Goodbye Tsugumi

Out of all the Banana Yoshimoto books I've read so far this one is my... least favourite. It's not bad at all, and it's not like I didn't enjoy Banana's prose and characters but this time it didn't leave me feeling the way I felt when I read her shorter stories. Nonetheless, it's a nice book. It tells us a story of Maria's last summer spent in her hometown on the seaside, a turning point in her life. Very young adult, coming of age kind of thing. Frankly can't say I don't relate to that to a frightening degree so of course all the feelings this book is supposed to invoke in you, were invoked tenfold in me at my current stage in life. I always enjoy Banana's portrayal of happy and intimate families, and this book didn't disappoint either. The love story between Maria's parents is really sweet, and her dad is a great dad. I always like reading about well-functioning families. I guess the character that didn't sit well with me was Tsugumi, although I get the point of her character, I think. Just didn't vibe with her lmao. She's too anime-ish, I guess that's what I didn't like. She stands out too much in that way, so it ends up being a bit jarring. If you like reading about coming of age stories, or more like "this is the point where everything is going to change" stories I recommend this.