Cold Enough for Snow

“I wanted to walk in the woods and among the trees. I wanted not to speak to anyone, only to see and hear, to feel lonely.”

Lovely. Soft, calm, and reflective. The story follows a young woman travelling to Japan with her mother, as she floats in and out of memories and loses herself deep in thought. It flows so seamlessly and felt exactly like I was drifting in and out of the narrator's mind with her. This would be a perfect book to read on a holiday, a long train ride, or a soft and rainy day.

I resonated with the narrator's desire to engage in deeper conversation but not being able to articulate exactly what it is you want to ask of people. Much of the story is centered around her feelings, which she sometimes struggles to grasp and define, yet I felt as though I understood her sentiments perfectly. What it feels like to be on the brink of an intense feeling or thought that you cannot articulate and passes by in seconds. But she embraces this loneliness she feels among her own thoughts, and emphasises the joy to be found in the simple pleasures of life - being with people you love, listening to a storm in the warmth of your own bed, being in nature.

I admired the way in which the author encapsulated feeling inadequate and out of place. She describes her view of other people as seemingly complete in a way that she isn't, feeling as if there is some bigger understanding or way of being that she is missing but that other people have. However, the narrative goes on with an underlying calmness, wherein the narrator reflects upon her desire to simply experience and observe and “let life happen to [her]”, accepting what she cannot control rather than lamenting about it. That you cannot compare one life to another, and that it is okay to not be sure of what you want.

It was comforting, touching, and meditative. 4 stars because I feel as though it could have been longer and spent more time exploring the relationship between the narrator and her mother - but I feel that perhaps the point is all that was left unsaid between them.