This is the other book that I received from my bookswap with Jamie (lonelygirlbookclub)! I mentioned that I liked Japanese fiction and she sent me this – a novel by a Singaporean-British author set in Tokyo and inspired by true crime.
What’s Left of Me Is Yours is dual-timeline novel. In the past, unhappily-married Rina meets Kaitaro and falls in love. But Kaitaro is actually part of the wakaresaseya industry, someone hired to seduce Rina to help her husband divorce her. He truly falls in love with her, but his job is in the way, leading to tragedy. In the present, Sumiko found out that her mother, Rina, didn’t die in an accident – she was murdered. And so she traces the legal path of her mother’s case.
Although this is strictly not a mystery novel, since the killer is already known at the start, I found What’s Left Of Me Is Yours to be a gripping novel. Perhaps not so much Sumiko’s portions, since hers doesn’t actually have that much going on (though I’ve read that the legal sections are excellently researched), but more of Rina and Kaitaro’s story. We know that it’ll end in tragedy, but they are just so happy together that it hurts to read it. Honestly, I kept reading on because I wanted to know how it was going to end the way it did.
The only thing that confused me about the book were the names. I thought that the book was going to avoid honourifics altogether, but I saw Rina being called “Rinachan” once and that just threw me off – is everyone calling each other without honourifics? Even when it’s a client-customer relationship? Also, it was a bit odd to see Rina call her dad by a nickname instead of an actual name (don’t think I’ve seen that before), but I also recognise that these are nit-picks that won’t matter to most people. It’s just that I got thrown out of the story for a bit whenever they happened.
Overall, I really enjoyed this! What’s Left of Me is Yours is a gripping book that has meticulously researched the Japanese legal system, so I feel like I learnt a bit more about that side of Japan after reading this.
Your review intrigued me. I researched additional reviews and they all agree: this is a book to be put on my TBR list! I think I may have mentioned “Klara and the Sun” (Ishiguro) to you before. Finished it about a week or so ago. If you read it, tell me how you feel about the last chapter. I have a different take on it than others.
I’ve not read Klara and the Sun, but I will try to read it soon! I hope you enjoy What’s Left of Me Is Yours, it’s really good!
The naming bit sounds a little odd, but other than that this sounds like a really interesting read!!
Yeah! But I think if you were reading it and if you didn’t know Japanese, you might not notice the naming thing. Other than that it was good!
I often find with dual narratives, I prefer the more historical of the stories to the modern one. I will have to give this a try! I doubt I would notice the naming issue myself–but I appreciate the insight and find it interesting.
Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I prefer the historical narrative more too! I hope you enjoy this!