Review by Booklist Review
Rumor has it that the light at the end of the tunnel that Monika and Shiori are walking through is the literal resurrection of a deceased loved one. Both girls have suffered recent losses--Monika's classmate Shun overdosed, while Shiori's mother was killed in a car accident--and with every few steps in the tunnel, the girls are tossed into reliving another memory. At first, Monika's memories revolve around Shun, and Shiori's around her mother, but soon the girls are experiencing each other's memories and seeing other loved ones who have passed. Aside from the flood of exposition at the beginning, nearly the entire book takes place in flashbacks as Monika and Shiori traverse the tunnel, resulting in a plot that focuses on introspection more than action. Addiction and abuse are handled with gentle nuance as the two are pushed to explore the complications of the relationships in their lives, ultimately facing a big question: Do they want to perform resurrection, or do they actually want personal redemption?
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Eighteen-year-old Monika feels adrift. Her best friend is moving to New York City for college, and only Monika seems shaken by classmate Shun's recent death. During the school's Japanese Club's farewell get-together, Monika learns about the legend of the Yomigaeri Tunnel and its ability to resurrect the dead. She sets out to enter the tunnel, and when she arrives, Monika meets Shiori, a surly teen from another school intending to revive her own mother. The duo ventures into the underpass as reluctant companions. But when they're separated in the dark, Monika plummets into a memory of the first time she saw Shun, setting into motion a series of events in which both girls encounter past recollections and new confrontations in ethereal visions--conjured by the tunnel--that challenge their self-perceptions and reveal uncomfortable truths. With empathy and insight, Murashige (The Lost Souls of Benzaiten) presents nuanced discussions around emotional abuse and substance reliance, and depicts the characters' experiences navigating loss and grief as they search for the space to grow and heal. Chapters open with a spoof on high school yearbook superlatives ("most addicted to slushies," "best stalker"), highlighting Monika's off-beat humor and acerbic first-person narration. Most characters are of East Asian heritage. Ages 14--up. Agent: Kate Testerman, KT Literary. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
If you could bring someone back to life, who would it be? For Japanese American Monika, a recent high school graduate, the choice is obvious. Her classmate Shun died of an overdose in January, and his death still weighs on her mind. At the graduation brunch for her school's Japanese Club, Monika overhears a conversation about the Yomigaeri Tunnel. A local urban legend says that anyone who can walk the tunnel's full length will be granted the power to resurrect someone. Some internet searching and a bus ride later, Monika arrives at the tunnel, where she finds Shiori, who was also at the brunch and intends to bring her mother back. The girls enter the tunnel together, and as they walk through the darkness, they're plunged into a series of visions from their pasts. Curiously, aside from one childhood memory, Monika's visions don't include Shun. Instead, she's forced to relive moments that remind her of personal regrets and the pain of loss. When Monika is suddenly thrown into Shiori's memories, she begins to wonder if there's more to passing the tunnel's test than mere endurance. Generational trauma and the complexity of grief form the thematic core of this introspective story, which handles its weighty topics with care and empathy. Suspense builds from the secrets that obscure Monika's and Shiori's motivations and their questions about the tunnel's true nature as it alters in unpredictable ways. Thought-provoking and original. (content warning)(Speculative fiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
