[N2] ぜんぶ、藍色（あいいろ）だった。

Tōka, 14 years old, is quiet and expresses herself mainly through pictures in the art club. When Ai, also 14, transfers to her school, she feels drawn to him. He lacks memories and the two are connected by the colour indigo (藍) and a strange, recurring dream. This light novel for young middle school children was written by Kina Chiren.

The first half of this story is a classic, kind of shallow teen romance between Tōka and Ai. I was hoping for some sort of twist because of this, but was still caught off guard by the second part of the story.

The plot remains linear until page 100, then suddenly changes narrative perspective and does time jumps. New themes are introduced to the story and the final piece of information that brings everything together is held back until the very last page. I have to admit, I would not have expected this book to have this degree of complexity and I was pleasantly surprised.

Up to the halfway point I would have recommended the book without hesitation for N3 because it takes place in a school setting and the more difficult words regarding art were few and far inbetween. However, with the second half of the book it does get more complicated regarding both plot and vocabulary and from then on an N2 reading comprehension pays off, I think.

You can get this book through Amazon Japan (affiliate link). A 25 pages long excerpt by the publisher can be found here.

Length: 193 pages