August 20, 2023

I really thought I would enjoy this book. I love reading about new places and I'd never heard of Hachijojima before, so the opportunity to learn more was a plus. My life/work/health situation was a bit similar to the MC Kawase-san's when she was in Tokyo, so I thought I'd be able to identify with her pretty well. Plus, there's a cute and mysterious black cat... can't go wrong there. But I was really disappointed by the story, or lack of one, until the end of the book.

We get to see a lot about the island, which I did like. Nice details about local plants and animals, food, fishing, traditional crafts, that sort of thing. But in the end, it's almost all just tourism. Very little happens outside of Kawase-san's sightseeing experiences, and the few incidents and struggles that do occur are very quickly and neatly resolved by the island's residents or just like three sentences later.

A few examples: Bugs and rats in the house? Kawase-san's island liaison/contact person Hiyama-san shows up and takes care of (most of) the pesky creatures. Messed up cooking dinner? Hiyama-san shows up with extra food and cooks the rest. With how often Hiyama-san shows up, especially in the first half of the book, it would've been nice to learn more about him and get his thoughts on what's going on. But he's pretty much just there as a handy solution to island life problems.

As the book progresses, it hints at there being another layer to the story than a simple account of Kawase-san's stay on the island. I don't want to spoil this aspect of the storytelling since I did like how it was implemented, but I think it also made it necessary to omit details like characters' conversations and thoughts. Being about to read more about the side characters, like I mentioned with Hiyama-san above, would've given them much-needed personality and individuality... but it also would've gotten in the way of the mystery and impact of this second "layer" of the story.

For a similar concept but with a lot more charm and humor, I'd recommend Barakamon (anime/manga) instead.

Gradings:19
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easier thanコンビニ人間L29
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harder than青い鳥L25
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harder than魔女の宅急便 1L25
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on August 20, 2023