I had high expectations for this and honestly, it ended up meeting them! It admittedly took me a while to really get into it, as I wasn't the biggest fan of the main character of the first story. However, each story became increasingly intertwined in the lives of the characters we already knew, and I liked each story more and more!

Spoiler

"The Lovers": I think this story did a really good job of establishing the rules and limits of the time travelling, even though I wasn't always the biggest fan of Fumiko. I also loved the idea that while you cannot impact the past to change the present, you do still have the power to change the future based on what you learn in the past. I think it set up the themes of the book really well, and I still found the story cute!

"Husband and Wife": We got a glimpse at Kohtake and Fusagi in the previous story, but this story focused on their relationship (as a married couple) and revealed the struggles they were currently facing (Fusagi was slowing losing all his memories due to his illness, and the story takes place on the day that Fusagi forgets her completely. Honestly, this story was a real tearjerker but I loved how it impacted Kohtake and gave her a new, positive outlook on the situation. It gave her the strength she needed to keep going on.

"Sisters": I had guessed this story was going to delve deeper into Hirai and her relationship with her sister and her family, but I didn't realize just how sad it would be! It really makes you rethink your actions toward your own family, and I love that Hirai ended up going home to live out her sister's dream, or as much as she could.

"Mother and Child": This was definitely the most heartbreaking story, and I think the one I loved the most. The story had been building up the idea of Kei's pregnancy and that things weren't entirely going well there. It turns out there's a large chance of Kei dying during childbirth due to her heart condition, and they're not even sure the child will make it. Kei chooses to use her one chance at time travel to go to the future in hopes of seeing her child. Their interaction, as well as Kei's choice to continue on with the pregnancy even if it will most likely kill her, was hard to read, but I loved learning more about her Kei and her optimistic outlook on life. In the end, her travel gave her peace and happiness, and I loved it.