This is a very character driven book. I loved the writing style and author describes the setting so well. This is a book about the different forms of love.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Absolutely loved this book. I was first drawn to it by its utterly gorgeous cover. It wasn't long and a beautiful read.

Fabulous! A engaging story of a housewife with the 'perfect life' who feels like she has lost a part of herself. Mizuki is likeable and relatable and the backdrop of Tokyo almost felt like another character. I look forward to reading more of Emily Itami's work in the future.

This was a really interesting read, with a lot of emotional vulnerability and incredible twists and turns!!

I thought I'd love this novel because of its setting; I love reading everything about Japan. But, unfortunately, I couldn't like the narration. Maybe the timing wasn't right, but I couldn't even finish it.

I adored this beautifully written novel that transported me to Tokyo and gave me a real sense of Japanese culture. It really gets to the core of relationships and I savoured each word. A novel that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

An interesting perspective on modern relationships. I liked this book but couldn’t say I loved it. I found it hard to connect and care for Mizuki, but I think that was down to the fact I am at a different stage in my life, rather than the story itself.

Since I have to read everything set in Japan and/or tackling Japanese culture/work situation/etc., I just HAD to read this one. I really hoped I would enjoy the romantic story more, but since I'm not really into this genre (but decided to give it a try), this was not my kinda book.

I really enjoyed this novel, the east-west theme was brilliantly crafted and the main protagonist was quite unique. Great story about womanhood, motherhood and freeing yourself from chains to become yourself again ⛓.

Thank you NetGalley / Orion Publishing Group for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was a real insight into the culture of work & business entertaining in modern Tokyo. I found Mizuki a compelling character and really felt for her, despite her behaviour.

A great page-Turner of a book that kept me engaged to the end. It was a wonderful immersion into Asian culture and transported me to vibrant Tokyo. A love story, torn between deciding to be true to herself or chose a new identity leaving behind all she has become. It is a great book, perfect for the summer.

I finished Fault Lines not knowing how to feel. It was a beautifully written book that explored what it is to find exactly what you want in life and to sacrifice it.

Mizuki is a housewife in Tokyo, she has two beautiful children, a beautiful home and a husband who works hard to support them. From the outside her life appears perfect but there is a growing distance between her and her husband and she increasingly feels disconnected from her perfect life. When she meets Kiyoshi, she feels as though she has found herself again.

Set in Tokyo, Japan, the book was evocative with i rich descriptions of the city and the different people who live in it. I could visualise the areas and the parks, the apartment blocks and the busy streets.

Mizuki's character was so well written and it was easy to sympathise with her. Her relationship with Kiyoshi was completely believable and I was rooting for a happy ending for her all the way through.

Fault Lines is described as a modern love story but it's so much more than that. It's about longing and love, and the impact of culture and how we deal with the expectations of that. And mostly it asks questions about love and what the true nature of love is in it's most basic form.

I absolutely loved this book and would recommend to anyone. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for supplying an advance copy of this book.

Mizuki, educated in New York and living in Tokyo with her husband, Tatsu, and two kids, Eri and Aki, is feeling a little frustrated with her life and embarks on an affair with restauranteur, Kiyoshi.

There’s a lot of scene setting in this book; Tokyo is the star of the show, closely followed by the sweetest relationship between Mizuki and her kids. Yet sadly I didn’t really connect to it until 75% of the way in, which is a shame as it’s beautifully written. I just wasn’t excited to pick it up.
I hate writing that, because there’s nothing wrong with it at all. It might just be that I need to pick it up another time.

An easy read that also manages to give some interesting insights into Japanese culture, traditions and expectations.. Mizuki is a housewife with 2 children and a salaryman husband who works all hours. Having spent time in New York, Mizuki has experience of another culture. She is finding the routine of daily life and a husband who barely notices her, just a little boring. Meeting Kiyoshi, turns her world around bringing back excitement and attention. Until she has to make a choice!

I'm sad to say I DNF'ed this book as I found the narrative tedious and the characters - pretty flat.

Emily Itami was able to put together a rollercoaster of emotions and the reader just needs to enjoy the ride.

Everything we know about love, growing up, parenthood and social constructions will be stirred together and presented in a captivating package called Fault Lines, the proof that it doesn’t take god knows what to deliver a good book, you just need to be good at it. And Itami is more that good at it.

Mizuki, our main character, is an ordinary woman with an ordinary life, full of love for her children but also frustration for her marriage, success and regrets, torn between contentment and longing for something different.
We’ve all been there, we’ve all been Mizuki and this novel will have readers split in two when it comes to the end. On one side, those who think Mizuki took the right decision, on the other side those who think things should have gone in a different way.

