Actual rating 2.5 
 My very first thought when I started this book was that it is the only book in the world that would be much better as a movie. The fact that I was in a reading slump and obsessed with TV shows for a while before that had an impact in this, I guess. Nevertheless, I only thought about how much I would want just to see the movie and mark this book as read without actually finishing it. And I don't think this is the right first impression a book should make. 
 I've never been a big fan of Japan or Japanese culture. Surely it is beautiful in its own way, but to me it is still a strange country with customs that are difficult to understand, even if I learned a lot about this subject from this book. 
 In a nutshell, the book describes the entire process of becoming a geisha. Starting from the moment the girls are sold by their families all the way up to finally achieving that high status of a successful geisha. (And no, it is not a spoiler, Sayuri basically notifies us about the ending of the story from the first pages.) 
 There were a few things that bothered me. Firstly, it was veeeery slow. There were a lot of descriptions packed with tons of metaphors, which offer elegance and beauty to the story alongside with useful information, nobody denies that, but actually make it even slower up to the point they become annoying AF. Also, I started this book with the thought that I should not expect too much from the point of view of veracity, as it is written by an American author. I won't say this expectation justified itself, as I am not an expert in Asian cultures myself, but still I had that feeling that I shouldn't believe everything that is told in here. 
 Speaking about the good things... The characters weren't too bad. I liked Mameha, even though she seemed too perfect. She is the "good guy", the angel of the story, the one who saved Sayuri's destiny and helped her step on the right way. I also liked Pumpkin in the first half of the story. She seemed funny, with her tongue sticking out when she was really focused on something. She also had a funny nickname, and the only one I could pronounce and actually remember. (The names were such a pain in the ass for me and they seemed to be a problem for the main character as well, as she gave nicknames to almost everybody...). The only thing I can say about the main character is that I liked her as Chiyo more. She kind of lost herself after becoming a geisha. Oh, and I also liked the painter, whose name I cannot remember (of course)... I thought he was the only character that seemed alive. And for sure I love the cover... It is absolutely wonderful. 
 Overall it was a pretty nice story...