It's impossible to know how I would have rated this if I hadn't seen the film first. I love Shinkai's work and will go where he leads - from film to novel to manga. Reading this with an overlay of the film's deep atmosphere isn't at all the same as reading without it although the heart of the story remains and one moves beyond the ending in much the same way. It almost seems from a few of the reviews here that the story is uncomfortable for some readers. Huh.