This was an interesting one: a young woman with a tendency to experience uncanny premonitions, flees to stay with her mysterious aunt. Along the way she discovers things about herself and her family that have been kept under wraps. There are some beautiful turns of phrase throughout—but ultimately, I was left unsure what to take away from this story. It was super short so I stuck with it, but I’m not sure how memorable it’ll be. Note there are several relationship dynamics in here that some mind find a bit taboo and uncomfortable.

Thank you HighBridge Audio for allowing me to read and review The Premonition on NetGalley.

Narrator: Kathleen Li

Published: 11/11/23

Stars: 3

This was okay. I struggled with the secrecy and not discussing events and feelings with immediate family members. The culture represented believes in premonitions and celebrates them.

I liked the narrator, however I found myself behind having trouble with the character names and keeping their identities straight. I listened to several chapter sections over trying to stay up and in the story.

There are elements that I liked, I was confused too much.

The Premonition was a great story. I liked the quiet moments depicted, and even though not too much happened in terms of plot, it was still a beautiful read.

This book wasn't what I expected at all. I found it very repetitive and, I'm sorry to say, not very interesting. The narration seemed stilted - perhaps due to the material more than the narrator.

This is just my opinion. Others may absolutely love this book - it just wasn't for me.

Yayoi is haunted by something somewhere in her past. . .thankfully for her she has Yukino.

This is a quiet, slow-moving story about difficult happenings within a family's life, and the right time for revealing the tragic past, which has been reshuffled in a retold family history. Having gone through more than my share of that, I appreciated the acknowledgment and recognition of that process in this this author's beautiful telling of that tale. There is an atmospheric wistfulness that is truly authentic.

*A sincere thank you to Banana Yoshimoto, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #The Premonition #NetGalley

Kitchen by Yoshimoto is one of my all time favourite books so I was really excited to get the audio arc of The Premonition.

In true Banana form the story is written so simplistically but rife with innuendo and cool emotions. Always short, to the point and a bit ambiguous I felt this was a unique premise with maybe a bit less allure than her previous works.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Audio ARC all opinions are my own.

This was an interesting book. I have never read this author's writing before, although their name was familiar, and I didn't really know what to expect. This story was meandering, but in a lovely sort of way. The writing is beautiful and poetic, but not a lot actually happens. There are some relationships that could be viewed as taboo, but aren't really all that taboo when you get down to the details. I do wish this had a little bit more of a plot, but it was an enjoyable enough read.

Very Murakami-esque, but with less ambiguity and more directness. This plot was overall interesting, with the right amount of mystery. I really like plots where the main characters are on a quest to find themselves, and this plot incorporated that archetype with the actual search for the main character's sister as well. It is through this journey that the main character does find where she came from.

This was a quick read about Yayoi, a nineteen year old girl trying to find her place in the world and figure out why she always feels so unsettled. As her premonitions grow, she feels more melancholy and restless in her seemingly perfect life. It’s hard to describe past that, partially because of spoilers, but partially because it was sometimes hard to follow. It bounces around between memories at times, and although it was necessary , it wasn’t done very seemlessly and I found myself lost more than once. Aside from timing, the writing and descriptions were well done. There are some very unconventional relationships that develop through the story, and it gave me the icks. I enjoyed Yayoi’s journey until one particular relationship took a hard turn and then it was just uncomfortable and distracting to me. The ending of the book I think was done well, as far as a short novel goes, because sometimes those are hard to end without feeling either too abrupt or too open, but this one landed nicely. Overall this was 3 stars for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I did not care for this at all.

I'm not sure if there were actually chapters in this story, but the audiobook makes it seem like no.

There are some flashbacks and it was not always clear to me when they were happening.

The main character decides to start dating her brother as soon as she finds out she was adopted and isn't actually related to him, even though they were raised together. It's still incestuous.

Her "aunt", who is an adult, was dating one of her high school students, which is also not a good look.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free audio review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I was so excited for this one. I loved "Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto so I was excited for this. I think I shouldn't have read this through an audiobook, especially since the narrator seemed unfamiliar with Japanese words and names, so much so, that it bothered me and took me out every couple of seconds/minutes.

I wouldn't recommend this particular audiobook and right now, I'm very unsure as to the actual book since I was so distracted by the narrator.

