Review: The Easy Life in Kamusari

The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really loved the narrator of the audio, and I liked the idea of the story, but ultimately I was kinda bored by it.

It's set in the tiny village of Kamusari, where Yuki is sent to work for a year after finishing school. His parents hope it will help him find his way a little, learn discipline etc. Naturally he's very resistant at first but soon finds himself settling into the more relaxed lifestyle of the village.

The majority of the book details forestry work, and the rest is spent on festivals (SO. MANY. FESTIVALS.) and Yuki's lil crush on Nao, all of which excited very little interest in me I'm afraid. So content-wise, not really a lot to interest me.

What I did love, however, was the characters. There were so many vibrant personalities and I think the narrator did an excellent job of portraying each with their individual quirks without going out of his way to do ridiculous voices. It ended up being a lot of fun to lose myself in the discussions and arguments between the characters and imagine them all with their unique camaraderie.

I also did really love the idea of this quiet way of life, and that 'getting back to nature' vibe but I felt like this story didn't quite deliver on it. Yuki was too distracted by Nao and I felt that when he took the time to appreciate nature it really just went on for too long.

So:
-great idea
-average execution
-fantastic characters
-doing mundane things
-teenage drama
-excellent audio presentation

Loved the authenticity in the narration - some of those Japanese words looked very challenging so it was nice to hear them pronounced flawlessly out loud!

Those with a better attention span than I may get more details out of this story and so appreciate it more, but for me it was just okay, and mostly saved by the audio.

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