Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

What a wonderful, cozy read. Would recommend to anyone that liked Before the Coffee Gets Cold as it has a similar slice-of-life vibe. Would like to own this one for sure - the journeys the characters go on are reflective enough and broad enough that you could get vastly different messages from this book depending on where you're at in your own life. Love it.

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beeanka_reads's review

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funny reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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hyraeth's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

An enjoyable quick read!

After ending a reltionship and a job, Tanako finds herself in her uncle's bookshop until she figured out what her next steps are going to be.

There is is very clear growth and development in Tanako - she begins the story depressed and not liking her uncle for seemingly childish and petty reasons, but she is then able to understand why she reacted in such way and is able to get out of the slump.
This was possible in big part due to her finding a passion for books, and finding inspiration in the stories she was reading.

Multiple characters explain how books helped them and also shaped them, so this book also feel like a love story to books.

I did have the urge to tell some characters to please, see a therapist, but overall it's a nice read for a lazy weekend afternoon

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annaoallen's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While this book is not visually descriptive, I found my imagination taking off with the scenery. This, combined with the wholesome and somewhat relaxed storytelling, made me think, "this would be a nice Miyazaki movie" on more than one occasion. I liked the characters and their development but something about the writing or translation brought the word "mundane" to mind. I would still recommend it. I know if this were a movie, I'd adore it.

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peasandpancakes's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

First of all: Why has every version of the cover art a cat on it when there are a grand total of 0 cats in the book?

I read this book in Dutch and I am sure most of my opinions on it are because the translation felt very bad. The sentences just did not flow well at all, which made it jarring to read. Besides that, I wonder if there is just too much of a culture gap here for me to understand this book and its characters.

I disliked the main character, Takako. Sure, she got out of a bad relationship and was feeling depressed, but she was behaving like such a whiny child that I often forgot she was supposed to be 25.

The whole storyline with the aunt that came back after rudely disappearing for 5 years, was so weird. Were we supposed to feel for her? Because I kinda didn’t. Sure, she was still processing the loss of their child, but it still felt flat.

I’m also going to say it, there are some… questionable things in the story and language used. First, the bath scene felt weird. Second, why was Takako asked if she was into girls when she was (in a strange way I agree) trying to hug her aunt? She was asked the same when she looked at a waitress for 3 seconds earlier in the book. To me that is just not something to joke about

So yeah. Me and this book did not vibe, but if I ever get the chance to read it in English, I am willing to try it.

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