The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is the story of an enigmatic,to the point of being strange,young woman and her small circle of friends. When Miwako commits suicide her friends try to solve the riddle of her life, who she really was and where she came from. after she briefly flitted through their lives. Ryusei, the boy who loved her despite being rebuffed whenever he mentioned romance,and her best friend Chie travel to the remote mountainside village where she spent her last days while Ryusei's sister Fumi stays at home where she ponders her own relationship with Miwako.
In life it's hard to understand why the small group are drawn to Miwako, she's difficult, lacks social skills and is not particularly likeable but as the story unfolds the reasons for her spiky personality and reluctance to reveal her past become clear.
I wasn't sure what to make of this book at the start but very soon got into it. It's quirky,insightful and has a touch of the supernatural,something I'm not usually keen on but it works very well.
All of the characters have their own stories , are just as interesting as Miwako and like her Chie and Fumi have re-invented themselves and have hidden depths.
Something a bit different that I really enjoyed.

Thanks to Clarissa Goenawan, Scribe UK and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was like a breath of fresh air. It's short, beautiful, and harrowing. It tells the story of Mikawo's friendships and how she came to commit suicide. You find out she committed suicide in the first few pages and you spend the rest of the novel experiencing her growing friendships, love, and trauma in the lead up to her suicide. There's a beautiful love story at the heart. I adored these two character's relationship and the way trauma manifests for the protagonist. It touches on important topics of gender, youth, and family which felt all the more powerful during of #PrideMonth. Though there's a simplicity to the writing the characters are well developed and you really feel like you come on a journey with them. Highly recommend.

What a story full of surprises. I am a very big fan of Japanese literature and I think the author, Clarissa Goenawan has done a fantastic and very convincing Japanese novel although she is a Singaporean/ Indonesian writer. The flow of her writing and the atmosphere is very close to some Japanese novels I have read such as Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, for example. Although, there is some moments in the book where I am not convinced the behaviours are very culturally coherent,I think this is a great piece.

We follow the life of Miwako, the quirky misunderstood teenage girl, Ryu, the sweet boy with a difficult past and Fumi-nee, the gorgeous hard-working big sister. It is a story filled with mysteries and surprises but also social issues such as abuse, bullying, transgender awareness and suicide. Throughout this book, you realise that you can never know someone fully, their stories, or their sadness.

I did really enjoyed this story and read it in one setting. What I love most about Japanese literature is it’s magical realism. I felt that it was introduced in the last section but was a little bit out of the blue for me. I wish there has been some connections earlier in the book.

Overall this is a great novel, and I’m looking forward to another novel from this author. Thank you so much Net Galley, the publisher and the author for letting me read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is a fascinating character-study piece. The story delves into many themes, but with a particular focus on identity and how it can impact relationships and our sense of self. The LGBT aspects of the tale are nicely handled, and the story moved along at a good pace. The prose style was simple yet thoughtful, and I was always keen to keep turning the pages. The slight fantasy tinges here and there also blended well with the rest of the story, and I found the ending satisfying. Overall, an enjoyable read and I would certainly be interested in picking up more books by Goenawan in the future. 4.5 stars from me.

A great book with lots of depth. You find out Miwako commits suicide within the first few pages and after that, it documents the details and story leading up to her tragic death. Beautifully written with well-developed characters, this is a solid 4 star read for me.

I really loved this book. We start out knowing that Miwako Sumida took her own life and spend the book slowly unraveling what lead to that point through multiple point's of view. The guy from school that was in love with her, that she could never let herself love back. The best friend that knew her secret identity and deepest secrets. The employer who is trans and has her own special gifts that we get to learn more about towards the end of the book.

It was a very touching and heart warming read laced with plenty of grief and sadness. Through Miwako's death we see the people closest to her facing themselves and tackling their own lives and figuring out how to move on. It was so interesting and well written how Miwako's story slowly unfolds through the people closest to her.

This book obviously does tackle many serious subjects including suicide, rape, sexual assault, abortion and bullying. It is a book I see myself revisiting in the future even if I did have slight issues with how it ended and I am looking forward to picking up her other book, Rainbirds.

