One of the few times where I was both right in the decision to continue on to a second book after the mediocre first and where a sequel was actually better than the prequel.
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The beauty of series like these is that there is no guarantee to either enjoyment or disappointment, the stories begin and end in the same chapter before we move on to a new one in the next chapter. This of course doesn’t mean that the series lacks continuity, Mikami-sensei left somethings in the chapters that will eventually lead us to the story of the last chapter in the book to wrap it up nicely. It’s even better when said story, actually ends up giving me an insight on the background of one of the characters.
The thing that surprised me the most in this book though was how engrossed I was in reading it, the first one barely got my attention and was somewhat of a chore to get through, but I basically devoured this one. Could it be that I’m reeling from the two consecutive DNF’s that I will latch on to anything? Or could it be because the stories are way more interesting this time around? I’d like to think (and inwardly hope) that it’s the latter, because I really believe that this one was a stronger volume.
There were three stories in total here and the one that wrapped up the hints we’ve been getting in the book. The stories had varying degrees of enjoyment, but none of them actually made me sigh in boredom like in the prequel so I’ll consider it a win no matter what. My favourite would have to be the very first one where we learn a little bit more about the childhood of one of the characters, I didn’t think it’ll happen that way but about halfway through I figured it out with the usual questioning. The remaining two were also mysteries (the entire series is in a way), but it felt somewhat different in the regard that the second had a message to deliver, while the third would’ve changed so much in the lives of those concerned if it proceeded in another mystery. Kind of reminded me of Violet Evergarden a bit with how it went.
One other thing to praise in this series are the literary references, before starting it I assumed that the series will take on a more slice of life approach without including many actual books, but I’m glad to see that I was wrong. The fact that real books are being discussed here makes it absolutely fun for me for two reasons, the first is that it handles literature I’m familiar with by name in some instances and I could learn something new about it. The second reason is that it could give me new material to read if anything discussed is amongst the things I enjoy reading. It hasn’t happened just yet, but I’m optimistic :)
The things I didn’t enjoy in the series are the continuous remakes on how big of a guy Daisuke is (I get it, he’s a big guy who can’t read a book because of a childhood trauma, I get it, really) and the fact that I now have to be reminded that he’s a heterosexual male, even if he was, does it have to get “explicit mentions” to establish that he is and that he likes Shinokawa? I think that the first few pages of the first novel does enough of that, but I guess not.
Looking forward to the rest and hopefully it’ll be fun!
Final rating: 4/5