3.5 stars
A cute, emotional book with some great characters. I found the writing towards the end felt a little rushed and out of pace, but overall I thought this was a good follow up to the first, but also worked well as a stand alone.

Such a lovely read. Not my usual sort of book, but it is gentle emotional and not overly sentimental. I will certainly recommend this to others.

Beautifully written, I enjoyed every single page of this book! I had really wanted to read this and I was not disappointed at all! I cannot recommend this enough. It will stay with me for a long time!

Beautifully observed exploration of grief, I am quickly developing a real taste for Japanese fiction. Not all stories have to hit you in the face with all the tropes that have been done before. This is an author I will definitely seek out again

I have reviewed this title for book recommendation and sales site LoveReading.co.uk. Please see the link for the full review, it has been chosen as a Liz Pick of the Month.

Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon was already a heartfelt gem, and this sequel builds on its emotional depth with even more tenderness and quiet beauty. Unlike the first book, which kept the identity of the mysterious go-between under wraps, this installment shifts the focus to Ayumi and his interactions with grieving clients—stories that range from quietly reflective to absolutely heartbreaking.

Three tales in particular stand out for their emotional power: a man reconnecting with the father who abandoned him, two grieving mothers briefly reunited with their lost daughters, and an elderly man seeking a glimpse of his first love. These stories are raw, touching, and devastating in the best way. The chapter with the little girl is especially moving, lingering long after it ends.

While not every story hits as hard, the ones that do feel deeply personal, especially for readers who've lost someone. With simple, graceful prose—thanks to Yuki Tejima’s smooth translation—this book captures the bittersweet ache of longing and the fragile hope of connection beyond death. If this series continues, it’s bound to keep breaking hearts in the most beautiful way.

"It's a gift to be able to live in the world at the same time as the person you have in your heart."

I loved Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, and I thought this was a great continuation of the series. While the first book kept the go-between wrapped in mystery until the last chapter, in this book, we mostly follow Ayumi with his clients. I cried during three of the stories, and two of them (the historian, and his own pondering about whether it’s fair game to offer his services unrequested) were interesting and answered a few questions I had while reading the first book, but they weren't as emotional as the rest of the stories in the series.

The other three stories: a guy getting to share a beer with his deadbeat dad who left when he was two; two mothers meeting the daughters they lost too soon on the same night; and an old man trying to meet his childhood crush, were devastatingly beautiful. The moms made me cry so hard. I don’t think the little girl really understood what had happened to her; that chapter was so emotional.

I don’t know if there are more books in the series. I hope so! I need Mizuki Tsujimura to continue mistaking my heart for a football, I swear. Every time I pick up one of the books about the go-between I just wish it was a thing, I fantasize about meeting my grandma again so many times this story feels personal.I also want to add that Yuki Tejima’s translation is great. The writing is simple but so nice, and it flows so naturally.

This is the second book in the series the first being Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon. One of the stories links to the first book but apart from that it is pretty self contained. Like the first book each chapter is an individual story.
Like the first book this is equally touching and makes you think about loss and who you would talk to if you could talk with one person that had died.
I enjoyed it as much as the first one and it is an easy read that is highly recommended I am hoping there is a third (which I believe there is)

I have grown a new love for a "quieter" reads - those unassuming, simpler slice of life stories that just appeal to your heart - and this is a wonderful example of such a book. A wonderful read

A beautifully gentle and moving story about a go-between who has the power to put yearning individuals in touch with a person that they long to see who has passed.

Each of the encounters that Ayumi sets up (and he doesn't always know beforehand whether he will be successful in doing so) leaves the reader feeling moved and reflecting on our own relationships and how we might feel about them once those people are gone from our lives.

In comparison to many of the current East Asian literary sensations in this genre, this particular book seems to have a stronger, less scattered approach to story telling, making all the characters feel more relatable. If you like this genre or this kind of literature, you will very much enjoy this book. It gets 3.5 stars.

I love this author and I was so excited to read this book. The emotion of their writing never fails to touch me. It was also nice to return to the go between - who I found quite intriguing in the first book. There is something magical and philosophical about this author.

I thought the first book, Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, was emotionally-stirring and a fresh take on what's quickly becoming a trope.

This second instalment didn't hit the same notes for me. Instead of each character's perspective, we almost exclusively follow Ayumi around this time... and the story line feels fragmented and repetitive creating a similar template-style format that plagues series like Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Food Detectives. It's not quite as bad as those examples because it's saved by the through line of Ayumi's story but it was a noticeable departure from the first instalment. We even had entire sections repeated verbatim, which in a book this compact, really stands out.

Opening with the Anna section was a confusing choice. Why Anna stood in is revealed later on but getting reacquainted with the world was trickier. It was interesting to see Ayumi's human life and his go-between life juxtaposed, but I'm not sure I'm feeling the romance that's being telegraphed through the book.

As with the first book, I felt the translation was well done. There was a good sense of people and place.

Barring the unique story with the historian, which was the best in the book IMO, I felt like I'd read these stories multiple times across Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Chibineko Kitchen. If Tsujimura continues the series, I hope that the next one is the conclusion or I fear it'll exhaust itself too - there's only so many times we can read the same stories. I opine that the next book will make or break the series.