[DeepL Translation - needs review] If I could go back to that summer, I would do anything.
Keiko, who survived her heartbreak with her first love Yui when she was 17, returns to her hometown, which she had been avoiding for a long time.
However, after 11 years, Yui suddenly appears as if she were still 17 years old.
Why has it been 11 years, and why is she still a girl?
Keiseko is pleased to wonder, but the grown-up girl already has a fiancée--
A serious and meddlesome 28 year old and a girl...
I have mixed feelings on this book. The story was interesting although at times depressing. I liked the way the characters were written, they all had their unique voice to them and they felt real enough. Just the way the plot progressed at times, especially near the end gave me a lot of mixed feelings.
Synopsis (prologue spoilers): The prologue starts off with the two main characters (圭世子 and 悠衣) sailing into the ocean during a storm trying to reach a paradise that they believe is on the other side. They say that but their true intention is committing double suicide (心中). 圭世子 ends up surviving though. They never found 悠衣's body so 圭世子 can't help but have nagging doubts in the back of her mind. 11 years later as she is visiting her home town, she stops by that ocean and out of nowhere, 悠衣 appears in front of her except she hasn't aged at all and is still her 17 year old self while 圭世子 is now 28. The story then progresses as they try to figure out why she came back now and why she hasn't aged since then.
The writing in this book was pretty straight forward from a language perspective. The writing never dragged on with any long descriptions and the story moved at a good pace.
The more challenging part for me was that the perspective changes between the two MCs throughout the novel and they consistently go back & forth with what's happening in current day and what happened 11 years ago. It gets easier as you progress in the story as it becomes obvious who's perspective it is but there were a few lines I had to re-read in the beginning after I realized what was happening.
There's no furigana in this book at all, including the character's name. I used jisho for their names and just assumed the top name was the correct reading.
Overall I think the book is fine. I enjoyed reading it even though I wish some parts were handled differently. I think this would be a good choice for anyone who is looking for an easier yuri novel and doesn't mind some depressing parts throughout.