I think this book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately by the time I reached the end, I found myself asking "huh?"

I found the first book interesting, albeit a bit heavy-handed when it came to the discussion of women's bodies. I don't want to be too harsh on it because I read the translated version, and it is entirely possible that the Japanese version is much more poetic. I thought the relationship between

Makiko and Midoriko was extremely interesting and I would have loved to see more about how Midoriko's silence and Makiko's breast augmentation surgery manifested in Book Two. But it never came back! I was at page 420 hoping that this would be addressed but it never was. I'm not even sure we ever find out if Makiko had her surgery (which is fine, a little mystery is good).

I agree with other reviews that say it's too long. It did drag a lot, and I think we could have done without

numerous scenes of Natsu collapsing on her futon in the summer heat.

 

Overall, I feel like there were a lot of interesting threads that just never get picked up, and by the end it all just falls kind of flat. That being said, it's an interesting read!