A review by sakisreads
Dead-End Memories: Stories by Banana Yoshimoto

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.0

Banana Yoshimoto has been on my radar for a while and I kept meaning to read her stories. When I saw this one on BookTok, I knew I had to give it a go. I love an Asian author whose work is highly anticipated ✨

House of Ghosts: 
I really liked Iwakura and the protagonist’s relationship. Initially, I thought they were silly, but as time went on and the supernatural got involved, it felt comforting and idyllic. Their blissful relationship felt beautiful to witness and I loved the simplicity of this story 🥰 

Mama!:
A funky story that starts off with a
poisoned curry 😳
Not what I expected but still, it really made me crave some good Japanese food 😂 Some sweet sentences dotted throughout what might otherwise have felt like quite a mundane tale. I appreciate the protagonist’s relationship with Yu, they felt cosy to me 🥰

Not Warm at All:
It’s weird how life runs its course. Makoto, the protagonist’s best friend and childhood sweetheart, doesn’t want to go home one day. Nobody can really pinpoint why…
But it is revealed that his biological mother, who was his father’s mistress, comes to kidnap him and drives herself and him off of a cliff 😫
It feels like in Makoto’s mind, there must have been an inkling that something was going to happen! 
This was a bittersweet story, but one that attaches a lot of meaning to childhood love ❤️

Tomo-chan’s Happiness:
(TW: Discussion of rape in the story. Content warning posted below.)
This was a sad yet striking story about Tomo-chan. It ventures through her life, right from the beginning where she is a child trying to navigate her father’s affair with his secretary right down to falling in love with a man in her office building. She continuously has appreciation and love for her life, which is reflected in her visions 🥹
I was very upset by the rape scene, but am proud of her for processing and working through it 🥲
This one was a bit difficult to read but maybe one of my favourites, in that I appreciated Tomo-chan’s zest for life ✨

Dead-end Memories:
Aw, what a lovely way to finish off this collection! 🥰 The protagonist has a tumultuous relationship with her fiancé.
He is rude by the way, because in all his ‘flurry’, ends up engaged to another woman behind her back 😫
Ugh. But this is saved in part by her character growth and by her friend Nishiyama, who she works with behind the bar at her uncle’s place! I really appreciated the gentle care that Nishiyama shows to the protagonist. This story definitely felt like a good way to end the collection, I was very content 😊

All in all, these stories felt easy to read and I’m glad to have been introduced to Banana Yoshimoto’s writing through these stories 🥰
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