Firstly, I want to say thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Someone to Watch Over You is a gripping and claustrophobic read. The prose was simple yet it had me gripped. I finished this entirely in one sitting. I'll be honest I wasn't even expecting to have even started it today let alone finish it but I couldn't stop reading.

The novella follows Tae and Shinobu during the early periods of the COVID outbreak, a time where everyone was hostile to outsiders and where interactions were limited. Tae ends up hiring Shinobu as a sort of bodyguard to watch over her house after an insane bout of paranoia.

No one writes loneliness and a gradually building sense of fear like Japanese authors. The story felt suffocating and I could feel the characters loneliness and desperation seeping through the story.The relationship between the main characters felt so unsettling. Despite them both living together they're still strangers and have a deep distrust for eachother.

The paranoia and anxiety they both feel is deeply reminiscent of COVID times and it's so strange to read about it and look back on what was happening. So much was said with this short story and it has such a long lasting impact. It's eerie, meaningless, detached, yet all consuming at the same time.

I really enjoyed this novella. It was strange and stifling; it felt like the weeping angels from Doctor Who were constantly watching as I read, over my shoulder.

Amazing I really liked this book. Kimura's writing style was so good and I enjoyed reading the characters and their development. I think this was a well written book with beautiful writing and layered characters

Someone to Watch Over You follows a snippet of the lives of two people: a middle-aged woman living alone in her parents old house and a handyman who she calls to do odd jobs around the house. The circumstances in which the two characters meet become more and more peculiar and there is an distinct overarching sense of foreboding that pervades the atmosphere of the novella. The narrative takes place in the midst of a pandemic meaning the two protagonists take up most of the narrative space. This narrow insight into the events of the novella forge an unreliable portrait of the events and ultimately left me wondering what and who were actually real.

Kimura creates an interesting reflection on guilt, shame and isolation, and forges an unlikely friendship between two people who are plagued with a similar sense of paranoia. However, the kinship between the woman and the handyman is confused by their power dynamic, she as employer and him as employee. This forces them to keep a distance between them emotionally as a well as physically (because of the pandemic) and there is a feeling that neither of their guilt can be relieved without a revelation between the two of them.

3.5/5 for me.
I love Japanese novellas and have read a good amount. I also lived in Japan during the pandemic so elements of the routine in this book felt familiar.
The description of this book drew me in, as well as the fact it was a translated book from a Japanese author.
I did enjoy that it was a fast and short read. However, I did not feel connected to the characters in the way that I had hoped - I really wish there was more background on Tae - and did not feel fully immersed in the story. The ending fell short for me, although I am sure others would disagree. I would definitely read another book from this author though! I did like the writing style, just wish there was more content to piece it together.

I think what this book is asking is: as human beings, what do we owe to one another? It is the year of the pandemic. The two main characters, Tae and Shinobu, are social outcasts and completely alienated but it’s not like they’re victims.

Tae is a middle-aged woman living off her savings by herself. Twenty years ago, she was a teacher until a student of hers left her a note accusing her of making his life miserable by grouping him with bullies. The student died in what seemed to be a drowning accident, but both she and his father know it might be suicide. Coincidentally, her neighbour who moved in during the height of the pandemic paranoia also committed suicide after he couldn’t take the isolation, and she feels in some way responsible for having contributed to that. When she starts fearing for her own safety, she invites a homeless man, Shinobu, to live with her rent-free in exchange for watching over her house.

Shinobu was a victim of a love scam and ended up being at the mercy of his older brother’s family, but everyone hates him because they thought he was a lecherous pedophile over a misunderstanding. It is also hinted that he likely is, what with how he views his niece and his attempts at controlling his behaviour. He agrees to move in with Tae because it’s better than roughing it outdoors through the seasons. We also find out that he may have indirectly caused the death of an activist.

I noticed that whenever the narrative POV switches, they never refer to each other by name—it’s always “the man” or “the woman”—remaining essentially strangers. Despite their close quarters and similar lifestyles/ haunting pasts, the pair fail to establish any kind of connection or shared routine; instead they seem to be somnambulists spending their lives with their eyes closed to the world, each other, and themselves.

The Covid pandemic in 2020 brings two unlikely souls together as they both hide from their pasts and try to avoid each other and other people while living in the same house as landlady and tenant. The landlady, a former teacher, is so determined to be proper because she is living in the same house with a male, a security guard, that she never sees him and only communicates by notes with the tenant.

This leads to a very bizarre situation, when we wonder at the end, whether the security guard is still alive or has gone, and whether his continued presence is just a dream the landlady lives in. I couldn't decide, and that made the book both unsettling and thought provoking.

