I’m mostly trying to stick to L27 and under rn, and my novels plate is gonna be really full soon, but I see that has an audiobook - so that’s an incentive to try it. Can certainly save higher level recs for later, in any case.
What do you like about it? I couldn’t really get a good sense from the blurb of whether or not I’d be into it, and don’t have the energy to parse Amazon reviews rn
Mostly the realistic representation of the frustration of the main character, her attitude in general, and how she deals with the mess she made for herself. I found the end very satisfying too, but explaining why would be a massive spoiler.
I’ve owned this for ages, maybe I’ll read it this year as my ‘longest in TBR’ (I have no clue which book is actually the oldest but it’s gotta be up there)
It’s been years since I read Octave (in scanlation) - I don’t really remember what happened in it, but it left a deep impression. Serious antidote to all that follow-your-dreams shit that gets pumped out in the 青春 books.
I read this series yesterday and it was surprisingly good. First 2 volumes are free, so no risk if you don’t enjoy it. 3rd volume is 99 Yen.
Edit: I see you are already aware of this. Nvm. I’ll see myself out. 
Informal bookclub?
I’d be up for it (a bit later in the year 
) as I have it on my wishlist for ages (and don’t even remember why… 
)
yeah, I was thinking earliest May but am fine with later.
I mean it’s good to know you liked it. I started it for a few min, but wasn’t quite vibing/in the mood, and ended up reading ささやくように恋を唄う: 9【イラスト特典付】 | L21 instead - which definitely really helped my mood
So I’ll give it a second try eventually, たぶん
Mid-to-end of May would be the earliest that’d work for me, I guess. There is a bookclub over at WK for 蛇にピアス | L30 that should end in late May, and depending on how I fare with it, we could start towards the end of that club. Or something
Plan for an informal club in mid/late May? Also my only knowledge of this book is that it’s spicy and involves cheating
I was just reading about this book yesterday! it was mentioned in many blogs and seeing you guys talking about it now made me want to read it so count me in the bookclub 
In the meantime I had already forgotten which book it was that I wanted to read with y’all (am I getting old? nononono 
) so I decided to set up a thread for it in the hope that I won’t forget as easily the next time around 
Pinging everybody who already read it / expressed interest in it / might be interested anyways 
: @Naphthalene @cat @Biblio @暁のルナ @haya @omk3
Looking for some serious identity-exploration angst - big “who (or what) am I?” type themes that aren’t easily resolved. Preference for novels with sf/fantasy elements, but open to hear about anything.
Only Japanese example I can think of off-hand is オレが私になるまで 1 | L19.
I’m sure there are heaps of I-have-become-a-monster stuff that would fit but I can’t think of any. And it feels like there should be heaps of reincarnation stuff that should fit, but the identity issues are generally easily resolved or not that important. Really looking for stuff where this is the main theme or thing driving the plot.
If you don’t mind something a bit older, 第四間氷期 by 安部公房 or ゼウスの檻 by 上田 早夕里 might work. They’re both science fiction.
The first one involves the coming of another ice age, where humanity has to biologically change themselves to survive. It has different perspectives and a rather wild plot. It’s by Abe Kōbo, so it’s not the easiest.
The second one involves questions around gender and sexuality as scientists living on Mars create a new gender (?) of humans. It also has some action scenes and lots of moral questions. It’s slightly older (from the early 2000s) so not everything tracks today, but it’s an interesting and thought-provoking read.
Do be warned that you may or may not like the protagonist of either one of these, but that the themes of identity exploration are definitely there, although on perhaps a slightly larger scale than what you’re looking for.
Like the one you mentioned (which I haven’t read but know of) you’ll get this “who am I” plot line with gender exploration stories in general. The one I can suggest (a manga) that most closely fits is ぜんぶきみの性 | L21. It’s about two people with a condition where they spontaneously change gender and discovering who they are because of that. Of course, I also love and would suggest 放浪息子 | L27, but that’s more a traditional coming of age story and doesn’t have any fantasy or sci-fi elements.
Oh, I do maybe have one novel suggestion: レッドデータガール | L34. I don’t really want to describe it because it’s been two years since I read it and I don’t remember what would be a spoiler. But I think it’s fair to say it involves self discovery of the main character and it definitely has fantasy elements. I found it to be a bit slow but still interesting, though I also found it challenging so only read the first volume.
I read it. I enjoyed it, but there’s no identity exploration in there.
(Also, I had read another book from the same author before, so I could catch how it would end really early, which was a bit disappointing)
Those sound interesting - will have a look for them. Thanks.
Red Data Girl is a good call, actually - I’m two books deep into it though and yeah it’s excruciatingly slow. I remember really liking the anime though. Thanks.
