wonderful writing ! i was quickly sucked into the story and easily got attached to the characters, it was lovely. i really liked the protagonist talking about kitchens and her passion for cooking, but this book is much more than that. for one i loved the descriptions: not all writers have the ability to make them so enticing and poetic, but banana yoshimoto definitely does ! i'm usually a slow reader but the time flowed fast while reading this, Kitchen made me feel so much. i was amused by the characters' behavior, cried when they were grieving their loved ones, and related to many quotes (which surprised me, i didn't expect it). also, so many parts of this book helped me process some of my own feelings and the ending literally made me break down on the train... wow, couldn't recommend this more !