彼岸花が咲く島

Beautiful

I adored this and devoured it in a day. As another review mentions, the made-up languages take a bit of getting used to, but they're not too difficult. That aside, this was a fairly easy read which was peppered with lots of plant names that weren't significant enough to look up, besides the titular 彼岸花. I also listened to the audiobook as I read, which helped.

I thought that the romance in this, while quite subtle, was very sweet and added a lot to the story for me. The story also explored interesting themes around language, gender roles and utopian/dystopian societies. The characterization of Umi, Yona, Tatsu, and the 大ノロ was well done. The writing was very pretty and flavorful, yet easy to read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would wholeheartedly recommend it! It's a pleasant and contemplative read which explores a variety of themes through a simple but engaging story.