Even If This Love Disappears Tonight

by Misaki Ichijo

When Toru Kamiya is pushed into falsely confessing his love to Maori Hino, she tells him she’ll date him on three conditions. 1) Don’t talk to her until after school. 2) Keep any communication between them concise. 3) Don’t really fall in love. Unfortunately, he isn’t able to keep the last rule—and when he tells her how he feels, she reveals that she has an illness that prevents her from remembering anything that happened the previous day, and that she uses a diary to keep track. But Toru is determined to build a relationship with her, one day at a time… 

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Light Novel, Japanese Literature, Japan

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 20, 2020

Reviews

[angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People live by forgetting. No matter how deep our sorrows, humans eventually forget. Wounds don’t hurt forever. […] it was all mine. The sorrow, the pain, the joy, the memories, all of it.”

[Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

English translation of the title:
This Night, even if Love should disappear in this World

Loved it. Fast, entertaining read about pure love of teenagers with heartbreak and tears. I can imagine that the story would be well translated into a movie or a short tv series. Even though parts of the book are cliche, the flow and pace of the story was well made. There were just some weaknesses but it was an entertaining read overall.

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had only read it before seeing the movie, I definitely would have changed my mind because of the translation and the tedious storyline. I really like the movie, however the translation was appalling and didn't do the feelings justice.

[Phu]

DNF30%
Thật sự là năm nay mình đã "mở lòng" hơn với lightnovel, sau khi đọc sách của .
Một phần khiến mình đọc cuốn sách này là cái tựa, bìa đẹp và nó sắp ra mắt Phim chuyển thể.

Về nội dung: Để cứu bạn mình thoát khỏi tình trạng bị bắt nạt, cậu học sinh trung học Toru Kamiya đã chấp nhận lời yêu cầu của Bọn bắt nạt rằng, Toru sẽ tỏ tình với cô bạn Maori Hino lớp bên cạnh. Và vô tình, nó lại bắt đầu cho một mối tình kỳ lạ.
Nhưng Toru không biết rằng, cô bạn Maori mắc phải một căn bệnh lạ sau tai nạn - cứ mỗi đêm sau khi chìm vào giấc ngủ, cô ấy sẽ quên đi mọi ký ức của ngày hôm qua. Liệu mối tình này sẽ kéo dài?

Mình thực sự cố ép bản thân, chỉ là câu chuyện nghe có vẻ buồn và đáng mong đợi. Nhưng tiếc, 30% trôi qua mà không có gì thu hút mình cả, mình cảm thấy mọi thứ thật bình thường (ngoài gia cảnh của Toru.) Mình đã hứa sẽ không add thêm cuốn sách nào vào kệ DNF, đọc không hợp thì drop. Nhưng mình nghĩ cuốn sách này có thể có hy vọng nên add vào DNF vậy.

[❤️‍🩹 · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Back then, there was a lot I didn't understand. On a practical level, how to tell a girl I liked her when I didn't. On a philosophical level, death. On a poetic level, love.
And then I added another thing to the list. Myself.”

Made me cry… like really hard. Wish I could read it in Japanese and fully capture the essence of the book but it was really beautiful I loved it so much

[meltem · Rating 2 out of 5]

i'm done reading young adult

[yossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

i debated with myself on how many star i should give this book and decided to go with 4 stars.

i first read this book because the movie adaptation is played by micchi and rikoㅡand i ended up loving this!

this is definitely not mindblowing oh-so-amazing piece of literature out there. the storyline is cliche and predictable. but does it take away my enjoyment? absolutely not! i enjoyed my time reading this book and i feel connection with the characters. this book make me feel something: love, happiness, sadness. a very heartwarming, yet sad story.

tooru is a great character and seeing his character growth throughout this book is amazing. the writer surely write him as a dream guy: read books, family boy, kind, care about people around him a lot, head over heels for his girlfriend and try his hardest to give her happiness, always respectful. he's perfect. and i usually hate this kind of character, but tooru was written in the best way possible that i just can't hate him!

maori's condition is interesting one. i also enjoy reading her narration and point of view. she is such a strong and cute girl! so, do izumi! i'm glad the writer also gives us her perspective as someone who see the two characters' growth.

[Anvshaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No wound vanishes completely, because wounds are also memories. But the pain won’t last forever." T_T

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

my heart…. 💔

[nicole ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF AT 38%…

I really really loved it at first, but the pacing is so slow and the quotes just fell blank for me.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some lovely interspective lines about the state of the world, how guilt manifests, and how we hold ourselves up; however, most of the story is told. We are told what people are feeling rather than showing it through actions or how they behave. It made the story feel very wooden, which sucks because this story could've been really impactful.

[Brian McCullar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God this book... I need to preface this review by saying, that it's the first true romance book I ever sat down to read, and the first Japanese light novel that isn't a tie-in to an anime or manga series, so I went into this not knowing what to expect, of if I'd even like it. But I have to say, I am so very happy that I picked it up.

If I had to summarize the book simply, I would say it's like if 50 First Dates with Adam Sandler was done properly, without his failed attempts at humor, and delivered on its story in a touching, deeply emotional and well executed way, though the tone does shift towards the end in a different direction from that film.

I would love to type up copious amounts of details about the story and characters, but I want to keep my review as spoiler free as possible, so I'm gonna try.

The story follows three different characters, with different chapters and different parts being from their different POVs.

First off, we have Tooru, a young man in high school with a good heart and an old soul. He stands up for people who are weaker than others, even if it puts him in harm's way, yet also remains (almost) purely practical, never thinking himself as being more capable than he is. One day (this isn't a spoiler, it's in the writeup), in order to stop a young boy from being bullied further, the bully tells him to ask out a girl from another class, and if he does, the bullying will stop.

Which brings us to our second POV character, Maori, a young girl woman who suffers from a rare condition called Anterograde Amnesia, which prevents her brain from converting her short-term memories into long-term memories, and so she has to wake up every day, and rediscover how the world around her moved forward, while she never really did. She accepts the Tooru's proposal on the conditions that he doesn't talk to her til after school, keeps conversations short, and doesn't fall in love with her. Again, no spoilers here, it's in the book writeup.

And finally, our third POV character is Maori's best friend, a young woman named Izumi, who is one of the only people to know of Maori's condition, and is fiercely protective of her, always seeking to make sure that her secrets are kept safe and that she's treated properly.

Throughout the course of this book, we watch these three young people bond together, grow together and even suffer together, in various different ways. I can't say much about the events within the plot themselves, because they would spoil the book and I desperately don't want to do that to anybody. What I will say, is that I'm someone who often snubs romance stories, and never managed to get into one in my life, but by the last few chapters in this book, I smiled, I laughed and multiple times, I cried, for a variety of reasons. Partly because I relate very personally to Tooru, as he experiences a certain medical condition himself, that I also have to deal with in my own life.

Being a light novel, it's written to be easily consumed, don't expect flowery or poetic prose, don't expect long winded conversations and speeches. All of the writing is purposely kept simple so it can be read quickly, and by anybody, which also makes it an ideal book to read as a palate cleanser between longer books or different genre reads.

I'm giving this a 5 out of 5 stars with zero hesitation, I don't believe any book has ever made me so emotional, and I am now impatiently waiting to get the sequel in the mail. Read this book, no matter what your usual genre may be.

[Tiyanie N · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author did better pay for my therapy 😭

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Because when you can’t smile, you just can’t

Two strangers. One with a secret. Another with with loneliness. But both with hardships.

This book felt like watching a ghibli movie. A tragic one at that. But I don't regret reading it even though it hurts (a damn lot too lol).
This was so much fast paced and I read this in like 5 hours I think. I was hooked from the first page. It made me giggle and I was so happy and I thought this was such a wholesome book to read during my vacation haha look how that ended.

I wanted to tell her without words that falling in love was making my life better

I'm at a loss to explain how much these characters stuck with me. They were realistically written and had really good character development. I usually tend to read books like mystery or fantasy because I know that most of the time I won't get bored because of all the plot twists. But this book was not boring in the least bit. So as someone who gets bored easily I can garentee you that you won't get bored.

