An alternative slant on an ancient Japanese myth. I am not sure this re-telling of an ancient story in a modern setting really works. The language of the first paragraph in this story I found somewhat jarring, as I did several other sections of the writing. I did not think the constant use of swear words enhanced the telling of the mythical story either. I did not engage with any of the women in the story, in fact I found them obnoxious. Amanda appeared to be a spoilt brat with anger management issues and Rachel reminded me of an emotionally unstable 14 year old. George was unbelievably kind and nice to everyone. The author was apparently trying to convey that each person's Truth is different, that we each write our own story. Also he labours the point that Forgiveness is a necessary component of true Love, and Greed kills Love. Had Kumiko come across as a more finely drawn character it may have worked better. She was nothing but a shadow and thus sadly could not elicit any sympathy from me. The idea of the plot appealed to me, but what should have been a story of deep passion and sorrow came across as more of a soap opera. God, just awful. I really wanted to like this. Patrick Ness is a great writer. Just read the Chaos Walking trilogy or A Monster Calls. But this is awful, truly bad. I hoped after the first chapter or so to hover somewhere around 'disappointing' but it just got worse and worse the longer I continued. I gave up halfway through, even though I'm in dire straits for things to read right now because it was honestly cringe-worthy writing. It must be hard to switch from young adult to adult, but this doesn't even sound like it's written by the same person. Terrible!
What do You think about The Crane Wife (2013)?
Very entertaining. Expands your ability to believe even though it is wholly unbelievable.
—Jade
Beautiful, magical, heartbreaking but hopeful too, I loved it.
—Nutella
