Kakigori Summer was unexpectedly nostalgic and emotional for me. It follows the story of three British-Japanese sisters born in Japan who lost their mother young and grew up to pursue very different paths. Rei is busy building her power career in London, Kiki is a single mother working in a retirement home in Tokyo, and Ai is the center of a popular Japanese girl band. When Ai experiences a public fall from grace, the sisters come together again in the rural seaside town they grew up and spend a summer facing their past, each other, and themselves.

I wasn't sure what I felt about this novel until the sisters made it back to their hometown - the book really comes alive at that point (rightly so) as each of the sisters reckons with their childhood together, their family, their identities as "hafu" in a rural Japanese community. I lived in Japan for almost a decade in my 20s, and some of Itami's descriptions of moments - light, smell, taste, memory - just hit me so strongly. While those experiences could never compare to those of a person's home country or part of their identity, it really made me feel closer to this story to know just a bit of that nostalgia and love the sisters felt towards the small beauties and joys of their hometown or the feelings of returning to Japan. It was clear to me that Itami, who I understand was also born in Japan, put a lot of what she must feel about Japan into this story and I think that's beautiful.

Beyond the cultural aspect, this is a touching story that touches on grief, memory, childhood, identity, family, and the continual discovery of who you are and what you want in life.

Much enjoyed! Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for the digital copy. All opinions my own.

This is the story of three sisters that could not be more different: Rei, who works in finance in England, Kiki, who is a single mother of a five year old and works in a retirement home, and Ai, who is a mega pop star in Japan. When Ai gets involved in a scandal, the sisters get together and go back to their hometown, where they haven't been back together in a long time because of the memories the house has of their late mother. There, their great-grandmother still lives and hasn't changed a lot, she's still judgemental and highly traditional. The three sisters and the child live a summer while hiding away Ai, who is deeply depressed. I liked learning a lot about Japanese culture, the good and the bad, including how Japanese tend to judge people that are mixed (the sisters are half white). The storytelling is slow and measured, and the writing is good with some outstanding quotes worth highlighting. Overall a very entertaining read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC!

Kakigori Summer, you perfect book. It was a beautiful story about sisterhood and love and loss and what really matters. Family and how we show love. How losses still hurt decades into the future. This was such a perfect summer read and also such a perfect way to reckon with what brings us joy and peace. The sisters having only each other, Kiki’s son, and their great grandmother makes this a story about family, but also about finding what family means. We often tell ourselves versions of the truth that feel better - less sad, that hurt less - to protect the current and future versions of ourselves. Kakigori Summer explores how all of these factors come together in a world where your baby sister has had her life ripped out from under her as the sisters all escape to the seaside town they’re from to find themselves. They succeed. We leave them as they begin to lay the foundations of these new lives.

"Kakigori Summer" is a slow, quiet novel about sisterhood. Three sisters living very different lives are reunited in their Japanese seaside hometown for a summer in the wake of one sister's crisis. The novel explores their relationship through each sister's perspective, which sometimes felt a little disjointed, but the language is beautiful. Check this one out if you enjoy character driven literary fiction and like to slowly savor a novel.

Itami shines when writing close personal relationships, and the sisters in this book made my heart twinge from how real their interactions feel. It made me think of my own sisters. She remains an instant auto-buy author for me

In 𝘒𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳, three sisters return to their childhood home on the Japanese coast in the aftermath of a celebrity scandal. The siblings are very different from one another: Oldest sister Rei is a London-based finance executive whose life revolves around work. Middle child Kiki, a former rebellious teen, is now a single mom who divides her time between taking care of people at a retirement home and taking care of her young son Hikaru. The youngest, Ai, is a famous singer-songwriter and J-pop star who has recently done something self-destructive. At the beginning of the book, the siblings are separated by distance and circumstance, but they return home together to get away from the spotlight and inadvertently confront their personal demons and family history.

While the premise is very interesting, I admit I had trouble connecting to the storyline and characters. The story is beautifully written and wonderfully descriptive, but it was perhaps a bit too slow-moving for me. But overall, this is a solid novel that explores family relationships, racial identity, and mental health best suited for those who enjoy quiet, character-driven narratives. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Mini Audiobook Review: Thank you so much to Mariner Books for sending me a complimentary copy!

This book is out now!

I am conflicted on how I feel about this book. I love the premise of this book of the sisters who are not close (in proximity) to one another and just each have so much going on in their lives. I was the most invested in Ai's storyline. As someone who is fascinated by the celebrity culture, I was interested in her perspective being in the middle of a scandal.

The book has a lot of generational depression discussion. The eldest two sisters knew that their mom was depressed but did not realize that their youngest sister had also been depressed. The way that it is described by Ai was just so heartbreaking. It just continues the theory that just because a person may seem like they have it all, does not mean that they are happy. I thought the discussion surrounding their mother's depression and then death was very moving and poignant.

I'm not sure what didn't connect for me. Perhaps if I read with my eyes I would have felt more of a connection to the characters and parts just felt like it dragged. I would read this author again because I thought she did a good job at describing the characters and their dynamics. I think this book could be a good pick for book clubs.

A really, really enjoyable follow-up from Emily Itami. Like her debut, there are so many strengths. I love how Itami describes food, how she gets at the nuances of how families interact, how she writes children. It's sad and sweet without ever feeling too saccharine. Being split into multiple perspectives, I maybe could have done with a better balance between the siblings so I felt like I knew them all equally, but that's a minor gripe in such a short and satisfying novel.

As the name implies, this is a great summer read. It's lighthearted, yet emotional. It tells the story of three sisters at different stages in their lives, and how a scandal brings them back together. Unlike others who said it took a while to read, I sailed right through it. The resolutions came a bit too easily, but I didn't mind.

