March 16, 2024

I don't know why I'm reviewing a book with so many reviews already, but I feel like I wanted to add a little nuance to the reviews for people to decide if it's for them.

I bought the book a long time ago and finally decided to get around to reading it now that it's an easy read for me. I don't think I'd recommend it as a first novel because as others have mentioned, the story deflates as soon as it reveals the plot. The ending is pretty disappointing, and would be even more so if I had been struggling through this for a month like I would have a year ago.

I think the pacing in the first 2/3 of the book is fantastic, and that's part of what is so painful about the late info dump. There was also no setup for the plot resolution, so it feels very bolted on. Another unfortunate consequence is that the plot resolution takes away any agency that Kazuko (the leaper) had in her own story. The ending falls flat, not simply because it's uninspired, but because it takes away from what was up to then a really exciting story. In all fairness, this may have been a more impactful ending when it was written, but in the decades since then, I think people demand more from speculative fiction.

Should you read it? I don't actually regret my decision to read the story, but I went in eyes wide open. I think if this is an easy read for you, it might be worth a read. The audiobook is also quite well produced, so listening to it is also a great option.

Gradings:13
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easier than夢は翼をつけてL25
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