A review by sakisreads
Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
I had the pleasure of listening to and speaking (albeit briefly) with Toshikazu Kawaguchi recently and so getting my hands on this was motivating ✨
He mentioned that this was only #4 out of 5 already published ones in Japanese and that he wouldn’t feel successful as an author until he’d written and published at least 10 novels! What a surprise!
I think I felt like some of the stories’ themes were repeated or that we’d done the same thing over and over again with the previous set of stories. However, this one, with a touch of history (the earthquake in 2011) had me hooked a bit more. The last story, ‘The Daughter’ had me in tears 🥺
So did ‘The Farewell’, let’s be real!
4 out of 5 stars for me this time ✨ Thank you!
He mentioned that this was only #4 out of 5 already published ones in Japanese and that he wouldn’t feel successful as an author until he’d written and published at least 10 novels! What a surprise!
I think I felt like some of the stories’ themes were repeated or that we’d done the same thing over and over again with the previous set of stories. However, this one, with a touch of history (the earthquake in 2011) had me hooked a bit more. The last story, ‘The Daughter’ had me in tears 🥺
So did ‘The Farewell’, let’s be real!
Spoiler
Anything with a pet, especially such a doting one like Apollo the dog, gets me every time 😫4 out of 5 stars for me this time ✨ Thank you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death