I was simply subsumed by this book. It's almost impossible to fathom that this is a debut novel. The writing is intensely beautiful, full of fragile moments of wonder that just leave the reader compelled, broken, spent. Imagine those very wonderful Japanese woodblock prints that we all know, but in prose. The characters are completely believable and you just care about them, hoping on every turn of their stories that things will just be OK. And at its heart is family, about what we do to belong and to hold on.

This book was sad and lovely I enjoyed the writing so much, and the interiority of our main characters were so well explored that it felt like listening to stories told to me by real people. I think the emotional journeys we followed were very well balanced with the plot, so that it felt quiet and atmospheric while at the same time so much happened that there was a propulsive pace to the reading experience. It allowed the reader to sit in the emotions, and to hope and hurt for the characters, and to consider the ideas of fetishisation, misogyny, identity and mental health that were explored. Wonderful.

**Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

4.75 ⭐️

I'm so so thankful I got to read this book. Mongrel is a story about family that is so well executed, so well crafted and so emotionally packed, it's hard to believe it is a debut novel.

The book tells the story of three woman linked by bonds stronger than anything, and who despite having had such different lives, have experienced the same type of grief.

More than and intergenerational story, it is a portrait of women and womanhood that will resonate among many if not all women who read it. Moreover, the story also delves into racism and the feeling of not belonging to the place you are anchored to despite having always lived in it, but also the feeling of not belonging to where your roots are, of being in a sort of limbo, which I deeply related to.

I would recommend this book to everyone truly, it is that good.

This book takes a deep dive into some very touching and thought provoking subjects. Being a person who has moved to a foreign country and made a life for myself, I understand some of the trials these girls face, with the changes, trying to fit in in some ways and the grief some people will give you just for the sake of it. However, I have still never come close to experiencing anything in the realm of what these three have done, in their lives. The changes, the pressures and the loss are all so unbelievably heartbreaking and truly moving. 

Throughout this book, I was taken on a true rollercoaster of emotions, with some moments truly make you laugh with unending joy and other bringing you to floods of tears. You really felt as though you were right there with these three, experienceling their lives and trials with them. The author has such a moving and wonderful writing style, it is beautiful. I adored all of this book.

Mongrel is a whip-smart, honest, and candid novel. Written with sincere and conscious prose, I fell in love with this novel and the characters.
Footman masters her characters with pure authenticity and honesty. The novel spans through the themes of heritage, belonging, identity and hope. I really liked the way that the individual women (Mei, Yuki, and Haruka) all had their own stories and yet intertwined in this unique way. The book reminds us of the importance of human connection through the focus on loneliness.
I loved this and thought absolutely everyone should read it. Took me longer than I thought to read as it was heavy and really feeling, but in a good way.

This is a story that follows three different women and how their lives change and development. I really liked and heavily related to the character Mei, who is half white and half Asian. Her thoughts and feelings towards her identity are ones that mimic my own experience growing up. While this book seems to have a very thin plot that only makes an appearance in the latter part, the book is held together by the beautiful writing of Footman. She uses metaphors and turns of phrases to excellently express her characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, only 4 stars as I didn’t connect as much to one of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Footnote press for providing me with this ARC.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I liked learning about Japan and the Japanese customs. The story centres around three women: Meiko, Haruka and Yuki. Throughout the book there is the thread of wanting to belong, for Yuki, it's the wish to fit in England, where she has no relations and does not speak the language well. For Haruka, it's wanting to know more about her parents and punishing herself as she often feels unworthy and Meiko, who grows up wanting to fit in and doing things to her detriment to do so.

Wonderful read and I highly recommend

'Listen.... The bamboo canes are singing.'

'Mongrel' tells the story of three women, connected in some way that slowly becomes apparent as the book progresses. Meiko is a British-Japanese girl growing up in England; Yuki moves to London in the face of her family's wishes, hoping to become a violinist; Haruka escapes her rural life in Japan, moving to Tokyo to work as a hostess. Together they are linked in extraordinary ways.

As others have said in reviews, there are some very dark themes here. But there is humanity, and compassion, and these are stories of survival and holding on to family. Intertwined with the 3 narratives are fairy tales from a family heirloom, adding an other-worldly sense of meaning beyond the stories that we are reading.

I was simply subsumed by this book. It's almost impossible to fathom that this is a debut novel. The writing is intensely beautiful, full of fragile moments of wonder that just leave the reader compelled, broken, spent. Imagine those very wonderful Japanese woodblock prints that we all know, but in prose. The characters are completely believable and you just care about them, hoping on every turn of their stories that things will just be OK. And at its heart is family, about what we do to belong and to hold on.

Utterly compelling and wonderfully written, this is a book that will live with me for a very long time. Everyone should read it. It will definitely be one of my books of they year. A flawless 5 stars.

