I received an ARC of this book with thanks to Scribe UK via NetGalley.

This is the story not only of Miwako Sumida, but also of Ryusei who falls into a deep unreciprocated love with Miwako; and Fumi, Ryusei's older sister who is all but critical to the story as slowly discover why Miwako dies.

I found this to be a highly enjoyable read. If you're a Murakami fan, this would be one you'd enjoy. There are a lot of similarities with writing style and content but not too similar that it comes across as a copycat style. I quite liked all the characters in the book, especially our main three. They all had rich and layered backstories and they were all developed and written very strongly.

I have seen other great reviews that are mindful of the author's Indonesian-born, Singaporean ethnicity, writing a book set in Japan using characters of Japanese descent during a time of strong discussion and heightened awareness of #ownvoices. As a huge reader and fan of Japanese literature, I really enjoyed this but remain mindful of various facets that have been raised as questionable by other readers.