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A cozy and enjoyable read
I'm really enjoying the series so far, so much that I almost devoured the first volume and already got my hands on the second. The story follows 16-year old Kiyo in her daily life as a makanai in Kyoto: she is responsible for preparing the meals of the young maiko, the apprentice geishas. The story is pleasant, and made me feel like I was standing in the corner of a room, peeking at the daily lives of the characters. It also gives a lot of insight into the cultural aspects and customs of geishas/maikos and life in Kyoto, overall.
The main tricky point is the Kyoto accent/dialect: while I could understand - overall - most of what was said, I struggled with some dialogues and grammar points. For those who have read The way of the househusband (since I was reading them at the same time), I saw a clear parallel between trying to understand the Kansai dialect over there and the Kyoto-dialect in here. However, I'd say the dialogues are deeper/longer in this book comparatively, although many chapters are quite light in terms of text. In terms of actual vocabulary, though, I didn't encounter that many unknown or geisha-specific vocabulary, so I didn't have much trouble there.
Overall I would recommend the read, but not for absolute beginners or those who are looking to stick to more standard Japanese dialects.