Disclaimer: I've only read the first volume so far, but it concludes the main plot. The second volume is more like a side-story. Without wanting to spoil anything, if you expect a cute, wholesome romance here, look elsewhere. I've walked into this novel expecting exactly that, and it indeed starts out that way, but then takes a turn you wouldn't expect from the synopsis. The romance is certainly there, and it is good. But the focus of this novel lies elsewhere. This is a heavy novel, and it hurt me. More than romance, it is a story about how we deal with the hardships of life. Itis about suffering, but more than that, it is about how we live with suffering, how we derive the strength to go on while suffering, and sometimes, overcome it.

I wish I could be more specific, but I don't want to risk spoiling anything.

The author hits all the right notes, approaching difficult subjects with a tender kindness befitting of the topic. There is no element of "shock" here, no overdramatization. If you or someone you know well has lived through a similar siutation, many situations, anecdotes or the feelings of our main characters will feel familiar. But even if you haven't they are well described and developed.

This novel made me cry several times. It reminded me a bit of Violet Evergarden in that way, but I don't think any book has ever managed that before. In the afterword, the author wrote they wanted to write a novel that "stays in your heart" and "lives on in the deepest parts of yourself", something that you remember from time to time, and that might give you strength when you need it. While it is still too early to tell whether that's the case for me, they might just have succeeded.

This wasn't what I expected, but it was a beautiful work.