What an incredible debut novel; a truly enchanting and beautifully written book from start to finish that I am certain will become one of my favourite reads of this year. I must state that it can be very dark, but still beautiful and the delicate themes were handled with care and grace. The characterisation was vivid and realistic consistently throughout the novel, which focuses on the three Japanese female characters of Mei, Yuki and Haruka. The themes of womanhood, racism and grief in particular are fully explored.

Overall I would highly recommend this book, and expect to see it at the bare minimum on some award shortlists this year.

Is it possible to write a very messed up stories, in such a beautiful and sad way on one's debut? It was so beautifully painful I had to stop so many times (do know it's triggering please look up for TWs).

This is a book about the first loss of love, that first loose end & rejection, and abrupt ending we don't recover from & we fill those gaping, consuming hole of a wound with bodies, and fluids. Exchanging & mistaking love with currencies of your body & sex. When we lose that love we lose ourselves and we try to find it, ask for it, in all the wrong places; fallen into the hand of all the wrong people. A story of self rejection, a detachment & a need to run away from your home, your identity, to fall int0 worst places when home and love has always been there; with its beauty & crooks as it is.

I find Haruka's story easiest to follow & most 'enjoyable', because I could understand her. I could understand her vision. I like her. I was, really angry & sad at Yuki's naivety; and then at how chaotic Mei's are—in the way that is very characteristical of girlhood rage—that I want to shake her sober so bad!

I know this isn't hitting big now but this book, the story it's telling, and the characters, all deserve so much love. Thank you so much for the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy in exchange for this review.

Mongrel follows three different women’s narratives, Meiko, Yuki and Haurka.

Meiko is a young British-Japanese girl, who mourns the loss of her mother and yearns to fit in amongst her peers whilst navigating falling in love with her best friend, Fran.

Yuki moves to London to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violist, ultimately falling in love with her much older music teacher.

Haruka moves from the Japanese countryside to Tokyo and becomes a hostess in seedy bars.

Mongrel is a beautifully written novel exploring themes of womanhood, family and heritage. The writing really blew me away; there are some incredibly heart-wrenching and raw, emotional moments which will ultimately resonate with a lot of people.
An amazing debut novel which will be one of my lasting favourites of the year, an easy five star read for me.

This is a debut. I love Mongrel and look forward to seeing what the author has to offer next. The book focuses on three very different women, two in London and one in Tokyo. The women all experience turmoil, angst and a feeling of not fitting in. Haruka lives in Tokyo and is a hostess who sleeps with men for money. I found her story the most compelling. The three stories are compelling and gut-wrenching at times. The book is well-written and every page is engaging. The women are so well-written they really come to life. I’d recommend this.

My, oh my, what a treasure of a novel! I love when different storylines come seamlessly together to create one seemingly unavoidable whole – and the author has achieved it with perfection here. I was so engrossed in the individual stories of the three protagonists – Mei, Yuki and Haruka – that I didn’t even think to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. It probably took me a lot longer to figure out the way they were connected than it should have… but it was so worth it.

I can’t reveal too much without giving something away. What I can say, however, is that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Mei who, half English and half Japanese, yearned to find her own identity. Yuki was interesting because I could identify with some of the struggles of someone who leaves everything they know behind to make a life in a different country. And Haruka… by far the most fascinating and elusive character for me as she was somehow familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

And Japan… the descriptions of Tokyo and the countryside made me want to hop on a plane back to this most intriguing country. Everything that I associate with Japan – the food, the architecture, the language – almost felt like a whole extra character. I loved it!

Some debut novels make you think 'there is no way this is their first book' and it was exactly what I felt about Mongrel. Women who are connected through blood, loss, grief and pain? Sign me up. I would be very interested to hear Hanako Footman talk about how the story came about and her process of how she weaved these very complex characters.

A story about three women, which at first seem to be unconnected, but as the three stories go on and unfold, we get to see that they are not stand alone stories.

Beautiful written and created charakters, I didn't want to stop reading about them and the path they are going what struggles they have to face and how they experienced life. The stories go from learning to accept their heritage to pursuing their dreams to discovering long hidden secrets. All three narratives are well interwoven and build. Hanako Footman created a masterpiece more people should read.

To be honest I found it hard to engage in the first 15%, but surprisingly it turned out to be a 5 star for me! I couldn't put it down. What an incredible debut that really deserves attention.

It follows 3 women's lives, looks like all separate stories, but then it amazes me when these stories unfold and reveals the wider picture, how their lives were intertwined and how it shaped their identity. It is a lovely but sad story that explores motherhood, sexuality, isolation, love, finding oneself. The ending part had me tear up as you can really root for the characters. It has a ts daylight moment right there as well. The writing is so elegant that it made me enjoyed the journey. Would recommend!

Thank you netgalley for the advance e-copy.

