In the end, this historical young adult novel moved me.

Granted, despite the publisher's description, I wouldn't call the book a romance. Taro and Hana don't meet each other until about halfway through the novel, and even from there, they don't have the most interaction.

While I liked the nonchronological unfolding of the story, much of the book ambles along through the separate lives of two young people, unknown to each other, who'll cross paths...eventually. I appreciate the story's sense of setting and culture, but perhaps some scenes could have been edited down or omitted to keep the plot moving forward. I think it stalls the progress in a fiction read when, for instance, the narrative spends multiple paragraphs describing how a certain lunch is prepared. The reading was on the slow side for me until some point during the second half.

Still, the novel has moments of aching exquisiteness. Moments of ethereal brilliance, even when they're bittersweet. Those moments were enough to keep me reading until the story truly came alive for me.

Besides, having enjoyed historical fiction from this author before—and after seeing the poignant blend of war, understated emotion, and quiet beauty displayed on the book cover—I wouldn't have been able to resist seeing just how the title and the plot would come together. ( )

I love this book and enjoyed Ms Smith's writing style. This is a young adult, historical fiction novel set in the final months of World War II. Although the premise is based on a real-life group of schoolgirls caring for and sending off tokkō pilots, it is about the spaces between sacrifice and duty, grief and hope.

The only thing I knew about tokkō (also known as Kamikaze) pilots is that they deliberately crashed specially made planes directly into enemy warships, which resulted in suicide. It was a desperate policy, obviously.

This book tells us about the lives and feelings of these tokkō pilots, as well as the school girls who cared for them. Ms Smith did her research well. I couldn't put the book down. I felt that I was learning about this particular history in a memorable, personal way.

It's a story about how someone could believe in giving their life for a cause and remain so human.
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This book was good. Told a much different side to the war and what it's like for kamikaze soldiers and what they are feeling. Definitely a different perspective than what is taught in school. One that I would recommend to students who enjoy reading Historical Fiction. ( )

Stunning. A young Japanese girl meets a young kamikaze pilot just days before his mission. Both acknowledge they've never felt more alive before meeting each other, and both have to come to terms with his inevitable death. Absolutely heartwrenching. ( )

This book made me think of the Kamikaze pilots of WWII as human beings, in fact, very young human beings. It gave me an idea of what life might have been like for them as they faced their destiny, and also for the people who took care of them, especially the high school girls enlisted to help them prepare for their journey. Those are my kudos for the book, which I have to say was not bought by any of the libraries in my network until I requested it in ebook form.

It took me awhile to understand the structure of the story. The time was mixed up between Hana's and Taro's stories. Finally I figured it out, but it was disconcerting.

I think it would have been a better book if the author had not chosen a feel good ending over a more realistic one, but then this is young adult fiction. ( )