As a moderately obese and broad-shouldered 17-year-old girl who had no interest in shaving her legs or waxing her upper lips, school life wasn't easy. I've been out of school for a decade now, but there are things that still ring in my ears, jeers I can't quite forget.

But at least through it all I had friends, and what I went through was nothing remotely close to the sufferings of 'Eyes' and Kojima at the hands of their classmates. They were alone in their misery until a friendship was developed b/w the two, a common ground being bullying.
'Eyes' believed all his problems were due to his lazy eye, whereas Kojima believed that there was a deeper meaning to their suffering; that there was strength in weakness.

'. . . if there's a hell, we're in it. And if there's a heaven, we're already there . . .'

Written by @kawakami_mieko and translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, Heaven—the book's theme far from its title—is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, it's morose; you'll contort your face in pain and a lump will find its way to your throat as you leaf through the pages.

Raw and painful at the core, it won't let you read more than a few pages in a single sitting. The contents are hard to swallow. And as I read the last page, I was exhausted. But this doesn't mean you should shy away from this book; it's an important read.

It was a heartrending read.