Out (アウト) Book Review

Genre: Crime
Author: Natsuo Kirino

This novel focuses on the stories of four women who all work the graveyard shift at a bento factory.

Masako – The leader of the four women. She feels alienated from her estranged husband and teenage son.

Kuniko – A plump and rather plain girl who has recently been dumped by her boyfriend after they were driven into debt, leaving Kuniko to fend off a loan shark.

Yoshie – A single mother and a reluctant caretaker of her mother in law, who was left paralyzed after a stroke.

Yayoi – A 34 year old mother of two small boys. She hates to leave her children home alone when she goes to work. She hates the thought of her drunken husband returning home and hurting them, as well as herself.

Yayoi returns home one night and discovers that her husband has gambled away all of their savings. Yayoi loses control, and she kills her husband.

Yayoi persuades Masako, Yoshie and Kunikoto help her to dispose of her dead husband’s body. They all dismember the body, putting it in black garbage bags and hiding them all over Tokyo. One of the bags is discovered and the police start asking questions.

The women then all start to blackmail each other, a loan shark is after them and a criminal begins to hunt them down. The women soon pay the price for their actions.

This book was absolutely brilliant and I enjoyed every page of it. It always kept me guessing and I found it hard to put it down. There were a lot of exciting moments and there was never a dull moment. I would recommend this book to all crime fiction fans!

The Devotion Of Suspect X (容疑者Xの献身) Book Review

Genre: Crime, mystery
Author: Keigo Higashino

Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced single mother who works at a bento
restaurant. Tetsuya Ishigami is a highly talented Mathematics teacher,
who is the neighbour of Yasuko and her daughter Misato.

One day, Togashi (Yasuko’s abusive ex-husband) shows up to extort
money from Yasuko. The situation quickly escalates into violence, and
Yasuko and Misato kill Togashi in self defense. Ishigami overhears the
murder from next door, and he offers to help cover up the murder and
to help dispose of Togashi’s body.

Togashi’s body is identified, and Detective Kusanagi suspects that
Yasuko is behind the murder, although he is unable to prove his
theory. Detective Kusanagi enlists help from his college friend, Dr
Manabu Yukawa, who often helps the police. Yukawa also went to college
with Ishigami.

Yukawa meets up with Ishigami, and Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami
had something to do with the murder. Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko
by outmaneuvering and outthinking Yukawa.

In the end, it turns out that Ishigami did in fact kill another man in
order to direct the attention away from Togashi’s murder. Ishigami
hands himself into the police, and so does Yasuko.

I absolutely loved this book and it always kept me guessing. There
were a lot of twists which meant that I never got bored. I would
definitely recommend this book to all crime fiction fans!

My Darling Is A Foreigner (ダーリンは外国人) Manga Review

Genre: Romance
Author: Saori Oguri

This manga series focuses on.the relationship of Saori Oguri and Tony László, a real life couple. Saori is Japanese and Tony is American.

This manga shows what happens in daily life to the couple, and the weird questions that Tony asks about the Japanese language.

There are many volumes of this manga, including one in which Saori and Tony have a baby.

This was a great manga series and I enjoyed it a lot. I’ve not read anything like it before – All of the manga I’ve read only has Japanese couples in it.

I would definitely recommend this manga as it is fun and it teaches you about Japanese culture!

One Litre Of Tears (1リットルの涙) Book Review

Genre: Non-fiction
Author: Aya Kitō

One Litre Of Tears is a dramatic tragedy novel, written by Aya Kitō. It was published shortly before her death. This book is a true story, based on true events that actually happened.

This book is about a teenage girl learning to cope with a degenerative disease known as spinocerebellar ataxia. The book expresses how Aya feels about having the disease, as well as how she is coping with it and the effect it is having on her and her family.

As Aya’s disease progresses, the feelings expressed by her in the book become more intense. Towards the end of the book, Aya’s writing became illegible, so her writing couldn’t be deciphered when the book was being put together to be published.

