Thank you to NetGalley and Europa Editions for the ARC

A quiet and atmospheric book which dives into the lives of several people in Tokyo. This isn't a fast-paced book with a lot of action, but nonetheless an enjoyable read. We get to meet several characters and glimpses of their lives. I really like character driven stories and this was what I got.

‘Goodnight Tokyo’ is a novella by Atsuhiro Yoshida that brings an array of characters together through various interactions and conversations. We start focusing on Mitsuki, who works as a prop assistant for a film set, has to go on a quest to find loquats for her boss Mizushima. This is where we meet the night taxi driver – Matsui – who starts intertwining the people for us to expand the story. While searching for loquats we meet Kanako from the telephone counselling service; and then our story develops.
All these characters are united by loss in one way or another. Throughout their lives, they have been searching for the last piece of the puzzle; feeling as though their lives are incomplete until they find what they are looking for. While this storyline opens new perspectives to each story that is connected, it does get confusing when reading it as the paragraphs don’t state who is talking, and because there are quite a few characters; it is sometimes hard to keep track.

Each chapter always starts at 1am, implying that days are repetitive It allows the readers to create a cosy, detailed and relatable image in their minds while reading all 190 pages. I love that the different paths cross, all searching for something they cannot find, yet still trying to help each other if they can. The development of the characters happening near the end of the book, somewhat force the book to end abruptly, which confused me to know who’s story had finished, and who’s characters we were still trying to figure out.
Although everything is connected – the characters, the places, the memories – I still feel like the book almost go tangled up in someway. Perhaps on purpose as the characters also got tangled up in each others lives. I feel as though the book would’ve read better if there were less named characters, and the story only focused on 3 or 4 of them such as Mitsuki, Matsui, Kanako and maybe Shuro or Moriizumi.
I would love to read similar books to this, as other than the multiple perspectives, I enjoyed the style of writing and the calmness the book gave off. Yoshida really has an amazing way with words, and I’m excited to see what other books they will translate to English.

Looking for an immersive read into the lives of common Edoite folk? Goodnight Tokyo offers a glimpse into the lives of common Edoite folk nightlife through a series of seemingly random events and weird characters. This is the first translated work into English by the award-winning Japanese author Atsuhiro Yoshida. I did enjoy his writing style and as a "Japanese culture lover", I appreciate the good translation.

The story is captivating, quirky, and fun. It's divided into several chapters—which could be read as a short collection of stories that slowly evolve into organised chaos. At first, I thought there were too many characters to remember, but the author does a great job of characterisation and you may find it easy to connect each character. The book has a dreamlike quality that I enjoyed. The story spans over a year during the nighttime, mostly from 1 am to 4 am. There is no mention of the day, only time, and the repetition of timings creates a hypnotic and confusing atmosphere (sometimes it feels like a magical animation).

Overall, I wish the book had different levels of intensity, but I understand the author intended it to be read as a collection, which meant the pace was very linear. Don't get me wrong, it feels like a mad rush through Tokyo's nightlife. I did enjoy the book and would recommend it if you want to read something whimsical, effortlessly charming and relatable.

#GoodnightTokyo #NetGalley #EuropaEditions

This was an enjoyable story, however I wasn’t the biggest fan of the writing style. The characters were fun to read about but the plot moved a little slow for my liking. Still, an atmospheric read.

Thank you so much for approving my request. I've added my review here. Below, I've also added some errors that I caught in the book which I hope are helpful as you prepare to launch this delightful wee book into the world.

My review:
3.5 A quiet short story serial featuring a group of inter-connected people set over a series of nights in Tokyo.

<b>What I enjoyed:</b>
● The cover is beautiful. It instantly caught my eye and suits the story wonderfully!
● Our characters were compelling and interesting. I wish we'd had more time with each of them to get to know them better!
● As a reader, there's a moment when you start to see the interconnectedness of all the pieces which I found delightful. I particularly enjoyed seeing MCs of earlier sections feature in later ones to give us some closure or updates from their world.
● The book has a lot of content for its relatively short length. One of the things I love about Japanese writing is how words aren't wasted and a lot can be packed into succinct writing! Overall, the writing has a dreamy, gentle feel to it.
● Haydn Trowell is a new translator to me and I think they did a fine job with this book - I'll be interested to see what they do next!

