Reviews

Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu

hjswinford's review against another edition

4.0

Nagamatsu's books leave me kind of speechless. Like, the stories are just the right blend of touching, thought-provoking, humorous, weird, and emotional. I listened to the audiobook for this collection and I do find myself wishing I had a physical book to flip back through. I've already read his other book, How High We Go in the Dark, and I think that I liked this one better, though both were very good. This one had a stronger emotional thread throughout the whole collection, I think, and was more thematically focused. I enjoyed the Japanese folklore aspects as well.

haikuesque's review against another edition

4.0

I’m the little spoon and magical realism is the big spoon

pylduck's review against another edition

Review at asianamlitfans.

endymions_rage's review against another edition

5.0

A barely interconnected short story collection about Love, Loss, Grief and Death on the backdrop of Japanese folklore and mythology. Excellent.

literaryjunarin's review against another edition

4.0

My favorite would be The Rokurokubi and that one story woth Godzilla.

captainhotbun's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

jturcios95's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

laurenleyendolibros's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

livres_de_bloss's review against another edition

3.0

This was a real mixed bag for me. Overall, the theme felt geared at parents which I didn’t connect with. Some of these were strong, others left me scratching my head.

Individual Ratings:
The Return to Monsterland: 3.5/5
Placentophagy: 1.5/5 (This grossed me out.)
Rokurokubi: 3/5
Girl Zero: 4.5/5
The Peach Boy: 2.5/5 (Strange.)
The Inn of the Dead's Orientation for Being a Japanese Ghost: 5/5 (My favourite of the twelve.)
The Passage of Time in the Abyss: 4/5
The Rest of the Way: 3.5/5
Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone: 4.5/5 (Another good one.)
Snow Baby: 1/5 (I didn’t understand this at all.)
Headwater LLC: 4.5/5 (This was sad but really well done.)
Kenta's Posthumous Chrysanthemum: 2/5 (Again, not really sure what was going on here.)

I tracked this down because How High We Go In The Dark has been the best book I’ve read in 2023. I’m glad I read this one, but it wasn’t nearly as good and not worth the £12 I paid for it.

ril's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0