I enjoyed this read a lot! A tender and heartwarming story, the chapters were concise and at a good reading pace. The story concept is intriguing and got me not wanting to put it down. Although it can be defined as a light read, the main subject matter and subtopics included were somewhat heavy, and may be triggering to some. The MC is intriguing; would love to read more of his backstory. Recommended read!

I like the concept of this book — on the day you die, you get the chance to choose a photo for every year you live, like whenever you are in a near-death experience you see your life flashing before your eyes through those photos. A chance to look back on your life.

The book starts with Hirasaka tending the photo studio, a post that one must pass first before moving to the afterlife. His job was to patiently accompany the dead through the process of anger and grief.

The first story is about an old lady looking through her 92 years worth of memories, some she can't really recall until she sees it. She thought that once she'd forgotten them, it was as though those memories don't exist but just like as Hirasaka says, "That's the way it goes, we have to let go of certain memories as we make our way through life." I also love the part about the important memories, where it fades and you can go back to that certain time to retake the photo.

The second story was short and a not-so-light read, I was really touched from the words "You were broken and I fixed you" to "You were broken and I couldn't fix you" to "I conducted as much research as possible. But I couldn't fix you" to "I want to fix you.". I had expectations on this story because the first one was a good one but this story didn't exactly met it though I still like this one. There's also a line here about us being a product of our own choices, I like that one and that kindness can really be seen to every one - even those you least expected it.

The last story was a brief one, like just a story that shows the connection among the stories - the thread. There were also bits of hints about Hirasaka which made me more curious about his identity.

Overall, it’s still an enjoyable read which will make you wonder about your own life experiences and about which moment in your life you would revisit if given the chance.

PS. Thank you Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC! 🫶🏻

I loved this book. It took a while for me to realise what was going on, then I thought what a fabulous idea for a book. . It is a very well written book. It is quirky, happy and sad. You can't help thinking what pictures you would choose yourself. I loved it.

If you are a fan of Japanese literature and books like “Before the coffee gets cold” or “What you are looking for is in the library” then this book is a must read.

It is just another wonderful, heartwarming Japanese book that reads so easily and will fill your heart with warmth.

The book is broken into three parts and like in many similar style books, the three parts are linked through the characters or places in them. Hirasaka looks after the point between life and the afterlife, guiding those who have just died onwards. He hands each guest (one per chapter) photographs from each day of their life and the guest has to choose one for every year they were alive. Hirasaka then creates a spinning lantern which flicks through these memories before the guest moves onto the afterlife. I love the idea that this is the reason why our lives flash before our eyes when we die.

Of course there is more to the book than just that: we get to know each guest, and Hirasaka too, in more detail as they spend time choosing their photographs and visiting one day they choose to go back to from their life.

The book is just wonderful, heartwarming and makes you ponder what makes a “worthwhile” life, why you were given the chance to be on this Earth and what you will remember from your time here. I highly recommend this book if this is a genre you enjoy. I loved it!

Thank you so much to @panmacmillan and @picador for the gifted copy.

A sweet, and rather lovely book. It's a shame it was very short, but I still loved it and would thoroughly recommend it.

A short but sweet read that I really enjoyed in one sitting. The Lantern of Lost Memories is a really interesting concept and although a little sad, it was also very touching and wholesome.

Oh, my heart, this was a good one. The slice of life with magic realism/paranormal vibes as a genre is a beautiful, elegant one. It's a fine balance, and I've read half a dozen that haven't hit, but this one did. It's a wonderful concept to play with, the idea that when someone dies, they get to pick the last reel to watch their lives. As such, we follow three individuals to review their lives, decide what moment was most important to them, and maybe learn something in hindsight. The lessons are subtle but felt deeply by the characters and I will happily recommend it for people looking for a gentle story.

Another bonus is that this is very well translated, with sentences that flow well and no weird disconnecting phrases that mean nothing if you know no Japanese. Too many of these books suffer from bad translations that are too literal and leave the English jolty or unreadable, but this was very smooth and retained a lot of the inherent gentleness that these books embody.

The Lantern of Lost Memories is about a photo studio that you visit when you die in which you are shown photos from everyday of your life and you can choose one photo per year to add to your lantern. Additionally you get the chance to revisit a prized memory and take one final photo to add to your lantern.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book and thought it was very unique and unlike anything else I've ever read! All three stories were extremely heartwarming and Hiiragi's writing style is packed with emotion. I loved that the stories told were very human and I found all of the stories captivating even though the events taking place were fairly mundane. This is definitely the sort of book which I will think about for a while after finishing the last page as the themes explored within this book make you reflect on your own life. I feel like the central premise of this book has so much potential and I hope that this becomes a series.

Overall I adored this book and had no choice but to rate it 5 stars! I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this book when it is released as I absolutely love the cover.

