So glad I went into this with only the vaguest idea of what to expect, other than what I was given in the synopsis on the book flap. Despite our main character Akari's life revolving around her Jpop idol obsession, what we really get alongside the obsession is how Akari uses it to find some meaning and strength in her own life.

As someone who has been in fandom of some form non-stop since I was about 14, there were aspects of this that felt painfully true to life. Not that I have ever taken it to the point of obsession that Akari has, but I did have a time in my young life where I did use music and an attachment to musicians to simply get through a constant, neverending, shit days. Add to that the text showing that Akari also seems to suffer from depression and some form of neurodivergence and/or learning disability, and this little novel took on a whole new life. 

I like that it didn't quite go too far and that it felt meandering and didn't really seem to have a plot or a point. Usually that turns me off from a book, but I felt that it really worked for what is essentially a character study of a novel.