Rating: 3.58 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 2.75/5
-Cover: 2/5
-Story: 2.75/5
-Writing: 4/5
Genre: Contemporary, JapLit
-Contemporary: 5/5
-JapLit: 5/5
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Eh


Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

This was a very strange read, though I am not surprise coming from Japan. Uhm... there were some moments when my jaw dropped, I wasn't expecting that. Besides that it was an odd story with how for a good chunk it was like a boring car ride but then there were times when it was pretty darn good.

Japan does a lot of TABOO things and this had a pretty fucked up one, rhymes with broom, and another that wasn't so bad. I think society forgets how to think for its damn self so in the midst of it all THEY look like a damn fools. Once you read, you'd see.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of this newly-translated work of Banana Yoshimoto, beautifully narrated by Kathleen Li - 4 stars!

Yayoi is 19 years old, from a happy home, and a brother she's close to. But she's always felt like there were things that she knew that she shouldn't, and things she thought she remembered. She eventually decides to move in with her aunt, Yukino, who has always lived a very unusual life, not caring what anyone else thinks. Slowly, Yayoi comes into new revelations about herself and her life.

This is a very quiet book, with quirky characters who march to the beat of their own drums. But it's a story of family secrets, feelings that go deeper than what we've been told, and gaining confidence in believing our own thoughts. It's a quick read and I loved the narrator's voice - it added to the quietness and thoughtfulness of the book.

“The Premonition” by Banana Yoshimoto was written in 1988 but has only been translated into English by Asa Yoneda. It’s a short novel, a coming-of-age story of nineteen-year-old Yayoi, who has a premonition that something significant happened in her childhood. She feels her loving parents may not be her biological parents and is strangely drawn to travel to see her aunt, thirty-year-old Yukino.

Yukino lives alone and works as a music teacher. For the levelheaded, despite her premonitions, Yayoi, her aunt, is a picture of an independent woman. Yukino eats when hungry, sleeps whenever she feels like, and seems to cast away social norms. However, this freedom comes from secrets that she hides and borders on hoarding (she has a pile of discarded things in her backyard) and alcohol addiction. Yukino is trying to escape any responsibility; her taboo relationship is very controversial.

I enjoyed this novel very much. It has the almost magical feel of something simmering under the surface. Yayoi’s trip to move in with Yukino is her journey to self-discovery. It’s also a book about the power of family and home. We all need roots, and a sense of family and home strengthens people to move forward. For Yayoi, discovering the truth is life-changing, and it gives her freedom – not the reluctant, self-imposed one that her aunt has, but the actual feeling of who she is and what she wants to do.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance audiobook copy.
This book was just the middle of the road for me. It’s not my typical genre but it was ok.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio ARC. This was just bizarre, not in a good way. I honestly was so confused on what was going on that I had to stop reading.

3.5/5! I absolutely love Banana Yoshimoto & Japanese literature in general, and this book was no exception. I do find Yoshimoto often has some unnecessary themes that I try and ignore - such as the romantic relationships in this book. Overall though, it was a beautiful story of family and belonging and I'm always amazed at how real Yoshimoto can make fictional situations feel. This was a short read & very good on audio, so I recommend it!

Thank you HighBridge Audio for the audiobook arc <3

It’s a very short story, novella. This book actually was written in 80s, but looks only recently got English translation and got published.
Beautiful story about life, love and family. It’s dreamy and nostalgic.
Very interesting story telling way, you start read from one point of view and then you are at another point, everything you knew about a protagonist at the beginning, later shifts your whole perspective. After couple of these shifts, it feels like all the story is from the unreliable narrator view, but after you get to the realization that the author probably had a goal to show us how actually the world, our surroundings are unreliable. Because the more you know something, your perspectives and feelings change as soon you know more.
It’s my first book from the author, I definitely want to read more of her books.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the audiobook.

The Premonition is a great quick read! Originally published in Japan in 1988, this book still has a very modern feel. I do wish the story was longer as I really enjoyed the writing style!

I did listen to this book on audio, and I loved the narration. I found it interesting that the flow and speech patterns actually sound similar to those you might hear in a Japanese anime that has been dubbed. The narrator was great!

🧚🏻A big thanks goes out to NetGalley, HighBridge Audio, and author Banana Yoshimoto for providing me with a free audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. I just didn’t enjoy ‘Premonition’.

Despite it being short it felt long. I really didn’t like the relationship between the brother and sister and felt that the relationship between the aunt and our main character was under-explored.

I went into this so excited and, while I am grateful for NetGalley providing me with an audio ARC, this just didn’t land for me. I will pick up more from this author, though, because I’m convinced Banana Yoshimoto could work for me with these tender synopsis.