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The Haunted Bookstore Light Novel #3
The Haunted Bookstore - Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Light Novel 3): The Black Cat's Old Friend and Gemstone Tears
HIDDEN TRUTHS REVEALED
When Kaori learns that the young wife who lives next door will soon give birth, it should be a joyous occasion. But the mother-to-be leaves Kaori wondering about her own past. How in the world did she come to enter the spirit realm, all those years ago? And whatever became of her human parents? Little does she realize that the answer is far closer than she thinks. The kasha Nyaa, Kaori’s lifelong best friend, knows more than she’s ever let on, and she’s about to finally yield the secret of Kaori’s birth mother.
When Kaori learns that the young wife who lives next door will soon give birth, it should be a joyous occasion. But the mother-to-be leaves Kaori wondering about her own past. How in the world did she come to enter the spirit realm, all those years ago? And whatever became of her human parents? Little does she realize that the answer is far closer than she thinks. The kasha Nyaa, Kaori’s lifelong best friend, knows more than she’s ever let on, and she’s about to finally yield the secret of Kaori’s birth mother.
305 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2020
9 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 5, 2022
ანიმედ უკეთესი იქნებოდა ვიდრე წიგნადაა, იმენნა სცენები წერია ზოგგან და ზედმეტად პრიმიტიული ენა გამაღიზიანებელია :/
August 15, 2022
I am loving the relationship development between Kaori and Suimei. It's paced so well, not too fast not too slow. Just some young adults figuring out their feelings for one another and being two adorably shy dorks.
October 25, 2022
Possible Triggers:
Death | Gore
Summary:
This is the third installment in the series, themed in the winter season.
Positives:
+ I really loved the little side story included that was from Nyaa’s PoV. I always kinda wondered why Kaori and Nyaa have any kind of relationship at all, and this absolutely explains that.
Final Thoughts:
This one felt like the darkest book yet in the series. So much tragedy! Following the theme as the previous books, all the stories (the original timeline as well as the side stories that were included) were during either the winter season/winter holidays. It felt like this installment really clarified a lot of backstory for many of the characters. Not a deep dive, per sei, but by the end you have more of an understanding of how the relationships between the main characters came to be in the first place. Very bitter sweet in many of the stories.
Death | Gore
Summary:
This is the third installment in the series, themed in the winter season.
Positives:
+ I really loved the little side story included that was from Nyaa’s PoV. I always kinda wondered why Kaori and Nyaa have any kind of relationship at all, and this absolutely explains that.
Final Thoughts:
This one felt like the darkest book yet in the series. So much tragedy! Following the theme as the previous books, all the stories (the original timeline as well as the side stories that were included) were during either the winter season/winter holidays. It felt like this installment really clarified a lot of backstory for many of the characters. Not a deep dive, per sei, but by the end you have more of an understanding of how the relationships between the main characters came to be in the first place. Very bitter sweet in many of the stories.
April 11, 2023
Another 5 stars for this series. The first 2 volumes deal with some serious topics, such as abuse, and abandonment, death, and of course there is mention of gore, and descriptions of gore, let's face it, the spirits can be very scary, but there is still the heart warming side of the story, it's about family.
Volume 3 still touches on those serious topics, it still has moments that make me smile, but unlike the first two volumes, this one brought tears to my eyes. As it says on the description, Kaori starts to wonder about her birth mother, and we get to find out how she ended up in the spirit world as a toddler, as well as learn about her mother. Being a mother myself, this was hard for me, I don't want to spoil it so I won't go into details, but man oh man, did this make me tear up. Still it was amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on volume 4.
Did I forget to mention I really enjoy the culture, and learning about Japanese spirits?
Volume 3 still touches on those serious topics, it still has moments that make me smile, but unlike the first two volumes, this one brought tears to my eyes. As it says on the description, Kaori starts to wonder about her birth mother, and we get to find out how she ended up in the spirit world as a toddler, as well as learn about her mother. Being a mother myself, this was hard for me, I don't want to spoil it so I won't go into details, but man oh man, did this make me tear up. Still it was amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on volume 4.
Did I forget to mention I really enjoy the culture, and learning about Japanese spirits?
April 13, 2022
It is winter in the spirit world and most spirits are hibernating. It gives Kaori (and Suimei) a bit of free time to explore human emotions as well as Kaori's past before she was adopted in the spirit world. The story starts light-hearted, this time with folklore from Hokkaido. It quickly becomes more serious when talk of romance gets Kaori and Suimei to visit an expert on such and Kaori struggling with her emotions and having nobody to talk with about it. Some solid character development mixed in with thematically related folklore and yokai all with its own modern twist. A great story and I am looking forward to the next part.
June 10, 2022
The best one yet!
Book one introduced us to this wonderful world. Book two gave us more understanding about Sumie and now we have love on the brain. Will we see a confession in the next book?
Book one introduced us to this wonderful world. Book two gave us more understanding about Sumie and now we have love on the brain. Will we see a confession in the next book?
January 1, 2023
Another good entry in this series. Lots of the story is told in Flashback. The Main Character the human Kaori finds out, her backstory how she came to end up in the Spirit world and what happened to her mom. It's a very moving story. A new threat to the spirit realm is uncovered.
August 8, 2023
I really savored this one :) It has cozy winter vibes, and some fascinating new spirits. If you haven't read the rest of the series, you *could* pick it up with this one and you'd probably be fine--but it is worth checking out the previous books too!
October 15, 2022
Superb
September 24, 2025
This was a well done read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews