When a book makes you feel all kinds of emotions, gives you hope, shatters your heart, makes you cry, takes your pain and turns it into something more tangible, then gives you a reason to make sure you do better by the world and yourself? That's when you know you have a favourite for life..
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Soul Lanterns is a story following 12 year old Nozomi, and how she understands the bombing of Hiroshima and how it affects her family and learning to feel their pain. The lantern floating ceremony makes you cry and I could feel the loss every family went through. The writing is absolutely beautiful and makes you turn the pages quickly. It dives into the rich cultural history of Japan as well as the loss they went overcame. Every character in this book had a story that would inspire anyone reading it. .
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Nozomi was a curious child and that results in her learning about her own history, the pain of her friends and her art teacher. I literally felt my heart soar when they went for a creative way to share and pay respects to the loved ones they lost in the bombing. I loved the simplicity of the story, and the powerful message it delivered. If you haven't picked this one up already, go pick it up. This has become one of my favorites of all time.
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Thank you @netgalley for the gifted review copy!
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My Rating : 5/5