one of the reviews said that this book fractures cliches, and i might have to agree with it.

a tale for the time being follows two people— nao and ruth. ruth found a hello kitty lunchbox from the beach. inside it was a diary of a sixteen-year-old japanese girl named nao. as she reads the diary, she finds herself more intrigue with nao’s lifestyle. nao, on the other side, wrote the diary as she experienced bullying, harassment, etc., in her school. we also witness nao watch her parents as she decided to end her life— thus, becoming a time being.

i really loved the book. i found it a little slow at first, but the pacing was necessary and worth it. i was really intrigued until the last scene of part three, that scene really threw me off. furthermore, i found myself only skimming the last pages, for i found the ending predictable.