Reviews with content warning for Abortion - I miei giorni alla libreria Morisaki

The concept and message of the story was good but the writing style was plain and I don't know how to express it least interesting maybe. Writing style annoyed me a bit it's the second time I felt this way while reading a Japanese book. I don't like the way these books are translated. The language is rich and expressive but hard to translate and the essence is lost in translation.

The only character I liked was Satoru others felt shallow and selfish. And I did not like Takako I could understand her feelings at a point or two but otherwise I didn't like her.

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my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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salomecanread's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ygspiteri's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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roses_and_alice's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

As many other readers have noted, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop peaks in the first half then weakly drifts through a rather dull final part.

I enjoyed reading about how the bookshop and the encouragement of her uncle helps Takako turn her life back around. However, I do think the second part should have kept it's focus on the bookshop. Whilst I sympathised with Momoko, I couldn't understand her motivations nor interactions with Takako and Satoru. I ended up really disliking her and just wanting the book to end.

My only other nitpick is that sometimes the translation felt a little bit stilted and I could 'hear' the Japanese underneath. This tends to be a common issue with recent translations of Japanese literature. Perhaps the current trend is to directly translate rather than localise to the target language?

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erynlasbelin's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I really enjoyed the first part of the book, which was set in the bookstore and focused on Takako's relationship with her uncle and her burgeoning love of reading. The second half had some bright spots, particularly her interactions with Wada; but it was much weaker overall. I really disliked the aunt. I have sympathy for her, and I realize there are probably some cultural differences at play here, but I found literally all of her behavior unacceptable.

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pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I enjoyed this book, it was a nice, short and somewhat relaxing read. The prose is very simplistic, without much flourishing, but it did its job nonetheless. I feel like some aspects of the story were rushed, such as her finding a love for books (after the first instance of her reading and loving a book, she just says she read even more later). Some mentions of a regretted abortion that doesn't directly seem like an anti-abortion sentiment, but maybe coild be read as such nonetheless.
Some of the passages felt a little like "men writing women", but not in a sexualising or degrading way, simply in a "doesnt understand relationships between women that much" type of way, which isn't as bad.
Simple plot and story, but overall a nice reading experience !

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