I enjoyed reading this but I'm so puzzled by that ending. It feels unfinished. Idk if that was on purpose or not. It doesn't feel like the usual intentional open ended story. But otherwise I was v invested in the characters And the story. I don't exactly know how to feel about it because that end was so abrupt for me. I was hoping for some clarity or closure. Yet the gloomy vibe, the tortured headspaces, the symbiotic relationship which was somehow maintained with complete detachment was so interesting to read about.
Thanks net-galley for the e-arc.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing this eARC.

The plot had a few holes, some things could have been better explained or elaborated on. Still, its a short but "intense" one, it its way. I could barely put it down.

The atmosphere is oppressive and these characters, as ostracized by society as by their own selves, were really compelling. I kept hoping the relationship between them would develop somewhat but what I read on these pages might actually be better. It makes for a more interesting and unique story.

Overall a 3.5/5,

Someone to Watch Over You follows two main characters Tae and Shinobu. Both have been returned from Tokyo to their hometown and are navigating the beginnings of the COVID lockdown. Both carry a lot of feelings of guilt and paranoia over previous incidents that have happened in their lives. They meet when Tae calls upon Shinobu's handyman experience, and from there develop a very awkward friendship (though its more of a situation-ship where neither of them wants to interact with one another necessarily).

The overall tone and vibe of the book was really good - it set up a very unsettling, weirdly tense atmosphere that made you think anything could happen at any point. Both characters were haunted by a lot (including possibly an actual ghost), and it was a really good commentary from both the characters on how they felt, as well as the external factors involved in those feelings from the people of the town calling Tae a murderer and Shinobu's family wanting him to never return.

The ending was classicly ambiguous, which I think worked well here since the tone and prose set up a severe amount of uncertainty; though interestingly, multiple times Tae mentions she feels much safer in the home with Shinobu there, but also doesn't outwardly seem to feel this way. I think this goes to show how well done the perspectives here were.

Overall, I think I would give 3.75 stars. Definitely an interesting, quick read.

Thank you to Pushkin Press, NetGalley, and Kumi Kimura for an ARC copy of this book.

Giving it 1 star because it was just too confusing for my liking. I had to go back and re read pages. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. It wasn’t really a memorable book i’ll probably forget everything I read by tomorrow. I’m sure some would really like it but it’s just not for me unfortunately.

There is a quiet unease that runs through Someone to Watch Over You.

The narrative unfolds during the COVID pandemic, in a town outside of Tokyo. A middle age woman and a houseless handyman are adrift in the aftermath of shame and loss, moving through a shared landscape with silent, unspoken grief. There are no easy resolutions or explanations to what is happening; we are only given fragments of a daily life that resist coherence.

What lingers, long after the final page, is the sense of being watched. Not by a person, but by the weight of expectation, absence, or perhaps time itself.

This is a novel that does not comfort. It unsettles. But perhaps that is more important.

*Review was based on an ARC from Pushkin Press and NetGalley.

Thank you to Pushkin Press & NetGalley for the ARC!!

3.25 stars!

I will admit, straight off the bat, at time I felt myself losing connection to reading this. But when I did get down to getting back to it, I felt myself pulled to know more. I expected to love this more but it was still one heck of a read.

It really holds so much within such a short story about alienation, loneliness, guilt, anxiety, iolation, paranoia etc. such strong things that are expressed so well.

But I wish I felt that Tae was more developed than Shinobu, that would have really maybe bumped it up.

This is a joining of two people that are guilt ridden that they may have caused someone to die. The writing is excellent and as true to Japanese fiction holds all the little details that make the novel feel so real as if you're watching someones life for real.

I did not enjoy this book. It was very different than what I expected and quite confusing. I went back and reread passages to hopefully understand it a bit better, but I was still very confused.

To be honest, I was not mentally prepared for this book.

This book starts off on a slow note - a meeting of two characters, both unassuming. Then things get weird REALLY quick. I haven’t read much ‘weird’ literary fiction, but I can only imagine this book is exactly that. It has the eeriness and disturbing qualities of The Secret History set in the typical slow-living setting often seen in fan-favorite Japanese literature.

There are parts that are unsettling and off-putting enough that I considered stepping away from this book. The fact that this story takes place in 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic makes this read all the more uncomfortable; it’s a setting far too familiar to us all, but you want these people to be anything but real.

That said, I basically finished it in a single day (perks of being a novella), and my first instinct is to read it again from the beginning in order to wrap my mind around what happened. The author’s goal was accomplished, and that makes it a successful novella, in my opinion.

You ever read a book that makes you feel like you're eavesdropping on something you shouldn’t? This book is exactly that—a quiet, unsettling story that sneaks up on you.

Set during the early COVID-19 days, it follows two strangers—both hiding from their past—sharing an apartment with one rule: no face-to-face contact. Through notes and messages, their guilt, paranoia, and isolation unravel in eerie, intimate ways.

It’s a short read, but the tension lingers long after. If you love quiet, unsettling stories that feel a little too real, this one’s for you.