This book is a perfect example of why I'm obsessed with Asian literature. A beautiful, quiet study of character wrapped up in a psychological mystery.

This is the story of Miwako who was only a sophomore when she decided to commit suicide. We follow siblings Ryusei and Fumi. Ryusei was in love with Miwako and Fumi was her friend/boss. On their journey, through grief, we start to discover more and more about the mysterious life of Miwako Sumida and the events that led to her death. We also learn more about this brother-sister duo who have an incredibly heartbreaking history themselves.

The core of the story is pretty chilling and sad but the execution of this book makes the story feel heartwarming at the same time.

There is a beautiful sibling relationship which I love, Asian trans representation, mystery, secrets, twists and paranormal elements too. I highly recommend picking this one up!

“Before I knew it had happened, I’d fallen in love with Miwako Sumida...Eight months later, she hanged herself.
But I wouldn’t let her death slip past me. She’d wanted to tell me something, and I had to find out what it was.”
So begins the story of Miwako Sumida, and her closest friends’ quest to find out why she took her own life. This novel is, in my opinion, as close to perfect as it gets, and it saddens me that it doesn’t seem to be on many people’s radar. The storytelling is simple, beautiful and poignant, and the characters have real depths to them which unfold as the story goes on. It is a beautiful exploration of identity.
I am not usually a fan of the supernatural in literature, but the way it is used in this novel is gentle and only adds to the beauty of the story.
I could rave about this novel for hours, but instead please just let me implore you to add this to the top of the To Read list!

“The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida” by Clarissa Goenawan.

This book took me for surprise. I was expecting it to be an ordinary “Japanese style” novel, but it was so extraordinary. One of the deepest books that I’ve read this year, full with psychological factors of human lives.

Book starts with girl committing suicide and events that happened prior that. There is 3 main characters Miwako, Ryu and Fumi. All of the have some weight from the past weighing the , and along the book they are trying to deal with their inner demons and things/people that have caused them. Sometimes all you need to be happy is to find peace within yourself.

I’m rating this book 4/5 🌟. I loved the way author kept intrigue along the book. Some things were slightly predictable, but most of them were total page turners and so unexpected. I believed author all the way through the book. This book is one of those rare finds where author makes you feel that you’re involved in the story and you want to know more. It has got a lot of psychological factors involved too, personal data, family curses. It shows that there are some things out there that only ourselves can understand. This book makes you feel and things and the most important thing it shows how difficult sometimes is to live in our cruel world.

After college student Miwako Sumida commits suicide, Ryusei (the boy who loved her), his sister Fumi (who has secrets of her own) and Chie (Miwako's best friend) all have to come to terms with and try to move on from her sudden loss. And between the three of them, a portrait of a complicated individual emerges; Can you ever truly know another person?
The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is a beautifully written novel - melancholy and wistful without descending into bad melodrama, and tender and funny without being overly cheesy - with characters I loved to spend time with.
Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for an ARC in exchange for review.

This is a beautiful novella - exploring the suicide of eponymous character Miwako Sumida through the eyes of a young male friend, a high school best friend, and the young man's sister. Each character has some part of the story - in the end I felt I was less interested in Miwako and more in some of the characters - Fumi especially is an interesting character and her part - the last one in the book - was just perfect.
It's beautifully written - it felt clear, poetic but not lyrical. I loved it.

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida explores a story of suicide in a beautiful and relatable way. Miwako Sumida, an odd, but clearly wonderful human commits suicide and leaves three friends who are utterly confused. The three sections of the book explore their reactions and relationships with Miwako. It is well written, sad, yet compelling, and pulls you along in the grief of the people who loved her. It also covers mental illness in a tryly compassionate manner. I also appreciate it for its twists and turns throughout.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

From the start of this book you find out one of the main characters Miwako has committed suicide.
You are not told why and that is the stories objective to unravel the whole mystery through learning about her from those closest to her, her friends, boyfriend and family and showing off examples of her personality, what made her so desperate?. But most of the characters in this book have secrets or issues and many are addressed in this well crafted sympathetic story..
The ending was unexpected and a felt a little let down by it but overall I enjoyed this authors style. The writing flowed and I get what some reviewers mean by the 'Murakami vibe'.
A book I would recommend.
My thanks go to the publishers, author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

This is the type of deceptively quiet Japanese novel that I really love. It reminded me in places of Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, which is praise indeed!
We learn about spiky but lovable Miwako and her entanglements with her class mates, her family and her new friend / lover / boyfriend / acquaintance (question mark?) Ryusei and Ryusei's older sister Fumi.
We come to love each character as we are inevitably drawn towards the tragedy that is Miwako taking her own life, and we go on to see the characters after her passing and how they process the grief and the world now.

