so short but so sweet :(( follows sentaro, an ex con who once wanted to be a writer, but now sells dorayaki. he develops a meaningful friendship with tokue, an old woman who recovered from hansen’s disease, and makes extraordinary sweet bean paste. the two also develop a friendship with wakana, a young girl tokue often talks to at the dorayaki shop.
an important part of the novel is tokue’s status as a person who used to have hansen's disease, also known as leprosy. this book does a great job of showcasing the effects of stigma surrounding a health issue, and how that affects people suffering from it. it discusses the way ableism can become normalised in society. it also talks about judgment and stigma in general, through sentaro. he struggles with alcoholism, he has a criminal record, and he feels like he's failed in life. 
this was a very hopeful book for me, because i thought tokue’s views on life were just beautiful. i truly loved her and sentaro equally and i think they have a great dynamic while also being dear to me as individuals. i really liked the writing style, i thought it was sweet and fitting for the message and energy of the book. the cherry blossom imagery made me very happy too, cause i just have a personal connection with cherry blossoms ^_^ this was also a very very easy book to read, even more so because of the short chapters. 
absolutely beautiful read and it’s a good reread too, i could honestly recommend it to anyone. super heartwarming, i love it ♡