Devi Nair
I was expecting a cozy golden-age mystery vibes with a Japanese twist, and the first fifty pages of it delivered what was expected. The relationship between Kaede and her grandfather hit me square in the chest. Watching her connect with him through storytelling, even as dementia steals pieces of who he was, felt achingly real. Those early moments had warmth, tenderness, and just enough mystery sparkle to keep me hooked.
But then the pacing slowed. The middle section really dragged. It felt a bit distant. I found myself drifting while I was reading what should have been an interesting and engaging mystery. The locked-room puzzles are clever, the golden-age references are lovingly woven in, and the grandfather's brilliance shining through the fog of dementia is genuinely moving. I just wish the execution had matched the heart. The episodic mysteries lacked urgency, and the emotional beats, while sincere, couldn’t quite carry the weight of such a slow narrative.
I was expecting a cozy golden-age mystery vibes with a Japanese twist, and the first fifty pages of it delivered what was expected. The relationship between Kaede and her grandfather hit me square in the chest. Watching her connect with him through storytelling, even as dementia steals pieces of who he was, felt achingly real. Those early moments had warmth, tenderness, and just enough mystery sparkle to keep me hooked.
But then the pacing slowed. The middle section really dragged. It felt a bit distant. I found myself drifting while I was reading what should have been an interesting and engaging mystery. The locked-room puzzles are clever, the golden-age references are lovingly woven in, and the grandfather's brilliance shining through the fog of dementia is genuinely moving. I just wish the execution had matched the heart. The episodic mysteries lacked urgency, and the emotional beats, while sincere, couldn’t quite carry the weight of such a slow narrative.