Hello Limerence by Momo Yamaguchi
Momo Yamaguchi's debut novel paints obsession in all its gruesome glory
It is peacock season in Tokyo and for Mika that means erotic confusion, gross self-comparison, heartache, and a whole lot of liquid courage. Momo Yamaguchi’s debut novel paints obsession in all its gruesome glory: its blisters, its scars, and the bandages we use to soothe it. With doses of doomscrolling and comfort food, in foreign and familiar cities, Mika trudges over the erect barriers of virginity only to find herself humiliated and at times, numb. A sea of voices and faces never seem to let her mind be fully hers, including her nagging mother and effortlessly sexy and overly-sexualised best friend(s).
Hello, Limerence is a raunchy and satirical book about the semantics of being truly alone, and the pathetics of not wanting to. It is utterly disgusting in its accuracy of what we could never say about the ugliest parts of our desires. Mika finds herself thinking things she so desperately wishes to say, but, plagued by excessive self-awareness and the confines of digital patriarchy, she leaves thoughts to fantasy, and words to subpar men. Mika’s confusion leads the plot and the book’s form, more than her decisions do.