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FINAL REVIEW // In high school, I was practically friends with everyone. I was friendly with all the different social hierarchies. Perhaps this is because I didn’t really self-identify with any one group. I made sure to talk to everyone: from the popular kids to the students considered to be the bottom of the totem pole. I have seen people getting bullied. It was always strange to see people who I considered friends bullying people who I also considered friends. And yet I said nothing. I didn’t tell the bullies to stop, I didn’t step in to defend the ones being bullied, and I didn’t tell an authority figure. This book had me revisiting that time period of my life. It made me wonder: why do people bully others? Why do bullies mostly get away with it? It made me contemplate why people stand by the sidelines and do nothing? It made me think about why when we know it’s wrong, we still gather in groups to watch the “spectacle.� And most of all, it made me come to understand that as much as I thought I understood the anguish bullied kids go through, I couldn’t possibly fathom how much pain and misery it must be to wake up every morning, knowing you’ll have to face the fresh hell that will be unleashed on you when you get to school. Basically, I was only getting the bare minimum, only pieces of the whole story: what about all the times I did not see? What is it truly like to live with endless agony? Why did I stay silent?
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This book dives into a lot of these feelings, questions, and contemplations. We follow a 14-year old boy who is given the nickname “Eyes� because of his lazy eye. He is tormented at school by his peers, especially a threatening group of boys from his class. He develops a friendship with a girl named Kojima, who is also a victim of bullying albeit for a different reason. What a heartbreaking, devastating, and absorbing story. And hard-hitting. Kawakami doesn’t shy away from the brutality and barbarism of bullying. If you’re an emotional reader, this book is going to break your heart into tiny pieces…several times. And if you were/are a victim of bullying, you may want to steer clear of this one—Just a friendly heads up. The bullying scenes are extremely intense and detailed. There is one particularly harrowing scene that seems to go on and on, which had me feeling deeply unsettled and left a lump in my throat. You’re witness to every dark thought, every act of desperation, every cry for help. And the reading experience makes you feel powerless.
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Although this is a story of trauma, emotional fragility, and helplessness, there is also a lot of beauty to be found: friendship, love, and loyalty. And let’s not forget: breathtaking imagery. The last two pages are gorgeous. And can I say, “Heaven� is the perfect title for this book.

Emotional, philosophical, extraordinary. One of my favorite books of the year for sure. I need to read Kawakami’s other books, like, now. This book left me breathless� and broken.