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rionstorm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Bullying, Body shaming, and Death
alexandrabelze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Death
axel_p's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, and Grief
linguaphile412's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Death, and Gun violence
pastellymoon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Bullying
Minor: Sexism
chaoticnostalgia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
Moderate: Bullying
kaneebli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying
shushkeepitdown's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Bullying, Death, and Death of parent
shrutislibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Removed from a present yet absent mother & a bedridden grandmother, the boy devotes himself to visit the sandwich stall every day over the summer. Every day he orders the same egg sandwich at the counter which he doesn't even like eating. All the while committing every detail of Ms Ice Sandwich's face to his memory, every edge & line ingrained in his mind's eye only later to be reproduced on paper. He is happy to go along in this way: observing from a distance, happily floating, existing, alone in this bubble of euphoria he has created for himself until one day the unexpected sharp pinprick of rumours about Ms Ice Sandwich punctures his cosy bubble & tilts the world over for him. Will he ever look at Ms Ice Sandwich the same way again? Or feel the same emotions she once ignited in him when he looked at her face every day while buying a sandwich?
It's heartwarming, yet disheartening, it's meandering yet full of spunk, it's hopelessly teenagery & yet dashed with gut punches of truths aimed at grown-ups. The world of Ms Ice Sandwich is the world of bold accented electric blues, the smouldering heat of asphalt roads in summer and staring dead-eyed at rude customers without a hint of fear of the "I'm gonna call the manager so quick on you" attitude.
This novella is so hard to write about because I am still trying to grasp, think & reach for words that would tie up the ending. This was a story of a life-changing summer, a summertime boy finds a sense of things that used to be & sees them through a new lens navigating the befuddled terrain of adolescence with an unlikely friend. Kawakami's sparse & flowy writing style authentically captures the anxieties, bubbling frustrations & anticipated nervousness of this young boy on the cusp of pre-teens. In the end, the boy, after dreaming of an escape with his princess on his back, wakes up from this dazed slumber of a lazy afternoon nap in summer and is gently nudged back to reality by Tutti's steady presence. The boy learns to appreciate the friendship he can have with Tutti rather than dwelling on what could've been with Ms Ice Sandwich (or never could've been).
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Deadnaming, and Cursing
Moderate: Grief