since this week is the last week, i decided to make a new topic to put reviews so we don’t need to mark book 1 events in spoiler tags.
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I’ve really enjoyed reading this!
Admittedly, I probably shouldn’t have tried it at all cos I was only a few months into learning Japanese when it started and just joined in through being swept up in my enthusiasm for the show. Up until I’d say about the half way point it would take me probably 5 or 6 hours to get through a chapter because I was having to look up literally every other word or grammar point. I still enjoyed it but it was a high mountain to climb and easy to fall behind.
The last few weeks (since I caught up in the one week break) have felt much better though! I think that is probably through a few things a) I’ve kept going with my grammar studies alongside which has helped a lot I think b) less new vocab, and c) I’ve been taking a lazier approach at least to my first read through haha. While at the start I was looking up everything I’m now just only looking up things just enough to understand what’s going on which makes for a much more enjoyable if less studious experience.
The readalongs have also been really fun when I’ve taken part! Again, the reading and translation has been a challenge but a fun one, and it’s a fun group of people. Would encourage anyone who fancies it to join in for.vol 2 
And of course the story and characters are great, I loved them from the show already and the manga lived up to it. Can’t wait until we meet the Nekoma volley ball boys too!
In conclusion, if I was at all a sensible person o would have realised this book was way too hard for me, but I’m glad that I stuck with it and had a lot of fun doing so! Thanks to all for their efforts in running this book club
6 Likes
I finished!
This was my first bookclub, and I suspected at the start that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up. I had to look up almost every word in the first chapter and a lot of the grammar confused me.
But it got a little easier with each chapter as I started to recognise the vocab, and got the hang of the casual speech. I was still looking a lot of stuff up towards the end, but it was nowhere near as intense as it was through the first chapter!
I fell behind at one point because my dad got very sick and ended up in the ICU for 3 weeks (He’s much better, and is now at home), and I nearly quit thinking I could never catch up but luckily for me I wasn’t alone in falling behind - the one week break saved me from quitting so I’m thankful to everybody for being flexible enough to allow that break for those of us who were struggling!
I’m also thankful for everybody who contributed to the vocab list (I wouldn’t have made it through the first 2 weeks without it), the people who asked and answered questions in the threads, and the people who organised various other aspects of the club.
And onto the actual book review - It’s a fun story, and definitely has a wholesome charm to it. I love the characters, and liked how they contrasted with each other - especially childlike Hanata with the deathly serious Kageyama, and fighty Tanaka with kind and gentle Sugawara!
I’m hoping to continue with the offshoot bookclub, though I’m also hoping to stay with the main club for FukaBoku… so I may be biting off more than I can chew! 
Thanks again everyone for making this such a fun experience!
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Would second this! The one week break was a massive help!
Glad to hear that your dad is doing better now! Best wishes
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Finished as well!
This was really fun!!
…but also a little hard. 
I definitely feel a bit more comfortable with casual language now, in that regard this was definitely helpful. Learned a lot.
Grammar felt okay but the amount of words I still don’t know is a little sad. Not that that was surprising, though. 
This was actually the first “real” Japanese book I’ve ever finished; before this I basically only read things written for learners (and TV subtitles).
I’m very happy about that!!
I really like the characters, but I already knew that. I think I miss the voice acting a little compared to the anime, but the manga is fun too.
Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the vocab list!
I don’t think I’m gonna join in for book #2 because I don’t have much time at the moment and I already wanna try to read Your Name with the other book club 𝚠̶𝚑̶𝚢̶ ̶𝚊̶𝚖̶ ̶𝙸̶ ̶𝚍̶𝚘̶𝚒̶𝚗̶𝚐̶ ̶𝚝̶𝚑̶𝚒̶𝚜̶ ̶𝚝̶𝚘̶ ̶𝚖̶𝚢̶𝚜̶𝚎̶𝚕̶𝚏̶, but if this club is still a thing a couple of months from now I’d love to join in for another volume.
3 Likes