“I didn’t notice it before, but you’re like some kind of downfallen aristocrat. Like, you’re oddly refined

The fact that surprises and saddens me is that how many people haven't read this. This has a gotten a movie and I believe its alot more popular in Japan. But I have never heard of this book in goodreads. Books like this are hidden gems and deserve more recognition.

And if you do want to read this I recommend you to go blindly to this.

The important thing isn’t to have a facade of cleanliness; it’s to makebeing sanitary part of our daily lives

︶ ⏝ ︶ ୨୧ ︶ ⏝ ︶︶ ⏝ ︶ ୨୧ ︶ ⏝ ︶
　　
/ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ
Rating– 5 stars 🌟
(12-13+)

[kaie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The following night,”

WHAT THE FUCKKKKKK. This book felt like getting hit by a huge-ass truck, waking up in a completely different realm, thinking I survived, and then getting stabbed 200 times.

I laughed, I cried, I stared at the wall questioning my existence. Five stars, I got nothing more to say.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
Most of the story felt kind of meh to me. I only really got into it at the end and enjoyed that a lot.

[Floor Loïse · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is such a beautiful but bittersweet story

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like others, I wonder if the translation made this more stilted and cheesy than it appeared.

Gave me heavy, ‘who do you think gave you the heart’ copypasta vibes.

[Nadja · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a good read and a great story and i cried!

[Quế Anh · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
old motif, old message, subpar writing (or maybe subpar translation?). it’s the old story about being grateful, not taking life for granted, and appreciating the little things in life because it all may disappear tomorrow. while it could be nice to be reminded of this sometimes, the writing is very on the nose and all the messages are thrusted upon us in a very “lecturing” way, a problem i also found in “before the coffee gets cold”. the novel reads like a book adaptation of a movie and not the other way around, which is never a good sign. i’m still debating whether the death of one of the main characters at the end is added for shock value, given how rushed the ending was. for a short novel with accessible writing, this book took me a painfully long time to get through.

[Mercy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Wounds remain, but the pain doesn’t. I suppose that’s the way people survive their sorrow. Do they grow less sad with time? Maybe. You can’t walk forward if you’re forever a prisoner of the past. Yet it made me sad that one day I wouldn’t be anymore.”


Going through grief, this quote hit me too hard.

I thought this would be a love story but it’s so much more than that. It’s about family, friendship, loss, and how memories play a role in our lives.

There are times when the people who I’ve lost are a blur in my mind, but the emotions are still there.

I’ll probably think of this book a lot more on the next couple of days.

[Paris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sobbed my way through two thirds of this book. This was such a beautiful story.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

, lahko bi blo edin mau mn depresivno ker me je skor ubil

[kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday, I watched Sion and Jaehee's guest appearance on a variety show named 'Woke Up and I'm a Poet'. It was interesting, they talked about books and wrote poems, but what stuck to me the most was when Jaehee said this was one of his favorite books.

I'd already known there was a film with the same name but never that it had a book, and since our Unofficial Official Book Club™ hadn't decided on a new book to read, I thought, hey, I should give this one a try.

I feel so stupid.

It's a simple plot, like a 50 First Dates tragedy set in Japan, but it's the writing that impresses me. It's never easy to write so simply yet so emotionally. I thought it wouldn't get me to cry but it did. There's something so thought-provoking about love written so casually. "My love for her had materialized quite unexpectedly. By the time I realized, she was the only thing I could see," he says, and what if I cried? (I did.) "Now, so naturally, like it was nothing at all, I had fallen in love with Hino." And I cried, again.

When 2025 came around, I swore to myself that I would stop reading these East Asian based 'sad' life stories because A.) I didn't want to keep crying, B.) I wanted to try other genres. Yet, here I am, reading this and remembering just how fond I am with books like these. Might even try the movie later when I have the time. Hopefully, I don't cry as much, but this was beautiful and I'd cry the second time around if I could.

[Aishah Ahmad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should've seen that ending coming, this is so sad, omg. But as usual with Japanese translated works, I feel a bit disconnected from the writing, but the story itself is still heartbreaking.

The FMC has a short-term memory loss condition where her memory resets every morning. This condition sounds so bizarre and so fictional, it is always an interesting premise for a story. Memento is my favorite Nolan movie, and I love that other one with Drew Barrymore in it. But still, this is actually a real condition that affects real people. It must be so challenging for their family and friends to explain their life to them over and over again.