𝟒.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 .𐦍༘⋆

This book was so good!
I truly enjoyed every aspect of reading this book.
It was so beautifully written and I loved the discussion about loss, fear of moving on, letting go and coming to terms with what will eventually happen to us.

I loved all the characters and their stories were all so beautiful and heartbreaking.
I do think certain parts of the book could have been edited down a bit but that’s the only little issue I have with it.

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi captivated me with its intriguing premise: on the day of one's death, a person chooses a photo for each year of their life and watches their existence unfold through those images. This unique concept drew me in, offering a compelling and thoughtful way to reflect on one’s life.

The first story in the book set a high bar, immediately engaging me with its rich narrative and emotional depth. I was eager to see how the subsequent stories would compare. However, I found it challenging to connect with the characters in the later stories. While the second story didn’t quite evoke the same emotional resonance as the first, and the third felt somewhat rushed, I still appreciated the book’s exploration of personal reflection.

Despite these imperfections, The Lantern of Lost Memories remains a thought-provoking read. It inspired me to consider my own life and the moments I would choose to revisit. Overall, it’s a memorable book that, despite its flaws, offers a meaningful journey into the heart of memory and self-reflection.

I’d like to thank @netgalley and @panmacmillan for providing me with a copy of this book!

The Lantern of Lost Memories is an amusing book to read. Have you ever heard the saying of "your life flashes before your eyes just before you die"? Well, this is an immensely interesting take from it.

"Say you meet someone for the first time, but you're convinced you've met them before. Or you feel like you know a place even though you've never been there. That might be one of the memories that has accumulated in your soul."

For quite some time, Hirasaka has been tasked to run this photo studio, a staging post that must be passed before a recently deceased person moves to the afterlife. His task is pretty simple, guiding them.

The book follows three people as they are suddenly awoken in Hirasaka's place, confusion etched across their visage. A few frightened, which is to be tolerated. It is precisely why Hirasaka is there to greet those people the moment they reopen their eyes. I find it comforting to imagine after a horrifying death we would be met with such a kind and loving creature to help us figure out the next step.

You see, one is inclined to enter a denial stage, especially if one is tied by an intense emotions to the world of the living still (like resentment, regret, and more often than not yearning—be it towards someone or material possessions). When it occurs, their soul is trapped, therefore they are unable to go anywhere at all. Hirasaka ensures things will go according to plans. Upon achieving that, he helps them arranging their own lantern filled with pictures, one for every year, until the moment they take their last breath.

We get to learn about the lives these three people led before they met their end, but nothing much about Hirasaka. It piques my curiosity that I cam scarcely put the book down in order to discover things quicker. Finally, the unexpected connection comes as a surprise to me, I will not elaborate further for it will take an element of fun from placing the puzzle pieces altogether yourself.

This was a pleasant read. I enjoyed every second spent reading it. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of The Lantern of Lost Memories in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful, uplifting story exploring a kind of 'in-between' place where the dead go to view their memories before they move onto the afterlife. It's a story that deals with death and grief without actually touching on those subjects directly. You feel for all these people and those they've left behind, but it's also a celebration of their life and what they achieved. The outlier here is the final character, Mitsuru, who tragically dies at the hands of her parents, but ultimately she gets her happy ending still.

At just over 200 pages this is a quick read. I was completely taken in by these glimpses of people's lives and how they lived, and I really liked that Mr. Hirasaki, the photo studio owner, has his own story thread woven throughout the book. I really felt like I got to know all the characters in such a short amount of time, and the focus on one specific day in their life (and how it came to be) really made me fond of them, even the yakuza overseer who I wasn't sure of at first!

It's so touching to see each character look at the photos from the life and choose one to represent each year. Printed photos are such a rarity in our time and I really loved the idea of each day being captured by an image. The premise is then that the characters get to visit one of their favourite days from their life one more time, and Hiiragi crafts these memories like snapshots themselves, with mini photos all the way through the memory. It's so very beautifully written.

This is a truly heart-warming read. It's so touching and beautiful with such a stunning central premise.

this book is a reminder to treasure the moments in life. may it be the little and mundane things. appreciating that everyday is a blessing and life is precious.

a unique concept and approach to the last moments a person has after they die. i love how they used the "lantern of memories / spinning lantern" metaphor in the book and the idea of associating a photo with each day of our lives. this makes me want to buy a camera myself and start documenting my life for the memories.

overall, this was a short bittersweet book that will surely tug at your heartstrings.

thanks netgalley and pan macmillan for the e-arc!

Beautiful- this is a really short book, which I finished over an evening and morning. The translation has been done so well, capturing I felt the very essence of the story.

This wonderful story is made up of three different stories which gently tap each other to become a whole.

Beautiful and enthralling.

My thanks to Netgalley and The Picador Team for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lantern of Lost Memories is a beautiful Japanese tale about the people that make us and the moments that change us. It was an amazing reading experience which I completed in two sessions. This author’s books have the ability to simultaneously make you unable to stop reading while wishing you could bury the book somewhere deep underground where it can't be found. Compelling and didn’t want it to end!

