♡ Thank you for the free audiobook, PRH Audio.
Synopsis
On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones—those who are lost—will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice—by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own—and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.
Thoughts
Oh, how do I describe this gem of a story? Mix the mysterious shop element from Before the Coffee Gets Cold or A Tempest of Tea with the deal with the devil aspect from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, then add the whimsy from Studio Ghibli and the cozy fantasy with moral lessons from The Teller of Small Fortunes, and you just might end up with something like this. This is a many-layered beauty bursting with love. I will simply leave it at that.
★★★★★
☊ Listening to this via audiobook was lovely. Narrator Cindy Kay did a beautiful job!
Question
Have you ever tried your hand at origami?