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A review by jbooks246
All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami
4.0
No plot, just vibes is one of my favorite types of books when done well. This one certainly does it well. The prose is absolutely beautiful, the journey of a breakdown from our narrator is believable and heartbreaking, and I found myself to be truly engaged with the characters being developed.
The story takes us through a pivotal year in a woman's life. A woman who has no life. She has no hobbies, no family, no relationships save a single coworker who impresses long meandering opinions on her. The one joy she appears to partake in is a midnight walk on her birthday each year. It's desperately sad.
What really got me, though, was the craft of the writing. Relationships were so clearly characterized by almost rule based dialogue, color and light was used with a lot of precision, and big plot moments had the pacing of really good oratory. My only complaint was that sometimes you get hit over the head with the craft, to the point that it's kinda easy to guess what those reveals will be.
Over all, an excellent option if you're looking for a quick but emotional (and sad) read with lots to dissect.
The story takes us through a pivotal year in a woman's life. A woman who has no life. She has no hobbies, no family, no relationships save a single coworker who impresses long meandering opinions on her. The one joy she appears to partake in is a midnight walk on her birthday each year. It's desperately sad.
What really got me, though, was the craft of the writing. Relationships were so clearly characterized by almost rule based dialogue, color and light was used with a lot of precision, and big plot moments had the pacing of really good oratory. My only complaint was that sometimes you get hit over the head with the craft, to the point that it's kinda easy to guess what those reveals will be.
Over all, an excellent option if you're looking for a quick but emotional (and sad) read with lots to dissect.