Yūya Satō

If I had written the setup of this novel, of old women abandoned by their society to die alone of exposure who band together to create their own utopian community, I don't think I would have been able to avoid making the story arc to be one of triumph and redemption. Sato avoids triumph and redemption with a vengeance. The ruthlessness of his choices left me, hmm, "aghast" comes to mind. I always feel like cheering when I come across a ruthless book, though, and this one was no exception.

I really wanted to like this book - elderly women, abandoned by society, band together and fight a bear! - but eighty pages in I keep picking it up and putting it right back down again, and I think it's time to admit that it hasn't grabbed me and probably won't.

This was written well enough, but I just got tired of the story-line (old women trying to kill a bear) and stopped caring altogether. Also, the book blurb describes Dendera as a "utopian community" but it is nothing of the sort even on a surface level. Just not for me, but I'm sure many others will like it.