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(3.24/5)Extremely dull and pointless story but useful for language learning
Entertainment: This book is about two teenagers spending time with a spoiled 5 year old who constantly cries about everything. That is it. There is almost no humor or romance or anything interesting at all. This might be the most pointless and boring book I have read in my entire life and I have no idea why it has so many good reviews (here and elsewhere). A few things to point out:
- The two main characters are incredibly one-dimensional. He is the biggest do-gooder who always "sacrifices himself" for everyone else. And she - despite being a foreign exchange student who just arrived in Japan - turns out to be the perfect Japanese housewife who immediately starts cooking for him. (not really a spoiler, since the book establishes this very early on). They have no chemistry at all.
- There is enough story for at most 50 pages yet this book has almost 300. There is an entire chapter on setting up and knocking down dominoes with literally nothing else happening. Except for the 5 y/o crying, of course.
- The author loves(!) the expressions 笑みを浮かべる and 表情を浮かべる and uses them so many times that there is no way this book had an editor.
- The author often repeats everything a character just said again right afterwards. Think "I am tired and want to go to bed now" I said, expressing my desire to go to bed because I was tired. This happens a lot and feels extremely repetitive.
Language Learning: In case you are wondering why I finished reading this book, it is because it is great for beginner learners. The language is very easy with a lot of repetition, it has mostly easy sentences, there are no unusual kanji and the author always picks kanji or kana based on what is more common. There are practically no low-frequency words at all. In terms of language learning this book felt great and was a big confidence boost for me.
Easy-to-follow along plot with many repeated words
Overall, this story was easy-to-follow with many short and sweet sentences. There was also the repetitive use of many words such as 笑みを浮かべて. The main characters had a lot of interesting interaction. Although it would be great to have more interaction in school, I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a wholesome slice-of-life!
Really, really easy
After the first few pages, it gets really, really easy. So if you're a beginner don't get discouraged, keep going! This is one of the easiest light novels I have tried that are not labeled as children's book.