Thanks so much to Picador Books, Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinion expressed are my own.

What a beautifully written and thought provoking book, the text was easy to read and flowed seamlessly. I loved the idea and symbolism of photos as memories and how it's the gateway to the afterlife. It makes you stop and wonder and I honestly couldn't put the book down and devoured it in one sitting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will be definitely recommending this to everyone!

The Lantern of Lost Memories is as delightful as it sounds, I devoured it in big, greedy gulps!

Mr Hirasaka's photography studio exists on the precipice of life and death. His clients are those who have recently passed, their files delivered to them by delivery boy Yama, who provides the history Hiraksaka needs to assist the dead with moving on. Upon arrival, Hirasaka greets his guests and explains what has happened to them and what they will need to do to venture into the afterlife.

This is the charming bit - and as a photographer, it completely sold it to me - you must choose one photo from every year of your life. These are snapshots created from your memories that are delivered to Hirasaka. You can take as long as you need, and Mr Hirasaka will keep you fed and refreshed, should you want it.

Finally, and this is such a great idea, some of the best memories appear faded, as they've been thought about time and time again. You are invited to select the camera of your choice from a camera library (Don't get me started on this sort of wish list!) before you get the opportunity to walk from one sunrise to the next, unseen, in a memory of your choosing. Here, you get to observe the day again before capturing that photo for the collection.

The photos are then put together in a lantern and played out in the inevitable "life flashing before your eyes" before you traverse to the afterlife.

If the above has not convinced you, then - YOU NEED TO BUY THIS BOOK, IMMEDIATELY, YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED! It's a brilliant concept, told in an utterly charming manner, and the stories blend together so well. It has huge potential for some more books, I really hope the author revisits Hirasaka. I could write a whole essay on this one.

I enjoyed this book. It contains 3 stories of people going to the afterlife, and choosing photos from their life to see in the lantern that spins before they enter heaven or hell. They get to revisit the memory that they’re most fond of to retake the photo. It was a very heartwarming book, and an easy read. There were some small parts which i didn’t think were explained particularly well, but i still enjoyed the overall book.

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, is a Japanese novel set to be released this August. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The story follows Hirasaka, a kind man with a passion for photography. He owns a unique photo studio that serves as a gateway to the afterlife. Each person who visits the studio must choose a photograph for every year of their life, and with these photographs, they create a lantern.

The novel is divided into three parts, each focusing on a different visitor to the studio: Hatsue, Waniguchi, and Mitsue. I found Hatsue's story particularly compelling. This book is perfect for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, as it allows us to explore the lives of various characters who come to the studio. Additionally, Hirasaka's own story remains a mystery, and that makes me look forward to learning more about him in future novels in this series.

Overall, this was a great cozy book that comes with powerful messages about life, memory, and the afterlife.

As soon as I read the title of The Lantern of Lost Memories, I knew it was a book that I needed to read especially given that I have recently discovered a love for Japanese translated works. I should perhaps have read the synopsis a little bit more closely as I didn’t quite realise just how much of an emotive read this was going to be. But I am so glad that I did read it.

The Lantern of Lost Memories is set in a photography studio that exists as a transition point between this world and the next, with the idea that at the point of your death you are given the opportunity to pick 1 photo for every year of their life and these are then played for the person via a spinning lantern. By the time the lantern stops spinning, the person moves from the photography studio in to the afterlife. It’s a beautiful take on the idea of your life flashing before your eyes, but with the added element that the individual themselves chooses which memories appear before them. And if a beloved memory is blurred by time you can go back, and retake your photo.

One of the things that I particularly adored about this book was how interconnected the stories ended up being, and I loved the moment of realisation that I had each time when I realised how the paths of Hirasaka’s visitors had crossed. They were quite brief moments on the whole but for me it was quite beautiful.

This book features three chapters and each one was special in its own way. I was surprised how much The Hero and the Mouse (chapter 2) affected me as from the initial introduction of Waniguchi I wasn't expecting it. But it's a testament to the writing that by the end of that chapter I was wiping away tears.

It is chapter 3 - Mitsuru and the Last Photo - that affected me the most. This chapter is a tough read as the visitor to the studio is a young child, but the love that Hirasaka showed her was perfectly done. I was a mess by the end because her story and the abuse she suffered was horrific but its ending gave me hope.

I did think the book’s ending was a tad abrupt but I adored this book, especially revisiting the pasts of Hatsue and Waniguchi to get a last photo - and the twist on that with Mitsuru.

I would love to revisit the photography studio and to learn more about Hirasaka and Yama - or even to revisit one of the other studios. I’ll definitely still be getting a physical copy of this when it comes out!

An e-arc copy was provided by Pan MacMillan via NetGalley in exchange for a review.