さよならのない国で

by 高遠琉加, 葛西リカコ (イラスト)

どこかの山の上にあるという、『天国ホテル』。そこでは、死んでしまった愛しい人に再会できる……。慕っていた恩師を亡くして５年──。ピアノ教師の春希は、恩師である月彦の甥・康と二人暮らしをしながらも、月彦への想いを振り切れずにいた。そんなある日、教え子から耳にした『天国ホテル』の不思議な話。引き寄せられるように春希は、康とともに旅行に出るが……!?

Ｃｈａｒａレーベル創刊２０周年記念企画、高遠琉加が贈るファンタジック・ミステリー！！

253 pages, Soft Cover [単行本]

First published June 27, 2015

Reviews

[Commie Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75, to be precise.

The first 40% of the book was, to be honest, kind of tedious for me. And this is not because of the storyline but more because of the writing style and the way the author picked and highlighted events and details.
But it got better after that, and there were quite a number of heart wrenching moments in the book that I could identify with on a personal level.

This is a story about overcoming the death of a loved one, and of understanding and accepting the price of living and loving. The stories conveys its messages with great care and sensitivity, and along with it also shows how love can take so many forms, and there can be no form more "true", more "superior" than the others, as there exists no tool for measuring and categorizing love.

My personal favourite is probably the part when Haruki, one of the 2 MCs, received the news of his beloved sensei's cancer, and how he dealt with his emotions so quietly and solemnly that it was almost too painful to watch. I love how Haruki did not think of himself first, how he did not even contemplate the idea of telling sensei how he felt. He was numbed all over by the sudden death sentence befell upon sensei, and all he could think of was to be near his beloved and take care of him until the very last. I love how this was told not by Haruki himself but through the eyes of Kou, the other MC, which meant that the reader could only imagine how Haruki was feeling at that time through his gestures and would not be constrained and dictated of what to feel by Haruki's inner dialogues.

There were many other moments that I greatly appreciated as well, like when Kou was thinking of and comparing Haruki's way of loving with his, or when Haruki was struggling with his fear of gradually getting used to living without sensei and moving on, or when Kou was trying to convince Haruki that it's ok to want to be happy even when your most beloved is no longer with you.

This is a very sincere and terribly heart wrenching story painted in a color of sadness, and yet in the end still offers a sense of solace and rays of hope. An emotional read, but I don't think it was cheesy. Overall, a quite well-written book.