If it were me, waking up in the morning to find a journal detailing a huge chunk of my life, that none of which I remember, I’d be too afraid to even go outside. I’d probably just have a panic attack every day. 🤣

What’s even more heartbreaking is that in this story, it happens to a high school girl, the most crucial stage of her formative years. And the fact that she’s such a hardworking student, trying to study everything, only to forget it all the next day. Sigh.. so sad.

[izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm crying, this book was so unexpected and sad. but even taking that into account, it was beautiful. each characters were also exceptional and i loved them, especially Tooru.

this is the kind of five stars that you choose w the heart. my feelings in the latest pages were a mess and i even cried a little bit after ending it. this was a sweet and sour way and made me learn about apreciation.

ofc i fell for tooru, he was to sweet, he's the real definition of the word, actually. ♡





so yea, oficially ended on 11/06.

[Deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started as a 4.5 star book and ended up being 3-3.5. The whole time I was reading, my cheeks hurt from smiling at their love story. It was such a heartwarming, pure story of first love. I never got bored finishing the book but I must say, I was disappointed with how things turned out at the end. I knew it was supposed to be a sad story but it felt like author just wanted to create some drama for the sake of drama. It could've been such a great read if the author just relaxed a bit and didn't stress so much on creating shock effects. I still wan't to read the sequel book but I hope, that one won't rely on the possibility of making readers cry to make the book memorable.

[Mik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, definitivamente me hizo llorar un poco al final, cosa que hacía pila que no me pasaba. Es un libro que se lee rápido y el estilo de escritura está bonito.

Su fuerte son los personajes, todos se sienten sumamente reales, a pesar de que de algunos no sabemos mucho, y cada uno tiene profundidad. No quiero decir mucho porque siento que es de esos libros a los cuales es mejor entrar sin saber mucho.

Tiene su toque triste, pero en su mayor parte es bonito, lo triste es algo inevitable, algo que toca que pase y listo, no queda otra. Esa es un poco la sensación que me dejó el libro y también me parece que el mensaje está bueno.

[eunice park · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this cuz ik how famous the movie is.. this book has everything - love, family, friendship and is so heartwarming yet sad at the same time (idk if i can watch the movie TT) but honestly it was such a good read

[Yong Joon Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

동생의 방에서 우연히 찾았던 책인데, 어디서 꼭 들어본 것만 같은 제목인지라 읽을수밖에 없었다. 처음에는 사실 무난하게 흘러가서 무슨 반전이 있을까 싶었지만(관련 글이나 리뷰를 미리 안보길 잘한것 같다 ㅎㅎ) 히노의 기억상실을 듣고 아 이런식으로 트위스트를 주구나 싶었다. 사실 그걸 감안해서도 특별히 자극적이였던 아닌데, 그래서 더 좋았다. 일본 감성과 어렸을때의 청순함과 naivete가 묻어나는 느낌이랄까. 후반기에 다다라서는 또 하나의 큰 분기점이 생기게 되는데, 왜이렇게 빠른 전개이지 싶으면서 더욱 몰입하게 되었다. 사실 그 내용 자체보다는 이 사람의 감정은 어떠할까 어떤 마음가짐으로 이런 상황을 받아들여야 할까 라는 관점에 더 집중하였는데 확실히 너무나 좋은 경험이였다. 일본 사람들이라 기본적인 배려가 너무 따듯한것 같다(사람들 마음씨가 너무 좋아서 덩달아 마음이 따듯해졌다.) 나도 남들에게 이런 “좋은” 사람이 되었으면 한다. 그리고 확실히 시간이 조금 지난후에 쓴 글이라 초점이 여기에 맞춰지진 않았지만, 사랑이란것은 정말 따듯하고, 멋있고, 또 강력한것 같다. 언젠간 나도 이런 사랑을 하길.
(영화 버전도 비슷하게 전개가 살짝 빠른감이 있지만 여주 남주 모두 너무 이쁘고 일본 특유의 감성이 묻어나서 강추!)

[Madelynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

um who gave this book the right to break my heart like that