[DeepL Translation - needs review] A young boy, now alone, visits his mother's hometown to find out the true meaning of her last words: "It all started in that town, didn't it? The clues are an old black-and-white film and an unfinished novel. The town is slowly sinking and parts of it have been swallowed by a large lake. The boy meets Moguri, a man who collects "mementos" left at the bottom of the lake. He is named "Sakana" (meaning "fish" in Japanese) because of his graceful swimming, and ...
This was a lot darker than I expected. There is a lot of death in this and the book often refers to the fact that everyone will die, at some point.
I still enjoyed it. It is part mystery, part fantasy and in the end a lot of interpersonal drama.
I thought it read like a YA novel, but I am still not quite sure if it is intended that way. There's not much to say about the content because pretty much everything would be a spoiler because the book reveals little by little of the bigger picture wit