#SomeonetoWatchOverYou #NetGalley

I honestly didn't enjoy this book very much, at first it felt like the story was building especially with the two main characters each learning more about each other. At some point the story felt like it was setting up for something bigger and more interesting but then the book just kind of ended with no resolution or climax. I've read a lot of Japanese translated literature (like Convenience Store Woman or Strange Weather in Tokyo) and was anticipating some moral or hidden lesson at the end. But the book actually ended with me wondering if I read it correctly. Either this went over my head or it wasn't an interesting ending, and honestly both options aren't for me. The premise of two traumatized tormented people meeting during covid was really appealing to me but they really didn't learn a lesson or grow into better (or worse) people and the story lines were left open ended. I think there will be some people who enjoyed this one and don't mind how open ended it was but it wasn't for me.

Sometimes, I think I'm ready for books set during COVID, and then a book like Someone to Watch Over You comes along to challenge that assumption. So, first off, I would say to make sure you're ready for recalling the possible isolation and anxiety of the initial outbreak.

Set in small-town Japan, two isolated and troubled characters are linked as the pandemic sets hold in their communities. Someone to Watch Over You is an incredibly uneasy and claustrophobic read, something which heightens as we travel through the book. Everything feels damp and bleak. There are neighbors' whispering, assumptions pushed, prolonged silences, and a mistrust of the self. Some readers may wish for a more final ending, but to me, the ending fits so well with the unknowingness and unease of the book as a whole.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kumi Kimura’s *Someone to Watch Over You* is a haunting and atmospheric novella that captures the isolation, guilt, and quiet desperation of two people struggling to exist in a world that has seemingly turned against them. Set in Japan during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Tae, a former teacher burdened by accusations of driving a student to suicide, and Shinobu, an ex-security guard haunted by his involvement in a protester's death. Both retreat to their hometowns, weighed down by their pasts and the fear of an invisible threat. When their paths cross, Tae hires Shinobu for a repair job, leading to an unusual arrangement where they cohabitate but communicate only through written notes, maintaining a physical and emotional distance that mirrors their inner turmoil.

What makes *Someone to Watch Over You* so compelling is its eerie quietness—Kimura’s prose, translated by Asa Yoneda, is sparse yet deeply evocative, drawing the reader into the characters’ growing unease. The novella unfolds as a slow-burn psychological study, with an ever-present sense of claustrophobia that heightens the tension. The pandemic serves not just as a backdrop but as an extension of the characters’ anxieties, amplifying their emotional isolation. This is a story about the weight of guilt, the human need for connection, and the delicate balance between fear and trust. Thought-provoking and unsettling, *Someone to Watch Over You* lingers in the mind long after the final page.

First I want to give my thanks to NetGalley, Pushkin Press and Kumi Kimura for allowing me to read this ARC!

Rating: Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5/5

A tender and introspective story about isolation and connection. Set during the early days of the pandemic, it follows two people trying to keep their distance from the world—both physically and emotionally—while carrying the weight of their pasts.

What struck me most is how it captures that universal struggle of wanting to be alone yet still craving human connection. The characters' quiet interactions show that even in solitude, having someone who simply understands can make all the difference.

It’s a short, delicate read—simple yet profound—perfect for anyone who enjoys slice-of-life stories that linger long after the last page.

I might need more research to back my sentence but I’m going with this: Japanese (writers) are so amazing at writing about *LONELINESS* even without having to use the word to describe the feeling of desolation one goes through, with or without company.

This book delves into the same 'lonely' theme with covid as the setting. A 40-year old lady decided to hire a former bodyguard as her handyman after a string of incidences occurred as she tried to make her dwelling more liveable after she inherited it from her parents who have passed. The community in her neighborhood, though small, was not so welcoming to her. The handyman, desperate for money as he struggled to be financially independent, also after as string of unlucky events, readily agreed to perform whatever the lady wanted as long as he had a shelter above his head.

The novella was sparing in its details when it comes to the background of the characters, but they somehow felt ‘whole’ and could easily be anyone you knew in real life. The distancing that the pandemic required didn’t help in making the lives of people less lonely but these two, despite their jarring differences in their personalities and the way they lived, somehow found reliance and comfort in each other as they tried to survive in whatever ways they could.

Though I could not warm up to any of the characters perhaps also due to the short length, it was certainly an interesting look at the lives of certain quarters during the pandemic in a different country. I could relate to the impacts of the imposition of certain rules, but also learned more about social fabric and the fragility of social niceties when pressured with something scary and unknown.

I have to point out that the translation was exceptional. The sentences and word choice were smooth, as if it was originally written in English. Only the translator’s choice of retaining certain words in Japanese made me realize it wasn’t so, but I’d have made the same choice with the words that were retained in Japanese too. Asa Yoneda, I’ve got my eyes on you.