These stories, while dark and depressing at times, offer a comfort in the universality of the human experience as a woman. Painfully relatable and incredibly timely. Yamamoto's humor brings light to difficult subjects.

One of my reading goals for the year was to read more translated works and I'm so thrilled that I picked this up. In this collection of stories we follow women living in Japan (and 1 man) and we get a glimpse into their day to day lives. There are women who are recovering for illness, women who are overworking themselves to provide for their families, and a man who is falling in love with a homeless woman. The themes in these stories are ones that all people experience, however, there is a certain element that is so fascinating to me because it takes place in a different country. There are customs and a way of speaking that is completely different from mine but I found myself relating and empathizing with the characters. This was such an enjoyable read and it's really quick to get there, I would recommend everyone read this.

strong collection of unique stories about lost people trying to find their right path in life. 4 stars. tysm for thea rc.

I enjoyed this book. I particularly liked reading about working women in Japan and how their lives are somehow similar to women around the world with the all-too-same work politics, family dynamics and domestic labour. It was also interesting to read about specific reference to Japanese culture such as manga cafes and love hotels. I would’ve liked more focus on the working aspect of these women’s lives and I felt we rarely got to see them in the workplace and the stories focused more on their personal lives.

I received a free ARC from HarperVia in exchange for an honest review.