<b>What I wasn't so keen on: </b>
● The cadence of the book takes some getting used to and some of the character transitions at the beginning feel clunky. My advice would be to keep reading: while sometimes people or phrases are introduced without context (leaving me wondering if I'm supposed to know this human or thing), it gets contextualized shortly after which feels backward at first.
● I thought the Ayano/Shuro thread was a bit weird. Shuro is introduced as a repeat customer that sometimes patronized Ayano's restaurant that she lost touch with; so, when she thinks about him as "the person with whom she had considered spending the rest of her life"... well, that's a helluva leap!
● While I enjoyed the group of characters, I sincerely wish we'd had more time with them. Some of them felt like old friends (Mitsuki, Matsui) and others I would have loved to know more about (like Ibaragi - who I was convinced was the bat on Fukuda's veranda!)
● As always, in ARCs there were some minor spelling and formatting issues that will likely be rectified in the final copy. The book takes place over a series of Tokyo nights which isn't immediately clear to the reader (I was very confused the beginning thinking it was the same night!); hopefully, this can be clarified in the publication copy too.

I read this in a few hours and enjoyed my time with it. I would recommend this to folks who enjoy Japanese translations and would like to spend a few hours in a dreamy atmosphere in Tokyo at night. I'll keep me eye open for more translations from Atsuhiro Yoshida!

I was privileged to have my request accepted to read this book on my first day on NetGalley. Thank you Europa Editions!

Additional feedback (not published in my review):
● On page 44 (Ham and Eggs section), one of the four characters who set up a restaurant says 'I'm too invested in the store'. I think 'store' should be 'restaurant' for clarity. It took me a few moments of scanning back looking for a store before I realised that might be a mistranslation.
● As I mentioned in my review, as a reader I would have really valued days of the week when the date changed. At first, I thought this was taking place in one night so hopping between 1:00 am and 4:00 am confused me at first. An easy solution might be making up days of the week to sit alongside the title sections, or perhaps a foreword contextualising the setting and flow.
● On pages 85, 87 (Two Moons section) and page 111 (Blue Staircases section), tendonitis is spelled incorrectly as 'tendinitis'.

I didn’t know how to describe this until I read the Author’s note at the back; a series of interconnecting short stories and suddenly it all makes sense.

Looking at each character’s storyline and then seeing how they connected with each other was well done, I didn’t fully understand all of the characters, Shuro for example, but It was a soft read. No jarring passages just following the people as they moved through Tokyo.

It was a quick cute book of stories that somehow are connected for one reason or another. There were so many characters that I got confised at some point. The flow of the story takes a bit getting used to. It was entertaining nonetheless.

If there is one word I think would accurately describe this book, it would be "symphony". Because that is how it felt when I read this in one sitting, either aloud or silent. I don't know how they do it, but I believe that in some parts of the world, writers are more in tune with the words than anyone else. Atsuhiro is one of them. Wordsmith comes to mind. The translator of this book also needs credit for this.

From the very beginning I was swooped up in the way the life of Matsui the taxi driver is woven together with the people who cross his path. There are sentences here that are so beautiful that I had to highlight them and read them aloud to my blind boss, because they needed to experience the symphony of words. I loved how the stories start small, but then turn into something bigger and I did not expect to get this emotional.

I loved this book, it made me want to read it again. Not just because of the wonderful writing and superb translation (translator if this book needs a big GOOD JOB! sticker), but because I truly loved the story. The writer made me really connect and feel a bond with every single character. Nothing was ever too much, it was "show, don't tell" with a twist. Chefs kiss.

As mentioned, I read this in one sitting. It is a short book, but it is a book with a long lasting impression.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europa Editions for this ARC.

Starting out as a sequence of short stories which all start at 1am, the book gently starts interweaving and interconnecting these individuals who are all out at night. Due to this structure, all our characters are quite lightly drawn rather than fully fledged so, by the end, I kept getting them mixed up.

A gentle night-time read to lull you to sleep. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

To sum up this book in a few words, I'd say it's cosy, quirky and simple.

In a series of ten interconnected stories following a taxi driver, a strange detective and a loquat thief and some other quizzical characters this book explores the simplicity and nightlife of Tokyo, including strange quests and a small mystery where each of the characters are somehow linked with one another, from siblings to lovers and friends.

Whilst this book wasn't what I expected, it was still easy to read and almost comforting, I wanted to know more about the characters so I was disappointed to find that they weren't particularly deep or well developed, what we see is what we get essentially, and the 'mysteries' never really get resolved by the end of the book.

Towards the end as things wrap up I did enjoy the meanings and metaphors, especially when one character bought a step (one step from second floor) as a way to metaphorically reach the next point of her life. It was quirky and unusual, but sadly not memorable or thought provoking.

As an English debut from the author, I think many people could pick this up as a filler read or just something for late night reading when feeling nostalgic, as the book brings that sense of companionship and oddity.

3/5 🌟