The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

So there's an actual phone booth (disconnected) in a garden in Otsuchi that has become a spot to help people who have lost loved ones heal. They come, they sit in the garden a bit, and “talk” to their deceased loved ones through this disconnected phone. Basically it lets them say the things they were never able to say when they were alive. There's a whole Wikipedia article here about it, and an Atlas Obscura article on it as well, with pictures. I thought this is a touching, fascinating idea, and was prepared for something to make me cry.

I dunno, this book just didn't click with me. It was fine? But I just never felt connected with any of the characters. Yui lost her mother and daughter before the story starts, and she meets Takeshi at the Wind Phone, there grieving for his lost wife. Takeshi has a daughter Hana, and the three of them grapple with what a relationship together means while also healing from their loss. It's a fine story, just not one I really wanted. For a phone that talks to dead relatives, I was expecting more drama, more tears, more touching heartbreak. I was actually a little bored with the story told, but it was fine enough.

An interesting premise without an interesting story, for me anyway. Someone coping with loss and rebuilding their life may get more out of it than I did, however.