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NICK BRADLEY, author of THE CAT AND THE CITY * Propulsive and poetic * KIRKUS REVIEWS * Deeply moving. As the competition proceeds through four taut rounds, eliminating contestants liberally along the way, Onda places the reader not only in the position of those playing a particular piece, but often in the minds of several observers, each with their own take on the style and effect of the playing.Their varying backgrounds and approaches to music are the result of Onda toying with the idea of genius and how it measures up against hard work and valuable social connections. There plot itself is very straightforward and predictable about halfway through the second round, and some of the surprises for the characters aren’t surprises for the readers. Riku Onda’s Honeybees and Distant Thunder makes a valiant attempt to do just this when portraying the universal language of music and its effect on listeners. Synaesthetic and devout, it locates such meaning in the evolving work of four central talents: Akashi, who at twenty-eight is aging out of being able to consider music as a career path; Jin, untested on the contest circuit, whose gifts rise from somewhere primal and crystalline; and Aya and Masaru, who met music together as children, lost each other, and are delighted to reconnect on Yoshigae’s stage.

Round 1 is incredibly longer than the other rounds, and we don’t get the full scope of the romance aspects.

Despite this, the four rivals unite through interwoven narratives, which bind them through tragedy, romance and friendship. The Night Circus meets Lonely Castle in the Mirror in this multi-award-winning Japanese bestseller, available finally in an English translation by Philip Gabriel, a translator of Murakami- AN FT BEST SUMMER READ 2023- OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD IN JAPAN- WINNER OF THE NAOKI PRIZE AND THE JAPAN BOOKSELLERS' AWARD- A MAJOR MOVIE RELEASE IN JAPAN'A thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship, and personal demons' OBSERVER'Propulsive and poetic' KIRKUSWelcome to a magical world of music, friendship and rivalry . Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. Ale to szczegół przy ogromie ciepłych emocji, ekscytacji i muzycznych uniesień, których doznałam w czasie lektury. If you’re a long-time reader of this blog when it comes to my book reviews, you’ve probably already noticed this, but I have a deep love and appreciation for translated literature.

It is a work that I believe will offer something new upon each new reading, and it's certainly one I will be keeping on my shelves. Even readers with no prior affection for the works played in the competition should be tantalized into taking a listen by Onda's descriptions of the music and its effects on listeners; one piece sounds like “a fluffy, plumped-up quilt, cushiony, as well as slightly damp” and another like a “thick, rough-hewn log.Onda’s musical novel Honeybees and Distant Thunder was a smash hit when it first came out in 2017, snapping up both the Naoki Prize and Japan Booksellers’ Award the same year. Set over two weeks of a fictional piano competition in Japan, Onda’s novel is a thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship and personal demons. There's also a sort of love interest subplot that is just forgotten for most of the book and feels incredibly half-baked.