Sisters in Yellow

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The marketing for Sisters in Yellow uses phrases like “pacy,” “thrilling,” and even “Japanese Breaking Bad.” Luckily, I didn't pay attention to that and go in with any false expectations, because this book ended up reading more like a slow-burn character study than a thriller.

A big plus was that I found Kawakami's exploration of loneliness and survival to be focused. The novel successfully shows how a fixation on financial security can become a kind of emotional protection that also pushes others away. I think the book is also an effective commentary on class, poverty, and the limited choices available to women living on the margins of Japanese society.

More positives: Kawakami builds the world through small, lived-in details, and the voice fits the material well. While Hana isn’t easy to sympathize with, her behavior feels believable. The supporting cast also keeps things interesting by adding tension and uncertainty throughout. Overall, the emotional impact of the novel leans more toward sadness and unease than big drama, and that resonated with me.

The main issue for me was the pacing, mostly due to Hana’s anxieties becoming repetitive and the long monologues and stretches of exposition (especially about the mechanics of card fraud).

In the second half, some narrative threads meander instead of building momentum, and the ending feels abrupt compared to the slow buildup. The present-day framing device ends up feeling underdeveloped.

Could the novel have been shorter? Probably. Was the length unbearable? No. I think the patience will pay off for most readers who make it to the end, even though the book could have been more tightly edited.

Overall, I enjoyed Sisters in Yellow enough that I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy stories about loneliness, survival, and belonging.

My rating: 3.75/5 Stars.