Gute Fortsetzung, bei der mir zwischendurch ein wenig der rote Faden fehlte, die aber eine coole Charakterentwicklung für den Hauptcharakter hatte. Mir gefiel es sehr, dass Kennys Entscheidung aus dem letzten Teil nicht ohne Konsequenzen blieb und er nun alles wieder gerade biegen muss (in anderen Worten: he totally fucked up, winchester style). Die fatale nächste Entscheidung, die er dabei trifft, hat jedoch weit schlimmere Auswirkungen als erwartet und ich mochte es, dass er sich letztendlich entscheiden muss obwohl er vorher alles getan hat, um die Situation rechtzeitig wieder in Ordnung zu bringen (wobei er es so gut meint und dabei jedoch noch mehr Chaos anrichtet). Der Endkampf war ein wenig seltsam; in der Form dass ich diese Art Szenario in diesem Buch nun gar nicht erwartet hatte und auch immer noch nicht sicher bin, was ich davon halten soll. Die Beziehung zwischen Kenny und Kiyomi war auch wieder schön gestaltet, die beiden sind nach wie vor sowohl süß als auch awkward miteinander und ich bin gespannt, wie das Ganze wohl im dritten Band ausgeht. Ganz am Ende tritt nämlich auch noch ein neuer Feind aufs Feld, und dieser könnte den beiden noch richtig Ärger machen....
Kenny Blackwood only meant to save his new friend Kiyomi from an untimely death---but what he's unleashed in her might be worse. With an oni's lifeforce now powering her body, she's starting to adopt oni mannerisms and habits. So he's determined to find her a cure. No matter what it costs . . .
I didn't like this one as much as the first. I did actually enjoy Kiyomi's changing personality, as I felt that saving her in the prior book was a big cop out, and seeing that the action has ongoing consequences has made that more palatable. But Kenny is in the process of throwing everything away for the sake of "fixing" her, and it's not hard to see that this is going to land him in a whole heap of trouble in the long term.
(Besides, she doesn't seem to be losing her essential personality. It's basically her with new eating habits and anger management issues. Which is to say not very different from before at all.)
The book is still packed with a variety of weird Japanese monsters. This time, though, there's a particular gang of them in addition to the random surprises. And this gang is acting much more intelligently than the rest. I liked the mystery of what was actually going on with the telescopes. (And the humor involved in the whole setup.)
I was less fond of the new human characters. I loathed Stacey. Pushy girls that will pretend to be in danger to get a reaction just hit all my "please someone kill you quickly" responses. But she's wriggled her way into Kenny's life (mostly by blackmailing him) so I guess the story will be stuck with her in the future too.
Overall I was mostly annoyed as I read this book. Annoyed at Kenny for pretending to go along with people only to abandon them when they were counting on him. Super annoyed at Stacey. And I'm not sure I care about the series enough to finish it out, especially since that currently means tracking down a copy of the third book. Maybe if my library gets them I'll reconsider. For now, I rate this book Neutral.
Percy Jackson meets Star Wars in this second installment of the Kuromori series. 3 stars from me on this one because it felt like the plot was a little too busy and seemed to shift focus quite a bit. It felt like this left Rohan working extra hard to bring a satisfying conclusion to both storylines introduced in the novel and ending up resulting in a somewhat lackluster close. However, the scheming deity at the end does pique my curiosity regarding what will happen in the final installment of the series. This book would be great for young adult readers who enjoy Japanese mythology, as well as action/adventure stories similar to the Percy Jackson series.
The shield of Kuromori takes place right after the first book The Sword of Kuromori. One thing I liked about The Shield of Kuromori is the amount of detail the author puts into the character development. I was able to understand the characters and enjoyed the way they evolved from the first book. Also the plot unwinds just right. The story wasn't too fast or too slow, it really kept you on your toes. I would rate this a 10/10 book.
Bought this because I was intrigued by the cover and it didn’t disappoint. This was the first book I’ve read from the series which isn’t ideal. But without having read the book before I still understood what was happening which was convenient for me because I hadn’t bought the first book. This book was a fun, intriguing, and a good read. It also has a glossary for the Japanese words which I think is pretty cool and handy because it saves me time from having to search was the words means.
The second book of Kenny Kuromori's adventure. Although, not as good as the first one, this sequel offered me quite refreshing story line. This time, Kenny has to save the space from bombing on Japan and retrieve back the sunlight.
Worse, Kiyomi began to transforming herself to oni (not by transitioning her body but more to her attitude and behavior) so Kenny asked for help of Susano-wo the god from hell or dead world to give Kiyomi's own soul back to her. And now I need the third book!!!!
The second part of the Kuromori series by debut author Jason Rohan, this was just as brilliant as the first book, Sword of Kuromori. With just the right amount of action, crazy mythological creatures and uniqueness this book will appeal to children who like fantasy, adventure and a fast paced read. Even a kick ass female character and a little romance thrown in to appeal to girls. I have happily recommended this series to children and their parents over the last year and will continue to do so, even if some of them are put off by the sound of the flesh eating hags.......
Things were mentioned in passing that had occurred between the two books and I would have preferred them to have been explained in more detail.
This was a struggle. Initially I enjoyed the idea of Kenny fitting school in with his other life, but after a while I felt the author was trying to do too much. I ploughed on until the end because I felt I should, but I don't think I will be reading any more of the series.