*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.
While in Tokyo with Chako and Gen, Reiji visits Esemori in the hospital, where he’s dying of cancer.
It seems the misery is cyclical, and I am so tired of this series trying to make me feel bad for horrible people. Yeah, your tragic back story is quite moving, Yuko, but that’s no excuse to, oh, I dunno… Encourage an adult woman’s obsession with your barely legal son? This poor kid has nobody in his corner, and as much as I’d like for this to end in triumph for Reiji, with him breaking the cycle, I don’t have high hopes for that. I get the feeling the sadness will just keep going, and as a reader, the payoff will likely be just the desperate need to go read something more positive. 3 out of 5.
