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(4.37/5)Story: I enjoyed this so much more than I expected to. The five short stories all had words of wisdom that felt heartfelt and hard-earned, with stories that hit deeply (particularly the last three). I liked that they touched on a variety of ages, genders, and lifestyles, with themes that felt relevant and complicated. I also appreciated that while each story ended with things moving in a more positive direction, nothing was tied up too neatly. Finally, I liked that the stories were interconnected in little ways and that I could see a character from one story pop up in another one in a very natural feeling way. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and would definitely recommend it if you enjoy stories that make you think a bit and hit you in the feels.
Language Learning: I found this to be a smooth, easy read. It generally uses everyday vocabulary and has a smattering of N1/N2 grammar (ex: だの、だの).
Sweet but Not Sacarine
I was worried this would be similar to many other Japanese literary novels which tell episodic stories that emotionay manipulative you -- I'm looking at you "When the Coffee Gets Cold" -- but I was pleasantly surprised to find this novel didn't manipulate my emotions but actually connected with them.
Each chapter follows a different character who's struggling with something in their life and how they work out what it is that's bothering them and see life in a new way. The first two chapters were fine, but repetitive and I almost DNFed after the second chapter. But I connected with the characters of the third, fourth, and fifth chapters a lot better and the book finally clicked for me, making it a very similar experience to "A Psalm for the Wild-Built".
I liked how each character had a distinctive voice in the Japanese, the words and even kanji they used reflected their age and what kind of person they were. (I hope the English was able to capture this.) If you read this in Japanese I would say it's good practice for N2-N1 level Japanese.