The Book of the Shadow

Samurai Girl #2

by Carrie Asai

The old Heaven Kogo died weeks ago. I am a new person - training to stay alive. All the people I once trusted, I now fear. The people that I trust now, I'm placing in great danger. I'm told that a good Samurai can make herself invisible, and I want to be invisible right now...to every person except one. I AM SAMURAI GIRL.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Contemporary, Teen

Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

CARRIE ASAI is a pseudonym.

Reviews

[Laura Jordan-Patrikios · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great. Still love it. Will still continue to read the 6 books and still give 1 star reviews

[Merary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book pissed the fuck out of me.
Even though I read it overnight, I was extremely bored with this.
A book about samurais? Of course it sounds interesting!! But, this?


So, at the beginning, Heaven confronts some ninjas. No fucks were given.
Then, Hiro (her trainer and friend) ends up dating Karen (another student), and the angst begins.
You have Heaven worrying about her brother's death, and suddenly she goes, "Why is Hiro with Karen? He's supposed to be with me!"
She goes to live with another friend she met in L.A., and gets a well-payed job.
Later on, it is discovered that her dad is with the Japanese mafia. For some reason, I saw that one coming. Yawn. And Teddy is back!! Oh nooooo. After some worrying, she once again, goes, "But, why is Hiro with Karen? What does she have that I don't? Are they having sex yet? This isn't fair!"


Stop irritating the fuck out of me, Heaven!! I get it, alright?! You're jealous!!! You want Hiro!! You hate Karen!! Now, can you please move on already??!!! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!


Take a deep breath, Merary.

Okay. I'm calm now.

Moving on . . .

I'm finally convinced that Heaven is a Mary Sue. When another character gets its POV, they would always talk about how beautiful and wonderful Heaven is. Even Karen thinks that. Not kidding. And she happens to defeat her enemies way too easily.
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

After some unimportant things later, some bad guys are after Heaven!!
OH, NO!! What to do? Heaven hasn't trained properly yet! Not to worry, Hiro knows a trick to fool the bad guys.
*after she does the trick, she finally beats them* TA-DA!!
Seriously, what?
That was the most boring fight scene I've ever read. A complete rip off. It didn't help that the writing was atrocious.

And the ending. Pfftt. Here we go again with the Mary Sueness.

I want to finish this series now.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s alright, but gotta see it through at this point.

[Beckett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just as poorly written as the first. It's so bad; I am astounded that this was published.

[Mandi Ellsworth]

Not as much fun as the first one, because the love interests got all screwed up, but I think I'll keep reading the series. At least long enough to finish the next one.

[Helenala Wharton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are parts of the book I was glued to and parts of the book I was glued to. The reason I continue to read this series is because of the story, but the author does need to do a better job of drawing in readers. This book actually had a TV series in 2008, but I must say that there are other books that deserve TV shows more than this. I think the author rushed the writing process and therefore missed the opportunity to find ways to make the book more entertaining. I was wondering how on earth an author could write several books of a series in one year(2003) and its apparent that she rushed this. I give the book a three star for the plot and I think your should give this a try yourself to form your own opinion.

[Magik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is like those action movies marketed towards teens. They are so bad but you can't help liking them because everyone is hot and the action scenes give you an adrenaline boost.

[Stefanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The star is for nostalgia. These are SO bad.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, as soon as I got this book I dove into it straight away and finished it within a day. Eventhough the intrigue between the main character Heaven and her sensei Hiro was interresting and has been building throughout the first book, it was disapointing to see him fall for the "other woman" Karen, who is also one of Hiro's students. You would think since Heaven and Hiro grew up together training in Japan, that they would naturally have "backround" and an already established "friendship foundation." But, both Hiro and Heaven's ex-fience Teddy have both admitted they have feelings for her, which should make things interresting in the upcoming books...I'm lovin' it so far!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second in the series, and no better or worse than the first. Asai made an interesting choice by having Hiro (Heaven's trainer, her only real friend, and the object of all her lusty thoughts) begin dating Karen. Especially since Karen begins her time in the books as a likable and normal person.

And Heaven learns to turn herself invisible? Sort of. Ninja voodoo, you know. (Oy.)

I don't know if I'd feel comfortable recommending these books to someone else, because they're pretty blah, but if I can get my hands on the rest of the series, I'll read them.

[Brenna]

I found this book for 3 dollars at a book store and so I bought it and later found out that I had been tricked into a really good series. Now all i need to do is read all the other books because this one kept me reading late into the night.
That must be one of my weaknesses, reading a book all at once. I often look back and wish I could just slowly enjoy a good read instead of reading it all at once. I guess it's like ice cream, or a really yummy food. You want to eat it all at once but at the same time you want to savor it... food analogies.

[Hilary · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are more than half-a-dozen volumes in this series? Really?

meh.

Spoiled Samurai princess is forced to work for a living. Finds out her father is Japanese mafia. Falls into bad company and "suffers" unrquited "love" for hunky martial arts instructor who is too old for her and already involved in a relationship. Poorly plotted. Flat characters. I was taken in by the cover and bought this book and the next one in the series at Goodwill for $0.25 each.

I am donating both to the local library...without even reading the next book.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heaven Kogo is again attacked by someone seemingly determined to kill her but her attacker flees when police drive by. She and Hiro continue their training but things get complicated when a girl named Karen ends up being attracted to Hiro and Hiro to her, making Heaven jealous.

Karen is then kidnapped and it's up to Hiro and Heaven to rescue her. Heaven, meanwhile, has learned that her father and her husband-to-be are all involved with gangsters.

Overall a good story and continuation of the series.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book is a great sequel it is once again about heaven kogo she is now fighting for her kidnapped friend and is Waring with herself about a job



she is a young Japanese samurai who was engaged and is on the run from the yakemura family
this is a great book and i enjoy it i recommend it for teens 15+

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The action continues in this book. While the story was good it gets a bit of a down grade for me because the fight scene descriptions were not always clear. It was at times hard to imagine how the moves were being executed which made me disconnect from the story at times. I will still continue reading the series though.

[Kryss Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it felt rushed along. When I compare it to the TV mini-series, I like the show better. Otto in the show is a mix of Farnsworth at Life Bytes and actual roommate to Cheryl Otto. I didn't like Karen on the show, and same goes here in the book series - though for different reasons. One thing they have both let me down on is Heaven's training and skills.

[Erica Freedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like these books aren't really holding up to the same standard they did when I was younger, but this is only book two, and they're fairly short, so I suspect that I haven't hit my stride yet. Even so, I'm still finding them entertaining, and they're launching me back to my childhood in a way that is fun and nostalgic.

[Kelly Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really hooked on this series so far! I burned through book one and halfway through book two in one day. Very addictive!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series. Fast paced story that makes for a fast read. Enjoyable.
This one definately left me wanting to read the next one to find out what happens.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

she is protected by her friends and jake is her introuctor to help her save her friends but her family is the one who is hurting her she must go through many things just to same her life

[Angie crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as much as the first one. I wish they had said something abut Konishi's condition. I can't wait to read the next book.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my review here: http://thepaige-turner.blogspot.com/2...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, fun read in the Samurai Girl series. Little heavy into stereotypes, but I guess that faster than full fledged characterization?

[Alyssa White · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing this book I kind of dropped off of the series, could not fully hold my interest any more :(

[Karen Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the second book too. Now I'm looking forward to the third book.