting with that premise, as it feels like this is just the normal world. You really don't get a sense of how the world would be different in the author's proposed premise, and so that to me is the final nail in the coffin for this Sci-Fi story.
As for language learning, its not too hard, and introduces some interesting Sci-Fi words, which is great if you are using a e-reader but rough for physical copy readers. Also, there is a nice balance of narration and dialogue, which makes it feel different from light novels. If looking for a sci-fi story to make your jump up to a novel, then from a learning perspective, this is a fine choice, just be warned it will feel a lot more like studying that having fun.
Fun, but weak book
The concept of parallel universes is incredibly interesting and mixing scifi with a love comedy/drama is often a good idea. It worked in Bunny Girl Senpai. However, in this book it was so so.
The story was interesting, but the protagonist Koyomi was incredibly unlikable at the beginning and only barely likeable later. The structure of the story with the beginning being also the ending spoiled a lot of fun and didn't work well. Also, the protagonist kept spoiling major plot points 5 pages after introducing them for no reason. The final conclusion was also incredibly weak.
I don't think I can recommend this book to anyone, unless it's for language learning purposes.
Interesting Read
General thoughts: This was an interesting book. I don't often read sci-fi, so the book's exploration of parallel worlds (in Japanese) was a little tricky at times. That said, I personally enjoyed the first and third chapters the most. They felt more poignant. The second one was fine, and the fourth chapter with the murder case was a bit confusing at times.
I know some people really didn't like Koyomi and/or Kazune, but I liked both of them well enough and enjoyed reading about their lives as they intersected with the parallel worlds. 3.5 stars.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy science fiction, are interested in exploring it further, and/or want to push their Japanese abilities by reading about it.
Language difficulty: There are four chapters in this book, which are each named after a period in Koyomi's life (少年、青年, etc.). The chapters get more difficult as the story goes on, since Koyomi's thought process at 25 or 73 is naturally more complex than at age 10. That said, following the logic used (especially in chapters 3+4) was great for boosting my reading comprehension abilities.
Cute SciFi. Fun easy read though the protagonist is annoying sometimes.
I largely enjoyed it, though I was a little disappointed that it felt like the writing/characters were too simple sometimes. Though a lot of the protagonist, 暦’s actions made me roll my eyes, some events to come later actually made me pretty emotional. It feels like a light novel although it's technically a novel.
This is the first novel I’ve read where I really felt like I didn’t need a dictionary and could read at full speed, so I’m looking forward to getting to the level where I can read more difficult novels with this level of fluency.
Though the story is very science fiction I didn't think the technobabble was too bad if you have solid kanji knowledge at this level. It has fewer furigana than novels at a similar level, but not so much that it would be disruptive to an experienced reader at this level.
This book (僕愛) is part of a pair, the other being 君を愛したひとりの僕へ (君愛). Both could probably be enjoyed individually and they can probably be enjoyed in either order as well. That’s because they both reference and (loosely) spoil events from the other, and you’re likely to have some “ah ha” moments with whichever one you read second, but in neither case are the events of one a requirement to understand or enjoy the other.
That said, there is an argument to be made that 君愛 should be read first and 僕愛 should be read second. There are some story reasons for that (which I won't spoil), but primarily it's about tone. 君愛 has a very subdued (arguably sad) tone, while 僕愛 has a much happier tone. I read 僕愛 first and really enjoyed it, and while I enjoyed 君愛 as well, its sadder tone left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like if I had read 僕愛 second, I would have had a better experience overall. So with that, I recommend either reading 僕愛 only, or if you're willing to commit to reading both, read 君愛 first, knowing that you're getting the better of the two stories second with 僕愛.
