lilacs_'s review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
maria_hossain's review
3.0
ACTUAL REVIEW:
(DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS BELOW)
This is the lowest I've ever rated any Clarissa Goenawan book and it breaks my heart but I should honestly review her book. She's still an all-time favorite author of mine and maybe I expected too much. After all, overhyping anything can lead to disappointment. Unfortunately, this came true for her third book.
On the whole, WATERSONG is a brilliant literary fiction about letting go of your past and moving on. This is the running theme of all of Clarissa's books. Troubled, dark pasts that the characters are trying to move on. In her first two books, RAINBIRDS and THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA, the protagonists and some of the other characters have some troubled pasts, or experienced something traumatic at the beginning of the book and cannot move on easily. In WATERSONG, Clarissa showed us the dark side of being unable to move on and clinging to your past. Unlike Ren Ishida and Ryusei Yanagi, Shouji Arai does not find closure, nor does he move on and begin anew. It might seem muddy at first, but he dies in the end.
The story begins when college grad but recently unemployed Shouji Arai is hired by her live-in girlfriend, Youko Sasaki's bosses as an ear prostitute. Basically, Shouji and Youko sit down with a client and listen to them say whatever the client wants to share. They aren't allowed to offer condolences, advice, or questions unless the client specifically asks for it. Their job is to listen to their influential, powerful clients vent to them. Whatever they hear, they are strictly prohibited from speaking about it to anyone, even to their better halves. When Shouji's first client, the wife of a powerful local politician, reveals to him the physically abusive nature of her husband, Shouji is approached by a sketchy reporter to reveal this to the public. Before he can do anything, Shouji learns his life is in danger, as well as Youko's. They are eventually split up and Shouji goes into hiding with help from his cop uncle. He flees to Tokyo from Akakawa and starts a new job as a journalist. He continues looking for Youko who's vanished without a trace, until someone threatens his life over multiple phone calls. Shouji reluctantly stops looking for her.
After years of being unable to move on, he meets with an old classmate at a reunion who almost barges into his life. Liyun, a Singaporean student in Japan, is everything Youko isn't: lively, fun-loving, caring, and understanding. To everyone else, Liyun clearly harbors romantic feelings for Shouji. Unfortunately, Shouji still pines for Youko. Heartbroken over his rejection despite her relentless pursuit, Liyun gives up on him and moves on. Eventually, Shouji finds the politician's wife, Mizuki, and helps her move on from her own dark past.
Alas, he doesn't move on from his own. The sinister shadow of a dark past lingers around him, an impenetrable wall nobody, not even Shouji himself, can break down. At last, he tracks down Youko and persists in convincing her to give themselves one more chance. But unbeknownst to him, a similarly sinister shadow is all around Youko too. Shouji finds out, while bound and drowned, that a colleague from the shady job he and Youko had in Akakawa is her long lost father. Many of the murders across the book occurred in his hands. His reasoning? He wants to protect Youko, his illegitimate daughter who doesn't even know he's her father, from "problematic" men. Shouji eventually dies from drowning, despite being an excellent swimmer. In the epilogue, we find out the dark past that had been casting an ominous presence in his life. A painful memory he blocked from his head and remembered upon death.
I feel so bad for Shouji. My heart breaks for him. He helped Mizuki move on from her past but couldn't move on from his own. I'm glad that Liyun and Mizuki were able to move on from their traumatic pasts and find happiness. Too bad Shouji and Youko, more unfortunate than Keiko Ishida and Miwako Sumida had been, couldn't do that. While Shouji drowns because of chasing one past and running from another, Youko will forever be haunted by a past she doesn't even know about and will forever be traumatized by this past's tyrannical control over her future. I'm pretty sure Mr. Satou had killed Liyun's brother, who was Youko's boyfriend once. After all, his signature killing method is drowning his victims. Given that he killed both the Madam of the tearoom and Mr. Kazuhiro Katou and got away with them, he's capable of anything. He's the actual problematic man in Youko's life and unfortunately for her, she'll never find happiness because of his twisted perception of what her happiness should be. I wished so much for Shouji to give up on Youko and move on, or they finally find each other and begin anew. My hopes were dashed and my heart was broken. The biggest innocent victim out of all the characters was Shouji's mother, who lost her only son. She always feared for his life and they came true: he did die by drowning.
By the way, if you've read and remembered most things from Clarissa Goenawan's last books, you'll find plenty of minor characters returning, such as Jin Fujiwara (the rich playboy of Waseda University), Hidetoshi Oda (the detective in Akakawa whom Ren meets once), Sachiko Hayami (Miwako's hot friend who dated Jin), Izumi (the caretaker of the dilapidated building in Akakawa where Ren temporarily stayed), and Mrs. Katsuragi (the elegant hotelier from Akakawa). Another branch of the stony, stern, powerful Katou family makes an appearance. Also, the three things Ren, Ryusei, and Shouji have in common are, a) they all knew and were friends with Jin, b) they've gone to Akakawa once in their lives, and, c) never got to be with the women they loved. In fact, Shouji and Youko were the couple Izumi briefly mentioned to Ren in RAINBIRDS, the one where the girl lived with her boyfriend, something which wasn't allowed by the landlord but Izumi allowed it because what the landlord doesn't know can't hurt. Anyway, I hope we'll see Jin as the protagonist/narrator of his own book later. He's been consistently present in every Clarissa book. I'd also love to know what happens to Youko in future, because more than Shouji, I'm heartbroken and worried about her.
