coolcatalycat's reviews
418 reviews

I’ve had this book on my tbr for almost 4 years now. Finally tackled it. I think I would’ve liked it a lot more if I read it 4 years ago. The characters felt a little one dimensional to me, which was really surprising, especially for such a highly praised book. 

The story did lose me at times. I met a stranger on a bus to Ontario and we spoke about this book. She said something very beautiful. I can’t remember exactly now, but it was something along the lines of “the plot is a bit all over the place and you kind of get lost, but Addie is lost and trying to find her way and it’s as if we’re doing that with her through the form.” I thought that was cute. 

I just didn’t connect with the story/characters as much as I would’ve liked to. It did make me tear up at the end so I rounded up my review a little bit. 

Anyways, do you think her freckles resemble stars? It wasn’t clear 

Buddy read with sara ! Twas fun 😎  

A love letter to the earth, the universe, humanity. I want to say marvellous read, although I never use that word. 

Beautiful cover art. It’s what initially attracted me. The plot sounded intriguing as well, so I felt I would really enjoy this one. 

I really recommend the audiobook. I think it would’ve been a different experience reading it on my own. Beautiful narration, made it more immersive.  

Just wanted something quick to read on the drive to and from my nonna’s. I probably should’ve continued any of the other books I’m reading lol. 

I can tell this was unedited because it did feel a bit all over the place and a little harsh. I don’t regret reading it, there were definitely some ideas I appreciated, but I will for sure have to check out the game of life and how to play it as that seems like a more fleshed out version of this book. 

What a beautifully, uniquely written story. My heart feels a bit heavy after completing it. It was really special and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. 

It reminded me a little of tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow in the sense that it was a long and a sometimes slow paced book, but as a whole, it was worth every page. There were so many beautiful concepts and philosophical questions presented and questioned and I learnt so much (I really appreciate how much work and research was put into this). I especially loved how much I learnt about Japan, not just their culture, but some of their words as well. A tale for the time being was carefully crafted with lots of love, and you can tell. 

The footnotes being apart of the story/breaking the fourth wall was one of my absolute favourite parts. So so unique! Nao’s journal really did read like a teenage girl’s and at times I felt like she was talking to me, but I think that was the whole point of the story too. That is what makes it so special. The concept of the time being. The readers are just as much a character in the story as Ruth is. 

So many of my interests were incorporated into this novel and it’s what made me love it so much. Very very special read. 

I’m really disappointed with this, I really wanted to enjoy it. Really not connecting with the writing & it’s extremely slow paced. Kept hoping it would get better but it doesn’t even seem like it’ll come to a satisfying conclusion, so it’s not worth finishing :/ will have to check out other murakami books and give him another chance.