A beautiful coming of age story — set in 1972 suburban Japan — Mina’s Matchbox follows two cousins as they bond over first loves, literature, and a pygmy hippopotamus named Pochiko. Translated from the Japanese original, there’s a slightly stiff formality to the writing, but author Yōko Ogawa paints a vivid picture of the time and place, and by the novel’s end, I felt totally immersed and emotionally invested. Ogawa captures something true and universal about this transitional time of life and I believed everything she writes about the long-term effects of childhood experiences, family ties, and being disappointed by the ones we most admire. I loved this, rounding up to five stars.

Mina's Matchbox is literary fiction at it's finest. The story is about one year in the life of a young girl, Tomoko, who is sent to live with her wealthy Aunt and Uncle. While this is not an action packed, quick paced story, it is full of discovery and bittersweet moments meant to be savoured slowly, a bit at a time.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.