A review by crothe77
The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi

emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

 
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Lantern of Lost Memories by Hiiragi Sanaka is a third person multi-POV Japanese speculative contemporary. Mr. Hirasaki helps the dead choose the last moments they see before they die, helping smooth their path into the afterlife. If a photo isn’t clear, he takes them back in time to retake the photo and let them relive that moment. But he’s not allowed to interfere and change the course of their fate.

The concept of the story is essentially a thought experiment for ‘what if you could choose the moments you saw when your life flashes before your eyes’ and it’s fascinating. You have seemingly unlimited time to choose one photo from every year that you’ve been alive and someone is there to help you relieve an important one before passing, but you’re also doing so with the knowledge that your time is pretty much up. How compassionate is that, to be given the time to grieve your life and come to terms with death? 

The small wrenches thrown in the plot are that Mr. Hirasaki can’t remember his own past, with only a single photograph that provides him with any clue of who he used to be and that, every once in a while, sometimes someone comes who will escape death but will come back later. I liked that the story recognized that possibility and worked with it to create something both heart wrenching and beautiful. 

What stops me from calling this book a cozy fantasy is that the last of the three stories features some uncomfortable themes in enough detail that moves it away from cozy for me, personally. It is a hopeful book, it is a beautiful, human concept, it has fairly small stakes, and I really enjoyed it. 

Content warning for depictions of child abuse

I would recommend this to fans of novels that are thought experiments, readers looking for a Japanese speculative contemporary novel that is lighter on the fantastical elements, and those who really love books featuring cameras and photographs

 
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