This is a book that skilfully grabbed me and slowly dragged me into an emotional tale of three women, Mei, Yuki and Haruka, and told in their three voices. Three women whose stories intertwine as they each suffer at the hands of men, men who they should be able to trust. The writing is beautiful and so full of emotion you can’t help but be affected by it.

Briefly, 13 year old Mei lost her Japanese mother at 6 years old, she lives with her English father in Surrey, she wants to fit in but is withdrawn and teased about her heritage. Aged 18 Yuki has been brought up in the countryside but a talented violinist she leaves Japan for London in search of her dreams. Haruka also lost her mother and after a row with her grandparents she moved from their farm to Tokyo working as a hostess in sleazy nightclubs.

I loved the insights into Japan, I have been to Tokyo and I find the culture, the food, the county quite fascinating. The women are all very well written characters and the storyline wonderful and the threads masterfully woven together. This is a fabulous piece of literary fiction, very enjoyable read.

The book tells the story of three women, who appear to be unconnected. Yuki is a talented violinist who arrives from Japan in London at 18, only to fall in love with her music teacher. Mei is a young woman growing up in London, struggling with belonging and self realisation. Haruka is a young woman living in Tokyo, and working as a hostess, earning money by sleeping with men. As the story progresses we understand more about the emotional turmoil at the core of our protagonists' angst, discover what it means to not fit in and how that can eventually erode any semblance of self respect and confidence, and explore how the different storylines come together.

The book is extremely well written. The author's prose is approachable but also tender and elegant. The brush strokes are gentle, but the emotions they elicit are visceral and volcanic. This dissonance, between the gentle writing and the underlying energy of the book, is perhaps its most remarkable quality.

The protagonists are tangible and vivid. Their fears, hopes, and dreams feel real. The depth of their emotional world comes across as holistic and consistent, which is no small feat. It is difficult not to open one's heart to these women, and suffer as they suffer, and love when they love.

The story itself also raises important issues: how racism can affect one's self esteem and self worth, how objectification and fetishisation of women (especially Asian ones) affects their sense of self, the predatory nature of some men (and how hard it is for women to resist), the difficulty in communicating with the people you truly love, and the role of family. These issues are dealt with subtly and tenderly, without preaching or politicising. It's thoughtprovoking and makes you wonder about some things you might not have wondered about.

I recommend this to anyone who ever felt alone, or struggled to understand why and how some people just get lost within themselves. It's a beautiful debut, and I can't wait to read more of the author's work.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

"Someone she did not need to explain anything to, not because words were impossible, but because they were unnecessary."
A beautifully written story, illustrating how language and culture influence our choices and belief in self-worth.
I liked the short story 'The Princess & the Pomegranate'; it is an example of how to this day the power dynamic between men and women continues to exist and is used as leverage.
Hearing, Hanoka speak about her inspiration and love for her mama (during a book event in London, February 2024) made this a more meaningful read! ❤️
Thanks, NetGalley for an advance copy.

Mongrel is poetic in its literary style, lyrical and flowing. It’s so beautifully and sensitively written – it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel.

I ‘enjoyed’ (totally the wrong word) Haruko’s story the most. I found her easier to empathise with. Yuki’s is so painful, at times I had to stop reading. And Mei is too far out of my comfort zone, though later on in the book it was easier.

The book starts with Yuki and Mei, and for a while we move back and forth between the two. They are not yet connected. Yuki has left Japan at age eighteen, to travel to England where she will ‘pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist’. Her talent is amazing and soon attracts the attention of her much older tutor. No-one seems to care though, which I found quite strange. He probably should have been sacked.

Mei lost her mum who died when she was six and she lives with her father in Surrey. She has a beautiful voice and wants to be a singer. However, we hear more about her relationship with her best friend Fran than her potential career, though we never really discover whether it’s reciprocated in the way she would like. There’s a lot of drinking, drug taking, partying and holidays with Fran’s family. As I said, I was totally out of my comfort zone.

It’s quite some time before we ‘meet’ Hukara. She too lost her mum when she was sixteen, and lives with her Baba and Jiji (grandparents) in a somewhat ramshackle farm where Jiji tends the rice fields. Until she died, Hakura’s mum worked all hours and was rarely at home. Then one day, Hakura has a terrible fight with Jiji and runs away to Tokyo where she works in the sex industry. She tries to justify her choices, but we can see it makes her sad.

During the second half of the book the strands begin to come together and we start to see how everyone is connected. There are tiny hints throughout the book, but it is complicated. Better to just go with the flow. There is so much emotion, sadness, secrets and regret, and the whole story becomes more and more gripping. But it’s Yuki that pains me the most. She is a character that will live with me for a long time.

I must also say at this point that we learn a lot about Japan, the culture, the food, the language and the people. It’s a fascinating insight as well as a riveting storyline.