Anyway, I decided to give WATERSONG three stars because the ending didn't satisfy me. I might up the rating in future but for now, it's three stars. It's just not for me right now.
Looking forward to Clarissa's next book.
(Pre-read review)
Cover reveal is coming soon! I'm so excited. Here is the synopsis since GoodReads hasn't posted any update:
A mesmerising novel set in Japan, by the author of Rainbirds and The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, about a young man trying to escape his past.
When Shouji Arai crosses one of his company’s most powerful clients, he must leave Akakawa immediately or risk his life. But his girlfriend Youko is nowhere to be found.
Haunted by dreams of drowning and the words of a fortune teller who warned him away from three women with water in their names, he travels to Tokyo, where he tries in vain to track Youko down. But Shouji soon realises that not everything Youko told him about herself was true. Who is the real woman he once lived with and loved, and where could she be hiding?
Watersong is a spellbinding novel of loves lost and recovered, of secrets never spoken, and of how our pasts shape our futures.
Link: https://www.pontas-agency.com/book/watersong/
Publishers Marketplace announcement:
Author of RAINBIRDS and THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA, Clarissa Goenawan's WATERSONG, a love story full of unexpected twists set in Japan; in which a man and his girlfriend provide confidential services to rich clients; breaking company rules, he befriends an elegant customer and tries to help her by exposing her influential husband's misdeeds; the plan backfires, endangering his life and that of his girlfriend; what follows is a long journey where destiny is challenged, faith is questioned, and love is lost and found in equal measure, to Molly Slight at Scribe, by Maria Cardona at Pontas Literary & Film Agency (world right).
(DISCLAIMER: SPOILERS BELOW)
This is the lowest I've ever rated any Clarissa Goenawan book and it breaks my heart but I should honestly review her book. She's still an all-time favorite author of mine and maybe I expected too much. After all, overhyping anything can lead to disappointment. Unfortunately, this came true for her third book.
On the whole, WATERSONG is a brilliant literary fiction about letting go of your past and moving on. This is the running theme of all of Clarissa's books. Troubled, dark pasts that the characters are trying to move on. In her first two books, RAINBIRDS and THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA, the protagonists and some of the other characters have some troubled pasts, or experienced something traumatic at the beginning of the book and cannot move on easily. In WATERSONG, Clarissa showed us the dark side of being unable to move on and clinging to your past. Unlike Ren Ishida and Ryusei Yanagi, Shouji Arai does not find closure, nor does he move on and begin anew. It might seem muddy at first, but he dies in the end.
The story begins when college grad but recently unemployed Shouji Arai is hired by her live-in girlfriend, Youko Sasaki's bosses as an ear prostitute. Basically, Shouji and Youko sit down with a client and listen to them say whatever the client wants to share. They aren't allowed to offer condolences, advice, or questions unless the client specifically asks for it. Their job is to listen to their influential, powerful clients vent to them. Whatever they hear, they are strictly prohibited from speaking about it to anyone, even to their better halves. When Shouji's first client, the wife of a powerful local politician, reveals to him the physically abusive nature of her husband, Shouji is approached by a sketchy reporter to reveal this to the public. Before he can do anything, Shouji learns his life is in danger, as well as Youko's. They are eventually split up and Shouji goes into hiding with help from his cop uncle. He flees to Tokyo from Akakawa and starts a new job as a journalist. He continues looking for Youko who's vanished without a trace, until someone threatens his life over multiple phone calls. Shouji reluctantly stops looking for her.
After years of being unable to move on, he meets with an old classmate at a reunion who almost barges into his life. Liyun, a Singaporean student in Japan, is everything Youko isn't: lively, fun-loving, caring, and understanding. To everyone else, Liyun clearly harbors romantic feelings for Shouji. Unfortunately, Shouji still pines for Youko. Heartbroken over his rejection despite her relentless pursuit, Liyun gives up on him and moves on. Eventually, Shouji finds the politician's wife, Mizuki, and helps her move on from her own dark past.
Alas, he doesn't move on from his own. The sinister shadow of a dark past lingers around him, an impenetrable wall nobody, not even Shouji himself, can break down. At last, he tracks down Youko and persists in convincing her to give themselves one more chance. But unbeknownst to him, a similarly sinister shadow is all around Youko too. Shouji finds out, while bound and drowned, that a colleague from the shady job he and Youko had in Akakawa is her long lost father. Many of the murders across the book occurred in his hands. His reasoning? He wants to protect Youko, his illegitimate daughter who doesn't even know he's her father, from "problematic" men. Shouji eventually dies from drowning, despite being an excellent swimmer. In the epilogue, we find out the dark past that had been casting an ominous presence in his life. A painful memory he blocked from his head and remembered upon death.
