Not Simple by Natsume Ono
The Good: Despite the odd order of events the story was not that hard to follow and didn't even require a second glance through to piece together the parts of Ian's life. The whole story is wrapped up nicely at the end of the volume (a bigger book at 320 pages) and manages to feel rather complete, even if the beginning is the end and the reader doesn't find out the resolution until the last few pages.
The Bad: While reality (and fiction) can be very strange at times yet completely true, there is a point when a story becomes too strange, too coincidental, and too fantastical and Not Simple crossed that line. Too many strange things happen to Ian to really be believable and that made it harder to sympathize with him as well. The novelist, Jim, also feels a bit out of place in the story, almost as if Ono wanted even more tragedy and decided late in the planning stage that Jim's actions would work nicely.
The Art: Ono's style looks strange in all of her works but here it looks extra odd and unrefined. Every character is drawn in blocky shapes, the eyes are huge and flat, and the art feels more experimental, unlike her later works where the art is still different but feels like it tries to be different on purpose.
So, not my cup of tea after all, oh well, although this does make me want to go and rewatch/find the manga for House of Five Leaves now. And apologies that this entry is going up later, I'm starting to do more cooking and I normally write these entries in the hour before dinner so they might go up a bit later all summer, hope that won't inconvenience people too much!