My biggest issue with the novel is that one of the sisters has an affair with a significant power imbalance—and potentially he groomed her?—but that's never even addressed! I kept waiting for how problematic this relationship was to come up, and it never did! I also had some trouble following the narrative because it quickly jumped between sisters in each chapter. But, overall, it was an easy read and an enjoyable story.

A beautifully told story of sisters taking care of each other after a traumatic event. They return to their hometown and grapple with feeling unwelcome and not fitting in. I loved learning about Japanese culture and customs.

Three sisters, Rei, Kiki and Ai, return to their childhood home to support one another but find that events from the past still need to be confronted. When pop star Ai is embroiled in a scandal, all three sisters meet in the small Japanese coastal town of Ikimura. There, they eat shaved ice (the titular kakigori), reminisce about time spent there as children and gather the strength to tackle their difficult adulthoods. This novel is quiet, reflective and beautifully balances bittersweet nostalgia with hope for the future.

A great story about sisters. I really enjoyed the Japanese setting especially on the more remote island. Great for people looking for character driven books.

I really enjoyed this one—Emily Itami has such a distinct, crisp voice, and Kakigori Summer is both quietly funny and surprisingly moving. It’s a slim novel but manages to pack in a lot: motherhood, identity, loneliness, desire. I loved the Tokyo setting and the sense of place she creates, especially in the small, specific moments. The narrator’s voice is wry and observant, which gives the book an appealing lightness even when it’s exploring heavier emotions. It didn’t quite hit me on the same level as Fault Lines, but it’s a sharp, thoughtful read I’d absolutely recommend—especially if you’re in the mood for something short, atmospheric, and a little bit bittersweet.

Emily Itami needs the Sally Rooney popular literary fiction PR box treatment. I would read any book she writes in any genre about any subject. But 3 sisters with mommy issues trying to find themselves at their home by the sea????? GIVE ME 12.

Did I mention the most important relevant beautiful child in literature is in this book? Exactly.

I’m sorry but who else can write so perfectly and humorously. “I don’t like flying. It’s too much like the experience of being alive.”

You will laugh. You will cry. You will laugh until you cry. You will look into the process of adopting a fictional child.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy!

This was a quick and entertaining read that I finished in a few hours.
A well written story that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
The characters draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
The characters were all realistic and very well developed.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself hooked, turning the pages.

I absolutely loved this latest novel from Emily Itami. We follow three sisters as they navigate major life changes during one summer as they reunite in Japan. They are "haffu" or half-Japanese, and I loved the insight into what this is like in Japan, and the writing from each of their points of view is spectacular. Itami's writing style is exactly what I love - detailed without being too flowery, with lots of lovely descriptions of Japan - all the objects in their houses, shops, nature, food, etc. This is a must for lovers of Japan. It does move pretty slowly, but I didn't mind that. This novel is perfect for a summer read with a bit more substance.

4.5 I really, really liked this. Three "haafu" sisters - half Japanese, half European - wind up back in their small town in Japan after Ai, an Idol, gets in a PR/mental health crisis. Kiki, a single mother to an apparently adorable young boy, quits her job in a care home, and Rei takes a leave from her London investment firm to get Ai back on track. The town is also home to their crotchety grandmother and the ghost of their drowned mother. They each have their own demons to wrestle with but also need to exorcise their mother's end.
I loved the writing; I found the sisters to be fairly distinct, particularly Rei, and the descriptions of the area were lovely. It reminded me of visiting around Kesennuma, with the pines and the rocks and the sea. Also appreciated the Lawson shoutout - it really made me want to go back to Japan. Biggest though was the portrayal of sisterhood: it hit on the feeling I get with my own sister, of being home and sharing so much history. Just lovely.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Based on the synopsis, I expected to love this novel but it was too much of everything-too many characters, too many sub-plots and too much dialogue, It might be for others, but it was not for me.

There are some books that find you in the perfect moment in your life and others who change your life so finely that you’d never see it coming, Kakigori Summer was both of those for me. I feel a sense of immense gratitude to Emily Itami for writing this meditation on life, family, and grief with such care and respect. I saw myself in all three sisters and kept reading to the end to see what would happen to them as perhaps a guide for my own life. The rawness that Emily Itami is able to convey in their writing about such sensitive yet mundane issues is exceptional and solidifies them as a must read author for me. I was already a fan after Fault Lines and could not imagine how she’d do even better in her sophomore book. This is my top read of the year thus far and will, most likely, remain so until the end. Readers who have enjoyed books focusing on family relationships such as Sally Rooney and Intermezzo will love this one. Come for the messy dynamic of life and sisterhood and grief and stay for the lush and hard hitting prose and the cutest nephew. I hope you read this somehow Emily, and I hope you never stop writing.

Emily Itami's "Kakigori Summer" is a quiet yet deeply moving story about sisterhood, memory, and the lingering pain of loss. Written with Itami’s signature mix of dry humor and gentle sadness, the emotional depth is expanded through the story of three estranged sisters brought back together during a summer reunion.

Rei, Kiki, and Ai couldn't be more different from one another. Rei is driven and ambitious, Kiki is a harried single mother, and Ai is a music idol who is feeling adrift. Itami's narrative brings them together with care and insight, showing how their personalities both clash and connect in subtle, meaningful ways. As Rei and Kiki return to their childhood home to support Ai through a public scandal, the story unfolds not through big plot twists, but through small, powerful moments.

Itami is especially good at showing how people express emotions without words, and how love, grief, and guilt can be felt in silence or in what’s left unsaid. This is a story filled with hope, grounded in the idea that even broken relationships can be repaired, and that sometimes just being there for someone is enough.

"Kakigori Summer" is a heartfelt story of family, and a gentle, touching novel that is sure to stay with readers for a long time.