SUMMARY: This is the story of Michi's life. In particular it focuses on her love life, from high school, through college and grad school, until after she turns thirty. She is, in her own words, meek. It is this quality of her personality that shapes her development.

COMMENTARY: This story evokes a lot of thoughts and feelings. I'm not too sure where to begin but why don't I start with what I perceive to be the central theme of the story: growing up. That is what this story is all about, in my mind. It tracks Michi's development from her teen years until she is about thirty. Maybe growing up isn't the best way to describe the focus of the story; maybe maturation is a better way to think of it. The story is about how Michi matures over those years. Yes, I think that sounds better; is more accurate. I really think that part of the reason I enjoyed this story is because that was the focus of the story.

Another reason why I liked this story was the narration and author's descriptive abilities. Michi's recollections of her life are rich in details. She does not speak as much about why things happened as she does about what happened. All the little details that she remembers made the story that much more real to me. The fact that she didn't feel the need to explain most of them was perfectly all right with me. In fact, I usually prefer it that way. She had her notions about why some things happened, but didn't get caught up in trying to explain too much. She merely described.

Yet another reason why I liked this story is the main character, Michi. Being a devout introvert, I felt that I could empathize with her. Well, actually it was her manner of speaking that made feel close to her. She described the shortcomings in her life in ways that spoke volumes to me. I felt like I knew the song, even though I only got to hear a few notes played by one instrument. It was really quite beautiful and moved me in a number of ways. It would not surprise me to find out that not everyone who reads this story has the same reaction, as this was a very personal reaction on my part.

Finally, the part you've all been waiting for, I found this story to be wildly arousing. I hope that you are still reading, because I'm not sure that all of you will find this story quite as arousing as I did. There is sex in this story, but sex is not the focus of the story. The focus of the story is Michi's emotional development, or at least that is how I would phrase it. There are things in this story that I found arousing, which I am sure some of you would not. There are descriptions of kisses and touches, that had the blood pounding through my veins with inevitable consequences. Likewise there are also conversations that had little or nothing to do with sex that I found to be extremely intimate and got me quite aroused. There are also some explicit descriptions of sexual couplings, but those aren't as easy to find in this story as some of the other things that turned me on.

I wish I could say that you will all enjoy this story, but I'm sure that some of you may not. I found it to be a very satisfying read in more ways than one. I hope that this review has made that clear. I think that it should appeal to those of you who want more than just sex, those of you who want a story that isn't about sex, but maybe has some sex in it. I think that it should appeal to those of you who like stories about characters, about growing up, or about emotional development.

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: 10.0 (out of 10)

• Arousal: 5/5
• Editing: 5/5
• Plot and Characters: 5/5

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS: Outstanding

LINK(S):

• ASSM Archive
• Part 1 of 4
• Part 2 of 4
• Part 3 of 4
• Part 4 of 4