Review: In the Realm of Ash and Sorrow

Author: Kenneth W. Harmon

Started reading: October 18th 2020

Finished the book: DNF

Pages: 352

Genres: Historical, War, Japan

Published: January 2nd 2020

Source: Netgalley

Goodreads score: 4.49

My score:

Synopsis

When bombardier Micah Lund dies on a mission over Hiroshima, his spirit remains trapped in the land of his enemies. Dazed, he follows Kiyomi Oshiro, a war widow struggling to care for her young daughter, Ai. Food is scarce, work at the factory is brutal, and her in-laws treat her like a servant.

Watching Kiyomi and Ai together, Micah reconsiders his intolerance for the people he’d called the enemy. As his concern for the mother and daughter grows, so does his guilt for his part in their suffering. Micah finds a new reality when Kiyomi and Ai dream—one which allows him to interact with them. While his feelings for Kiyomi deepen, imminent destruction looms. Hiroshima is about to be bombed, and Micah must warn Kiyomi and her daughter. In a place where dreams are real, Micah races against time to save the ones he loves the most.

My thoughts

Writing a review for a book that I DNF is not my favorite thing to do. I felt myself not wanting to read and I wasn't that involved in the story and the characters. I do believe it's not that bad of a book. That's why I didn't give it 1 star, but 2 stars. I think that this just wasn't my book and I felt that I didn't really mind how the story would continue when I was at 50%. I decided to DNF. When I didn't regret that a couple of days later, I knew I made the right decision.

Pros

• Reality and fantasy: I loved the combination between the reality and layer of fantasy. The way the "real" world is interwoven with the "beyond" was really nice. The parts that you're in the spirit world were my favorite pieces of the story.
• Hiroshima: We all know what happened with Hiroshima all those years ago. That was one of the main things I was curious about: How will it develop with the main characters and will they survive?

Cons

• Slow: The story was so slow that I couldn't get through. I can tell you that not much has happend in the 50% that I read and I wasn't excited to pick up my book and read. I think that this story needed half the pages it has now, because I didn't feel like reading another 150 pages, to be honest.
• Not involved: I wasn't involved in the story and the lives of the characters that much and I felt like I could easily drop the book. I decided to DNF and when I didn't feel sorry about that a couple of days later, I knew that I wasn't involved and made the right decision. 

Overall

I'm a bit sad that I didn't love the book as much as all the 5-star reviews on Goodreads. I was so excited to read this book and really happy when Netgalley provided me with this book. I just think that not every book can be a hit and this one wasn't for me at this moment.

Thanks for reading!

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