discolorised's reviews
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Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

You know when you work as a bookseller, you would encounter a various types of customers and visitors.
Throughout almost a decade of me working in bookstores there were some instances those managed to impacted me in a way or another.

I could not recall which day or even which month was it when this one lady asked me to look for a particular book for her. But the thing was, she herself couldn't recall the title or the author of the book. "It was a YA (young adult) asian literature book with the pink cover", she said. She really wanted to read the book because she remembered a friend of hers really loved the book and the way her friend talked about it left a lasting impression on her. So then, my colleague and I started to googling using any keywords that might be helpful. Unfortunately, none of the books we showed to her were the one.

"I think there is a girl on the cover looking at the back or something", she eagerly added. We continued to diligently search for book and thus, end this poor customer's misery. Because after like, around 15 minutes or so she began to look a bit forlorn which was understandable since the searching seemed much fruitless than ever. So then I suggested her to contact her friend that she talked about and asked him personally. She said he didn't pick up her call and thanked us both before she walked away.

After an hour or so, this customer came back to us, oh so excitedly, informing us that her friend called her back! Turned out, the book was this very book. Thankfully we had a few copies left in our bookstore. I have seen the look of joy on strangers before but never one that hit me as hard as this one. Just like how the way of her friend gushing about this book inspired her, the whole ordeal also left me thinking about this book for a few times before I decided to start reading it too.

And now I understand why her friend loved it so much. This book felt like a stranger pulling your hand up and saying yes, you are not alone in this one. Me too. And I'm still here, am I not? And so will you , you are gonna be just fine.

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon Vol. 4 by Shio Usui

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced