I loved the premise of the book but I could not bring myself to sympathise with Nishino and his ten loves. This was not a book for me.

Odd but sentimental

Written from the perspectives of ten
different women, this book chronicles the life of Nishino. At times funny, at times sad, it's an interesting read. I didn't really like Nishino as a character, but many of the encounters he had with the women were very relatable

Nishino is the man of my dreams.
Is it possible that all of the stories i’ve read was just this one amazing man?!

oh heart, what do i do with you...

Parfait reminded me of M.
“I will never let you go.”

In the Grass reminded me of N.
“Kissing him accepted everything in my fourteen years, we kept kissing fervently.”

Good Night reminded me of E.
“Love? even the word seems too tepid to describe how i felt for him- bessoted, or fervent- less familiar words seem more apt.”

The Heart Races reminded me of D.
“Time is an idiot.” (That breakup by the seashore was so nostalgic and a bit close to home.)

other quotes i loved...
“There was no relief, no chance that I would be capable of extinguishing this passion on my own.”

“My body, my mind, my heart —these all belonged to me. And yet everything that was mine was also entirely his.”

“How do you love someone without blinding yourself?”

I love how i found myself in each of these stories and every chapter, every love of my life unfolded, came back to life, finally putting into words how i felt at those times.

This is it, if I were to write a book, it would be something like this. Because it is what i have inside me, my experiences and all the kinds of love i was blessed with.

I’ve said it before that I really need to write my love stories, in all their shades and glories. The good, heart melting, life changing ones and even the bad, bittersweet, heart and soul breaking ones.

I have wanted so long to be able to put into words everything that i felt and not just to commemorate the person but the feeling and the lessons each one brought to the whole —this book comes close to achieving that.

4.25/5stars

This was very good! Not as fantastic as I had been hoping, but still really enjoyable and thought provoking. The narrative style is also SO interesting as it’s a non-linear story telling the life of Nashino, but through each woman and girl who has fallen in love with him over his life.

Read for my 'Exceeds Expectations' N.E.W.T in Arithmany 2019 #magicalreadathon. Prompt - Read a standalone. Career choice - Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries Worker. This is the third Kawakami novel I've read along with Strange Weather in Tokyo and The Nanako Thrift Shop and I'm really disappointed to say this was my least favourite of the three. With that being said though will I pre-order whichever one of her novels is translated next? Definitely.

Intriguing, yet not entirely satisfying, this novel by the Japanese author Kawakami. It tells the story of Mr Nishino, a notorious fan of women so to say. What is interesting is the division of the book in ten chapters, each told by one of the women that have crossed his path. I found this an original starting point and was actually surprised to learn very much about the protagonist, which I was not expecting. However, at the same time, there is a lack of respect and the stories somehow all feel the same in the end, which takes away some of the pleasure of reading. Still a good read, but I would have loved to see the characters more clearly defined.