Oh, Annabelle… I have rarely been so worried to pick up a book because I fear what I may be forced to witness. But this is no grand calamity. This is a human story of human tragedies on an unavoidably relatable human scale. There is so much sadness packed between these pages, so many people trying to reach other. You observe these characters from within their own heads; they are immediately comprehensible and sympathetic, and you just want to stop them from hurting themselves. You just want to reach out and help them. They’re so close. But how can you reach them when they can’t reach each other? It’s kind of amazing.
The world Ozeki conjures is magical in a very real way. This magic is not going to save anyone. It is an everyday thing. The story is rich with anticipation and uncertainty. You are led along the edge of a precipice, marveling at the beauty and fragility of everything around you.
This is a good story, well-told. It is powerful, moving, so tragic, and so unnerving.