The thing is, Fault Lines is so relatable and always so true without being predictable. We want to be there for Mizuki or we are Mizuki. We’ve had our life shaped and morphed under the influence of a different culture, we’ve been strangers in our own countries, we’ve fallen in love and then fallen out of it. We have to live with the choices we made and make new ones to keep up with what we’ve become.

And if you have a soft spot for Japan like I have, then you’ll be satisfied with all Japanese things in this book, from the cultural mismatch between Japan and the West, to the iconic cherry blossoming.

Fault Lines will stay with me for a long time and I’ll keep recommend it to anyone I know, that’s how good it is.

I found this novel ery enjoyable and at the same time I am not sure I will remember much of it in a few weeks. Mizuki is a Japanese housewife who spends her days looking after her home and her two children, while her husband works long hours and barely seems to notice her when he gets home. She starts an affair with a restaurant owner she meets in a bar. A lot of the themes are about fitting in - she has spent time in New York and finds herself at odds with the other mums at the schoolgate -, getting older and realising your life is... not quite over, but already traced. The novel is quite pleasantly written, but I kept waiting for more... and nothing much happened that was not in the blurb the editors put on the website. I enjoyed the descriptions of Tokyo, but somehow the characters all felt similar and distant. Regardless, it was a pleasant book, just maybe not a memorable one.

I really liked this novel about marriage, love and Japanese culture set in Tokyo, Japan. Author Itami grew up in Tokyo and now lives in London. That probably made her think of a character that is not your standard Japanese woman you get across in many Japanese novels.
Mizuki is an interesting character. As an adolescent she spent a year in New York going to high school and later returned there to work as a singer, before moving back to Japan again, getting married and becoming a mother of two, turning her into a more westernized Japanese woman. She knows how to behave as a Japanese woman is supposed to behave, but at the same time she can be someone with an opinion of her own and not being afraid to express it, and someone who likes to enjoy herself and show it. She realizes she has a good life, but at the same time she feels unseen, unloved and stuck in what's expected of her. When she meets Kiyoshi she rediscovers freedom and friendship and she can be a freer version of herself.
I liked the east-west theme here, the cultural differences. And I learned so much about Japanese culture, habits, food, etc! It makes me want to visit Japan even more.
Thank you Orion and Netgalley for the ARC.

Rate: 4.5/5

I'm writing this review eating senbei, looking at the pictures of when I was living in Tokyo and with my heart broken in a million pieces.
This book. Oh my god this book. I wanted to read it because it was set in Tokyo and let me tell you, I was not ready for it.
Mizuki is a tired housewife with two children, struggling with a life that feels like a cage and with a husband who's too busy working to even notice her. That's when by random chance Mizuki meets Kiyoshi. They become friends and then they become more, while the entire world around Mizuki reshapes itself into something different. And all with Tokyo, beautiful and terrible Tokyo, on the background.
Mizuki and Kiyoshi during their not-dates go and explore the city together, eating, drinking and bringing you along for the ride. And let me tell you, reading of Roppongi Hills, Omotesando, Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyogen, watching hanami in Nakameguro while holding hands in the crowd, Tanabata and omatsuri, the scorching heat of the Tokyo summer... everything broke my heart along with Mizuki's story.

Because Tokyo is a beautiful city but it's also a hard one. Because Mizuki, who lived in New York for some time, came back different. She doesn't fit in the traditional stamp that Japanese culture wants her to be squeezed in. She is not a gaijin, a foreigner, but she is not fully Japanese either, not anymore, not when she knows what it feels like to sunbathe on a rooftop without having to keep her skin white, not when she knows how to laugh without covering her mouth, how to speak her mind in front of man. She feels judged by society, as a woman, as a mother, as a wife. Always lacking, always one step behind.

And Mizuki doesn't have a bad life, really. Her husband Tatsu is handsome, he doesn't mistreat her and he is not a bad man. She has a beautiful flat in a beautiful part of the city, two beautiful children. And still. Still something is missing and what Kiyoshi gives her is everything she needs.

And the thing is, you can't hate any of these characters. Not Mizuki for the choices she makes. Not Kiyoshi. Not even Tatsu. Which I guess is also what broke my heart even more. Because there are no heroes in this story. Only people. And you could be any one of them.
What is right and what is wrong? Can you really be happy if it means everyone around you will suffer for it? Regrets, remorses, decisions... just life in all its shapes, even the ones we don't want to see. And is there a right one?
Well, go read this book and see for yourself.