Description
"The soul of the deceased narrator, cleansed of all its memories of its past life, is heading toward the darkness when it suddenly encounters an angel. 'Congratulations!' the angel exclaims. 'You're the winner of our lottery! You're being given a second chance!' The next thing it knows, the soul is back on earth, occupying the body of fifteen-year-old Makoto who is planning to poison himself. Makoto is friendless, and his family shows him little love. Unable to feel affection for the people around him, he spends his time drawing or playing cards with the angel. But when it comes to discussions of which high school he should go to, Makoto is surprised to realize that his family and his teachers genuinely care about him. He has words with the angel: 'I want to give back Makoto's family the real Makoto.' The angel agrees, but on one condition: the soul has to remember his original mistake. 'Look around you,' adds the angel. 'There are clues everywhere.' Eventually, the soul remembers: he killed someone. And the person he killed? Himself, which is to say, Makoto Kobayashi.."--… (more)
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User reviews
Colorful by Japanese author Eto Mori was written twenty years ago and quickly became a beloved classic in Japan. It has since been translated into several different languages and is now in English. I don't want to give too much away about the story but I will say this -at first, I wasn't sure how I felt. I didn't much like the characters at least at the beginning, usually a real sticking point for how I feel about a book but the story caught my attention right away despite this and I am so glad it did. The tale is told in the first person by the soul occupying Makoto and, as a result, gives a fascinating perspective on the life he is occupying.
Colorful is aimed at a young audience but, despite being much much older than the target age, I really enjoyed it. It has an important message for young teens especially those who don't feel like they fit in but it still manages to be pretty much unputdownable - I read it in in one sitting. I can't recommend it highly enough both for kids and adults alike.
Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Counterpoint for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review