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Review: The girl who leapt through time by Yasutaka Tsutsui

The girl who leapt through time by Yasutaka Tsutsui
published by Alma Books
Source: review copy



One of Tsutsui's best-known and most popular works in his native Japan, The Girl Who Leapt through Time is the story of fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Kazuko, who accidentally discovers that she can leap back and forth in time. In her quest to uncover the identity of the mysterious figure that she believes to be responsible for her paranormal abilities, she'll constantly have to push the boundaries of space and time, and challenge the notions of dream and reality.

***

The girl who leapt through time is certainly an interesting read. I knew that I was getting this for review a while back so I managed to get my hands on the film based on it and watched that before I read this. This is probably a mistake because watching coloured my opinion on the book.

The girl who leapt through time in book format is really just a longer short story. It is very brief in its plotline with little character development. It's not to say it isn't entertaining and quite nice story in itself just a bit too brief really. I also found it quite confusing that two of the main characters had very similiar names (one only having on letter extra than the other) which made it a little hard at times to follow what was happening to who. I liked the ideas and the concept behind it but would have liked a bit more story and a bit more development of the characters which is something the film of the same name certainly does.

I would recommend if you are interested in this title to start with the book first as an introduction and watch the film second.

Comments

Jules said…
I love the title of this, that alone would probably make me want to read it!
I always try to encourage the girls to read the book first as the movie portrayls are so different. Thanks for the review :D
時をかける少女! I've seen part of the latest adaptation that came out last year but never finished it. The name alone got my interest, although I almost forgot it was based on the book that came out about 40 years ago, I believe. Back onto the list!
Mel said…
I have to admit I've had this on my radar for a while, but would probably never watch the film. When you say short - how short a book? I like to make sure I can get my money's worth! :)