I really really like this book! 4 stars

Written with attention and care to detail that engages beyond a normal level, this book has the sheer power to draw your full notice away from anything else. Beautiful and powerful, it really is a must read for 2020. As the characters piece together what they know - and more importantly, what they think they know - Miwako becomes so real you can almost feel her in the room.

A quiet and insightful reflection on suicide, loss and the effects of sudden death on a number of different characters, this book is a delightfully deep introspective.

Miwako Sumida is a charismatic character whose death is at the centre of the book, but there are other deaths and other relationships that are beautifully explored throughout the novel.

Family bonds and losses are explored, and many other issues such as bullying at school and growing up in contemporary Japan are covered in detail. The characters of Ryusei, Fumo and Chie are lightly but cleverly drawn, and you really feel for the situations they find themselves in.

Miwako haunts the book and provides an incredibly powerful feeling of stillness and calm at the centre of a full-blown character storm, while the ending is just about perfect.

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is the story of a young women who decides to end her own life. Those who were closest to her are left confused, upset, hurt and left wondering why. In the final few months of her life Miwako left Tokyo to spend some time volunteering in a remote village, but her decisions and reasons leading up to her death are a mystery. Who was Miwako, and what was she running from?

I am so sad that I have finished this book because I just want to be able to experience reading it for the first time all over again. It was a beautiful slow-moving novel, quiet and soft in its approach and written wonderfully. The topics covered in this novel (which could be triggering) were handled delicately and the characters felt so real that it was masterful in its delivery.

There is a mystery hidden in this book, but it is much more than that alone. It is a deep character study, with a focus on grief, hurt and how a person decides to deal with their emotions in life. It was so clever and moving and I can't help but want more, even though it was the perfect length and ended at just the right time.

I cannot stress how magical and wonderful a book this is. It's peaceful, serene, sad and moving all at once.
I have found a new favourite book of all time in this novel and I cannot wait to pick up more from Clarissa Goenawan.

The perfect world of Miwako Sumida starts with her death. Miwako has committed suicide and her two friends journey up to the place a faraway village all the way from Tokyo. Ryu has been in love with Miwako since the day he knows her but Miwako has always wanted them to remain friends as she doesn’t want to ruin their friendships with four others who are also couples.

Although the story mostly revolves around Miwako, the author tells stories of Fumi, Ryu and Chie in such a brilliant way that I was so hooked into the book. The story itself is something I thoroughly enjoyed and totally loved. The characters have such unique personalities, identities and I don’t know how to explain but I found all the characters so unique and so well written. The book is simply written with a bit of suspense and would be a wonderful easy I quick read.

Miwako Sumida is dead. We follow her life told through the POV of three of her closest friends. How well do you truly know someone, when even after their death you still struggle to piece together the pieces of their life.
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I was intrigued throughout the story, wanting to find out what happened. Ryusei, who loved her and followed her last steps to a remote village looking for answers. Chie, her bestfriend who knew a hidden side of Miwako. Fumi, who took Miwako under her wing while harbouring her own secrets. There’s little hints here and there, but i was still quite shocked once it was revealed.
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I might have preferred if the story was written in alternating chapters rather than 3 parts. The third part, seemed to tie everything into a neat little bow and touched on magical realism (which I didn’t see coming) but it could have been done with a little more subtly.

Nonetheless, this is a story about death and grief. You find out you don’t ever truly know a person, even when they’re alive and definitely not anymore when they’re gone. It also touches on sexuality, gender issues and sexual assault. Also the consequences of your actions, how just one decision in your life could set course on a completely different way than intended.