So I was accidentally up until 2 reading this last night. It's really good! I'm still in Tifa's section, and I confess I was so focused on how they could have Tifa reminiscing about the points of her life without running into issues with the things I know she either doesn't remember or is uncomfortable bringing up that I failed to appreciate that 7+ years is a long time where a lot of other shit can happen
Or indeed the large swaths or her known backstory for which we never received any details.
Firstly, Nojima's novel-writing has really improved over the years since OtWtaS. Or at least his translator has. OtWtaS often felt, understandably, like reading a game script, but the scenes here are much more evocative and descriptive. Not that it's high prose or anything, but descriptions of the finer points of Zangan's training forms, foods, and indeed the pain and effects of the wound from Sephiroth's sword all brought me along with them.
Most impressively, it really drives home the tragedy of the Nibelheim Incident (which she doesn't run through again, nervously declaring "It all went like Cloud said, I don't have anything else to say about it!"), just by giving you a sense of the every day life she had, the people she knew, her cat, her sense of losing it all when she wakes up in Midgar, the appreciation for the fact that she's
15 for all of it. The Incident is such established lore in our heads, it does a good job of humanizing the thing. It also accentuates the coming tragedy of Sector 7
, or would if anyone actually died 
The periodic flash-forwards are nice too, with small interactions from her telling the story to Aerith or Red. Obviously any time I can spend with them is cherished
It's fun when it starts to go real deep into her unsure of her feelings for Cloud while on her way to meet him at the water tower or confusion at certain things and you realize "boy is she just spilling all this to the party?" and then it flashes forward to Barret or someone getting her attention saying she went silent there for a bit
The part that really had me struggling to put it down last night, though, was her arrival in Midgar. Recovering from the injury, finding work to pay the medical debt, her initial living setup and slowly becoming familiar with the way the slums work. It all flows very naturally and I find it
fascinating. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten that this was a a completely unexplored part of Tifa's story.
Trying to avoid specific spoilers in this thread might be silly since people have already discussed the whole thing, but maybe if you haven't read it yet, this will be nice
But obviously I recommend it. So far it's been really enjoyable.
@Ite Have/are you read/ing it? The Midgar parts in particular have put me in mind of your novelization.