The book includes an afterword by Aya’s mother, Shioka Kitō, as well as an afterword by the doctor who cared for Aya, Dr Hiroko Yamamoto.

I have read this book countless times and it still makes me cry every time I read it.

This book is such an inspiration, particularly for those people who are suffering from the same disease that Aya was.

I would definitely recommend this book to everyone – It inspires you to keep on living, no matter what!

Aya Kitō (July 19, 1962 – May 23, 1988)

Sensei To Watashi (センセイと私) Manga Review

Genre: Drama, romance, school life, shoujo
Author: Minase Ai

16 year old Haruka stands in for her sister at an arranged meeting and she ends up falling in love with Kunihiro-san. The next day, Haruka discovers that Kunihiro-san is her new homeroom teacher. The two begin a relationship, even though it is forbidden.

One of Haruka’s classmates confesses his love for Haruka, but she says she already has a boyfriend.

Haruka makes a new friend one day, who decides to go to the same high school as her. Haruka then discovers that this new friend of hers is an ex-girlfriend of Kunihiro-san.

I have really enjoyed this manga so far, and I’m dying to know what happens to Haruka and Kunihiro-san, and whether their relationship works out. I’m hoping that it does because they make such a cute couple ♡

Kodomo No Kodomo (コドモのコドモ) Manga Review

Genre: Drama, school life, seinen, slice of life
Author: Sasou Akira

In a small town in Tokyo, the PTA argue about the teaching of sex education in elementary school. When eleven year old Haruna attends one of these lessons, she realizes that she did indeed engage in sexual intercourse with one of her fellow classmates. Haruna decides to confide in her classmates that she is pregnant, and she does not tell any adults. Her classmates all help her through her ordeal, even helping her to raise the baby. All of the significant adults in Haruna’s life are still unaware that Haruna has become a mother.

I really enjoyed this manga, as it is completely different from all of the other manga that I’ve read.

This manga explores the important issue of sex education for children. It highlights just how important it is for it to be taught in schools, even for children of a young age. It shows that children need to understand how reproduction happens and what adults do to reproduce.

Koizora (恋空) Manga Review

Genre: Romance, tragedy
Author: Mika (Story)/Ibuki Haneda (Illustrations)

Mika and Hiro are two high school students who are thrown together by fate. Over time, they realize that their feelings for each other are love. Mika feels threatened by Hiro’s ex-girlfriend Saki, who sent a group of men to rape her. Later on in the story, Mika finds out that she is pregnant with Hiro’s baby, and they both decide to raise it together. However, Mika has a run in with Saki and a few days later, Mika has a miscarriage.

Mika and Hiro make a grave for their baby and they both promise to visit it together every year on Christmas Eve.

Out of the blue one day, Hiro breaks up with Mika and she is devastated. She has no idea why. It turns out that Hiro had cancer, and he never told her – He broke up with her because he didn’t want her to see him at his lowest.

Mika becomes a college student and she has found a new boyfriend. She is really happy with him and they are even living together. However, when Mika goes to visit her baby’s grave on Christmas Eve, she is greeted by her ex-classmate Nozomu. He informs Mika that Hiro has cancer, and that’s the reason why he broke up with her.

After a lot of thinking, Mika decides to leave her current boyfriend in order to be with Hiro. They both rekindle their feelings for each other. Mika goes to visit Hiro in the hospital everyday.

Then one day, Mika gets a call from Hiro’s sister, telling her to come to the hospital. Mika gets to the hospital, but it is too late – Hiro has already died.

One month after Hiro’s death, Mika finds out that she is pregnant with Hiro’s baby. She is so happy that Hiro has left a new life behind for her.

I really enjoyed reading this manga, and I was sad that it ended where it did. I would love to find out what happened to Mika after she had the baby, and what she has been up to since finding out that she was pregnant again.

This manga had a very sad story, but it made me realize how much my boyfriend means to me and how I would feel if I lost him.

I would definitely recommend this manga to everyone!