I feel so bad for Shouji. My heart breaks for him. He helped Mizuki move on from her past but couldn't move on from his own. I'm glad that Liyun and Mizuki were able to move on from their traumatic pasts and find happiness. Too bad Shouji and Youko, more unfortunate than Keiko Ishida and Miwako Sumida had been, couldn't do that. While Shouji drowns because of chasing one past and running from another, Youko will forever be haunted by a past she doesn't even know about and will forever be traumatized by this past's tyrannical control over her future. I'm pretty sure Mr. Satou had killed Liyun's brother, who was Youko's boyfriend once. After all, his signature killing method is drowning his victims. Given that he killed both the Madam of the tearoom and Mr. Kazuhiro Katou and got away with them, he's capable of anything. He's the actual problematic man in Youko's life and unfortunately for her, she'll never find happiness because of his twisted perception of what her happiness should be. I wished so much for Shouji to give up on Youko and move on, or they finally find each other and begin anew. My hopes were dashed and my heart was broken. The biggest innocent victim out of all the characters was Shouji's mother, who lost her only son. She always feared for his life and they came true: he did die by drowning.
By the way, if you've read and remembered most things from Clarissa Goenawan's last books, you'll find plenty of minor characters returning, such as Jin Fujiwara (the rich playboy of Waseda University), Hidetoshi Oda (the detective in Akakawa whom Ren meets once), Sachiko Hayami (Miwako's hot friend who dated Jin), Izumi (the caretaker of the dilapidated building in Akakawa where Ren temporarily stayed), and Mrs. Katsuragi (the elegant hotelier from Akakawa). Another branch of the stony, stern, powerful Katou family makes an appearance. Also, the three things Ren, Ryusei, and Shouji have in common are, a) they all knew and were friends with Jin, b) they've gone to Akakawa once in their lives, and, c) never got to be with the women they loved. In fact, Shouji and Youko were the couple Izumi briefly mentioned to Ren in RAINBIRDS, the one where the girl lived with her boyfriend, something which wasn't allowed by the landlord but Izumi allowed it because what the landlord doesn't know can't hurt. Anyway, I hope we'll see Jin as the protagonist/narrator of his own book later. He's been consistently present in every Clarissa book. I'd also love to know what happens to Youko in future, because more than Shouji, I'm heartbroken and worried about her.
Anyway, I decided to give WATERSONG three stars because the ending didn't satisfy me. I might up the rating in future but for now, it's three stars. It's just not for me right now.
Looking forward to Clarissa's next book.
(Pre-read review)
Cover reveal is coming soon! I'm so excited. Here is the synopsis since GoodReads hasn't posted any update:
A mesmerising novel set in Japan, by the author of Rainbirds and The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, about a young man trying to escape his past.
When Shouji Arai crosses one of his company’s most powerful clients, he must leave Akakawa immediately or risk his life. But his girlfriend Youko is nowhere to be found.
Haunted by dreams of drowning and the words of a fortune teller who warned him away from three women with water in their names, he travels to Tokyo, where he tries in vain to track Youko down. But Shouji soon realises that not everything Youko told him about herself was true. Who is the real woman he once lived with and loved, and where could she be hiding?
Watersong is a spellbinding novel of loves lost and recovered, of secrets never spoken, and of how our pasts shape our futures.
Link: https://www.pontas-agency.com/book/watersong/
Publishers Marketplace announcement:
Author of RAINBIRDS and THE PERFECT WORLD OF MIWAKO SUMIDA, Clarissa Goenawan's WATERSONG, a love story full of unexpected twists set in Japan; in which a man and his girlfriend provide confidential services to rich clients; breaking company rules, he befriends an elegant customer and tries to help her by exposing her influential husband's misdeeds; the plan backfires, endangering his life and that of his girlfriend; what follows is a long journey where destiny is challenged, faith is questioned, and love is lost and found in equal measure, to Molly Slight at Scribe, by Maria Cardona at Pontas Literary & Film Agency (world right).
febrfebrfebr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
flyinginlines's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
Great opening, then from 25% to 75% the book really dragged. However, the last quarter of the book was interesting and enjoyable albeit the epilogue was a bit odd. Decent writing.
booktwitcher23's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mcby's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
”I believe that, in life, the things that are meant to be eventually happen…”
Easily as gripping as any of her other works. The epilogue - oh, how terrible! How satisfying! What bittersweet melancholy! I loved the open ending, and the cyclical tie-back of everything to the beginning… I have no words. I wish that I was even 1% of the writer that Goenawan is, so that I might write down my own feelings about this book in a fitting way.
nath_py's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
anitaxlit's review against another edition
Nothing wrong with the book, I’ve just decided to give up reading for work purposes (now that the date of my leaving is approaching) and am now ready to stop racing through books I don’t feel *that* drawn to, and go back to picking up what I really really want!
novel_luck's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0