Point of View

The novel is told largely from two distinct perspectives operating on two different timelines. Yuki's story is told in third person limited point-of-view as it unfolds in the 1960s to 70s, and Jay's story is told in first person from the present. The epilogue is the only exception, as it a brief scene from Yuki's perspective in the present. The two different points of view work well on a technical level, as the different pronouns make it clear who the “I” is when Jay is narrating, and on an aesthetic level, Jay and Yuki's stories artfully intertwine to show their psychological states, and what they do and do not have in common. For example, they both have fainting spells when they feel anxious. The author places the occurrence of these spells close together so that the reader cannot miss the significance. Yuki has one outside...