Lovely story of sisters, half Japanese and half British, who come together in a crisis by retreating to their childhood home with their undiscussed, unresolved issues.
The chapters are narrated by different sisters. Unfortunately their voices on the page, and as narrated, are quite similar. I often wondered who was “speaking” while listening.
Nevertheless, the stories of each sister and their shared trauma are engaging and interesting. The author sprinkles in some information about Kanji - for example, the symbol for sky is also used on taxis when they are open or available, causing one character to wonder (as a child) if the “sky taxis” could take to the air. These delightful asides added character depth, as did their thoughts about being “mixed race.”
My thanks to the author, publisher, @HarperAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #KakigoriSummer for review purposes. Publication date: 10 June 2025.

This book follows three sisters as they navigate and reminisce on some of life's hardships.

Rei is the oldest of the sisters and is majorly parentified. Even before their mother's mysterious passing, Rei stepped in to care for her two younger sisters when their mom's mental health pulled her into a dark place. Now she's a people pleaser, driven to achieve all manner of success even at her own detriment.

Kiki is the second sister. She's a single mother and works as a nursing caregiver for the elderly. She's grateful for the gift of her son, but still wants more from life.

Ai is the youngest. She's an incredibly musically talent idol who has suddenly fallen into disgrace since photos of her kissing a married man surfaced.

Ai's plunge into societal shame has sent her into a depression spiral, but if she's honest, it started beforehand. This spiral brings Rei and Kiki running to protect and care for their baby sister. Faced with continued scrutiny in Tokyo the three head to their childhood home.

But this retreat brings with it a crotchety old grandma, memories of their mother's struggles and death, and who they were as girls.

I enjoyed the sibling dynamics and the imperfections of each character. No one ends this story totally healed, but there's peeks of hope for the future.

Objectively, this book is good, it just didn’t hold my interest. I think I would have preferred it to be in one POV or 3rd person. It was a bit difficult to distinguish the voices. I enjoyed the audiobook narration, but felt it could have benefited from each POV having a different narrator.