bella613's Reviews (551)

This was a recommendation from a coworker and WOW I'm very glad I read it. (Listened to it) 
The story is amazing, and the characters painted so wonderfully. The timelines both moved seamlessly-- I've read books with multiple timelines that try to get little cliffhangers and make you want to stay in one timeline more than the other, but this one did a good job of weaving two stories into one. I loved the narrator as well. 

I honestly think I would have loved it just as much if the fiancés had not both come back at the end, as the mother/daughter/granddaughter relationships were so beautiful. But it was heartwarming to have the extra happy ending, and didn't take away from the story at all.

Well... when I saw this book I thought it was by Maggie Smith, actor, not Maggie Smith, poet. I'll be honest, it's my fault for not reading anything about this book before starting it. It was like a dramatacized reading too which could have been better with a different narrator or reading the physical book. I was just not interested. 

Would highly recommend if you like Murakami, running, writing, music records, and memoir/essay collection type books. 
I understand this one isn't up everyone's alley and most people who I talk to about books won't want to read it. But it's definitely a five star for me. I love Murakami's fiction and it was so cool to get some personal connection to him as a person as well as a writer. 

Not about the book but personal anecdote-- It's actually funny because I saved this book to my library on audible before I knew anything about Murakami, simply because it was titled about running. I had Norwegian Wood on my TBR after seeing it on some highly acclaimed list somewhere. I read Killing Commendatore first, on Kim Namjoon's suggestion, and only after that did I realize that all three were written by the same person. Getting Murakami recommended to me from all different places! Eventually I'd like to read everything he's written (or at least what's been translated into English).

This was SO GOOD!
The characters are so real and the writing style fit the storyline perfectly. The humor is perfect and while the story is pretty predictable, it is refreshingly wholesome.
I adore Sadie and I totally relate to her need to be personally responsible for everything happening, and her struggle of learning how to express her real feelings instead of extreme politeness. Also her crush on Julius, because I think I may have a crush on him too. Abigail and Max are amazing side characters. 
The ending came faster than I was prepared for, but it was good. I'm really glad that it didn't get too cheesy with the change in relationship dynamics. Sometimes the enemies/rivals to lovers trope has an unrealistic change in behavior of the main characters when they suddenly fall in love. This one does a great job of showing realistic emotions. Yes two people begin to be nicer to each other as they care about each other, but they're not going to become different people. I liked that this book shows the confusion and vulnerability of changing your relationship. 
I found myself deeply invested in this book within just a few minutes of starting, and only loved it more as it went on. The narrator does a great job in the audiobook. The only critique I can think of is that I want more!