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Posted 20 hours ago

Catfish Rolling

£9.9£99Clearance
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Catfish Rolling was a book with a fascinating and original premise, and I enjoyed the combination of science and Japanese myth. The story starts off strong with the magical concept of the catfish rolling and causing Japan to shake. Identity, family and loss are key themes running throughout the novel where myth, fantasy and scientific discovery collide.

This is a truly thought-provoking thriller, channelling the menace of dystopian favourites such as Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. This event ends up changing time itself by tilting the earth slightly off its axis – creating ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ zones where time moves more slowly or quickly than normal.Magical realism blends with Japanese myth and legend in an original story about grief, memory, time and an earthquake that shook a nation. There's a biting scene where Sora's father's boss says that her Japanese is really good, and she responds along the lines of, "And so is yours. The Japanese culture is gently interwoven between scientific explanations and coming-of-age romance to make an enchanting. It's an intrigue world and circumstance, which leaves many questions and offers the hope that she'll not only figure things out. Whilst she struggles to socially connect with her peers, she discovers a unique ability to travel in and out of the zones, able to feel the distinct shifts in time.

This will be one of those elusive narratives that I won’t be able to review well because words can’t capture the magic of Catfish Rolling.

It is an incredibly well written story, which I gather was at least partly inspired by the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011. This would appeal well to readers that love a slower pace story with some magic realism and digging deeper into Japanese mythology and culture, but not if you need an epic fantastical “save the world” plot, but you’ll get something out of it if this is for you. I love the cover of this book, it caught my eye instantly and as soon as I read the blurb I wanted to jump right in.

At the heart of the story is Sora, dealing with her life after graduating high school, with her relationship with her father growing more distant in the years since her mother was lost in the shake. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review! I especially admire the way the author was able to describe the out of bounds areas so well that I could easily visualise what the characters were seeing and hearing. A gorgeous meditation on finding yourself when all feels lost and confusing, and learning that not everything is as bad as you think. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself.Magic-realism blends with Japanese myth and legend in an original story about grief, memory, time and an earthquake that shook a nation. The main theme of this novel is, however, grief, and I thought it dealt with this topic beautifully, with the difficulty of losing someone you love playing through this whole book; how you can feel that you've moved on, but then grief rears it's head and you're lost all over again. Mining philosophy, science fiction and Japanese mythology to craft a mature, compelling story of loss and tragedy, Kumagai spins the tale of a Japan fractured in time by an earthquake caused by an infamous monster. Sora grew up with the legend of the giant catfish that lives under the islands of Japan; a creature of magic and myth responsible for earthquakes and tsunami’s by flicks of its tail. I loved how Sora's relationships (with her father, her missing mother, and her guy friend) are messy and complicated.

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