Momoko is a lolita who has moved to a small country town and does not currently have any friends. Until through a transaction she meets Ichiko (or Ichigo) who is yanki and these two polar opposites start to hang out with one another and influence each other in different ways.
My teenage daughter and her friends were watching this movie at our house one night and I got sucked in. It was wonderfully odd.
I hesitate to call this a light read because I came away from the novel having learned something. There are several underlying concepts that at several points in the novel made me stop and think.
This book is one of my new favs. It's a great story, and it made me smile.
But with a few twists here and there and much more in the way of detail and character development. Lots of fun, humor and really allows you to understand more about the cultures involved.
The narrative by the precocious (and somewhat obnoxious) high school girl Momoko Ryugasaki begins with a lengthy tutorial on everything that you could possibly want to know (and perhaps a good deal more)about the sixteenth-century Rococo origins of the Lolita style. She doesn't particularly care about what the reader (or anyone else) thinks, but her candor and perspective on life is endearing enough to keep one reading.
The movie adaptation of this is one of my favorite fun time films, and the book was similarly quite delightful. There were a few times where the writing came off as awkward, but I don't know whether the blame lies with the author, the translator, or both.
I have to say that I like stories that feature a friendship between two people who are extremely different from each other. So when I found out about Kamikaze Girls, I just knew that I needed the book in my hands.
This book is one LONG chapterless book, it was written to inspire girls to be ok with being themselves. I *LOVE* this book.
It's such a simple book, but that works to its strength. The premise and lackadaisical style really lets the characters bloom.
I loved this book more than I expected to. Momoko wasn't instantly likable, but she grew on me, especially as she became closer to Ichigo.
Kamikaze Girls is still one of my favourite books to date. A selfish lolita + a tough-but-not-too-tough biker girl + rice paddies, pachinko parlours, and gang fights = a ridiculous and heart-warming story of true friendship (covered head to foot in lacy frills and motor oil).
It's a fun read, the main character has so many crazy ideas and though about the world. The friendship that is forming is just cute and lovely.
One doesn't have to be a Lolita to enjoy this book, but I would suspect less-materialistic people than I (and I consider myself very, very materialistic) would have problems relating to the main character. At the very least it is a whirlwind of a book with snappy pacing and hardly a dull moment.
