I enjoyed the little stories of which this book is made, however it seems that there are really two books here. The short narratives of customers wandering onto Gloaming street and the second half, which tells us of the creation of the Amberglow Candy Store itself.

The shorter stories, I admit, I did find quickly had a repetitive feel. While I know this type of book generally includes shorter, formulaic pieces in which different characters have a similar experience, I found they were too alike for my personal taste. Not the actual reason the character found their way to the shrine and then to Gloaming street, but the experience of finding the street, finding the shop, interacting with Kogetsu, roaming through the confections, etc.

That being said, I did enjoy the shorter stories, but the final chapter focusing on Kogetsu and Akifumi was where I felt the book really got interesting. It was, by far, my favorite part of the story. It was the chapter in which I found myself the most emotionally involved and it didn’t feel as formulaic as the other pieces.

Overall, the book had a cozy fantasy feel and I always love reading stories about yokai and food!

Very lighthearted and easy read, and while I really enjoy these sorts of books for commuting for to pick up and put down in-between work tasks, I don't think I would recommend buying this over just borrowing it from the library. Now that it's read, I have no desire to go back for more from this author per say unless they went in a different direction or wrote more of a novel than curated short stories revolving around simple themes. I could see this book doing really well for younger readers in high school and undergrad university age, but for someone more experience in life, this might just be a "fine" book and not something you would go out of your way to tell people about.

The introduction is a first-person narrative of a girl missing her boyfriend. It continues for several pages. He is off at college. This may be a good book for a young adult girl. Sentence structure and vocabulary lends itself to late elementary or middle school.

This book felt like being wrapped in a warm, quiet kind of magic. I fell in love with its softness, with how gently it explored the ache of human longing and the strange, beautiful ways people try to mend the cracks inside themselves. The writing is delicate and rich. Every word felt intentional, like a quiet breath or a secret spoken over tea. What stayed with me most was the atmosphere. It all felt so deeply human, even with the glimmer of otherworldly magic behind it. There is no grand romance here in the usual sense, but there is love in every corner of this story. Love for the bittersweet parts of being alive. Love for second chances, for healing, for small moments of grace. And that, to me, is just as tender and powerful. This book felt like a lullaby for the soul. I adored every quiet, enchanted page.

While nothing truly revolutionary for the genre, The Amberglow Candy Store is another cozy entry in this equal parts lovely and odd subgenre of fiction.

It made me have a sweet tooth for candy that isn't easy to find where I live!

Each episodic chapter is heartwarming in their own ways but it seems like I have hit a wall with the ways that books formatted like this can surprise me. I think this one in particular is a little more obvious in the naming of each candy and the troubles of the protagonist of each chapter.

I love translated literature and have become a huge fan of Japanese translated works. This is going to be one I remember for a while. The shopkeeper is quite something. While the humans in the stories are well written, it is the shopkeeper that hekp my attention and smoothly tied everything together. 4.25 stars.