Ibuki is so pure!
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I feel so bad for him! I’m in Yuka’s head so I understand why she feels like she has to behave like she does, but I’m still like, why can’t you just be nice to him!
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I finished the book last week!
I’ve read a couple Sayaka Murata books in English (Convenience Store Woman and one of her short story collections) so I had some familiarity with the author. This was the first book I’ve read of hers in Japanese, though! I really enjoyed it; it’s so satisfying to be able to read literature in the original language! 
Prose:
I was really impressed by how the prose was quite clear and understandable to me, a second language reader, but still very evocative in the atmosphere. It really felt like some quality writing! I noticed her use of word choice a lot, so I made an effort to look up unknown words, because even if there was just 1 unknown word in a paragraph, that was usually the unusual word giving a lot of flavor to the narration and vibe. One choice that stood out to me was the frequent reference to Yuka feeling her bones creaking/grating (軋む). This really conveyed an unsettling feeling, because you shouldn’t be able to hear bones, and contributed to the overall negative feelings Yuka is having towards her body growing and changing.
Ok, spoilers ahead from now on!
Atmosphere/setting:
Okay she did her job too well here! The classroom setting was so freaking claustrophobic and upsetting. By the time I got to around the 85% mark, I was like oh my god get me out of here too!! It was really well drawn, from the characterization of each individual to the delicate social balance and give-and-take in their relationships, to Yuka’s opinions on everyone.
Wow, I was really impressed by how Yuka’s opinions on everyone came into play throughout the book. At the beginning of the book, you’re in her head, and you kind of accept her opinions on everyone as a given, almost like she’s an omniscient narrator. But as the book goes on, you realize that this ‘omniscient narrator’ status is really just the wall that she’s put up between her and others to protect herself! Furthermore, she’s not exempt at all from the classroom dynamics, and as she’s looking at characters, they’re noticing her looking. This really contributed to the claustrophobia to me because I can definitely relate to the desire to be ‘above it all’ and the distress when you actually can’t be above it all, because you’re a person too, and other people can see you when you see them. 
Nobuko
Speaking of Yuka’s opinions on people, I was so surprised by the turn of the Nobuko character. I think I honestly listened to Yuka too hard and started looking down on Nobuko myself! All those times that Yuka pointed out how there were bits of food on her face, or she was too sweaty, or whatever, and you start being like, wow I’ve known that annoying and kind of gross person too. But then, the scene towards the end of the book when Nobuko fights the boys and Yuka suddenly has the realization that Nobuko is the most beautiful one in the classroom was so striking! Wow, I was really impressed by that scene. Here’s the part I highlighted:
私は、何度も立ち上がる信子ちゃんを、きれいだなあ、と思った。
自分の心が発した呟きに、一瞬驚いて、肩がぶるりと震えた。
けれど、その言葉はしっくりと信子ちゃんと重なった。
教室ではない価値観から始めて発せられた、綺麗だなあ、という言葉は、私からとても素直に湧き出てきたものだった。
By the end of the book I felt bad for looking down on Nobuko too. Nobuko was right to unabashedly be herself, and you shouldn’t judge people by the classroom rules, you should judge them by the real things that matter!
Girlhood
Some other parts that stood out to me in the back half of the book were the ones where Yuka is treated poorly by the boys. The rejection by the boy who she always said she had a crush on- she realizes her value is so low she’s not even considered ‘a girl,’ and the scene where she’s in the nurse’s office on the bed and the boys are yelling insults and kicking the curtain. I feel like Murata is very skilled at creating these realistic scenes that bring you into these dark and upsetting emotional places along with the character, and I felt like she really captured these negative scenes of girlhood.
Ending
I think I mentioned this on Discord when I was chatting with @bungakushoujo but I honestly thought Yuka was going to commit suicide or die in some way by the time I got to the 90% mark. Her self loathing spiral was so intense, I started to wonder if there was any way out of it! The scene where Nobuko pushes her over into the snow had me thinking Yuka was going to just keep lying there and die of exposure 
Well, it all turned around for Yuka anyways! It was actually pretty nice to see, and felt like a nice release after you’ve been taken to such low places in her head. I was surprised her and Ibuki made it work, too, since I wasn’t sure if their relationship would come back after she sexually assaulted him. In the end, I felt like their conversation cleared up their relationship a lot and it was nice to finally see honesty between the two characters.
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