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The Haunted Bookstore Light Novel #5
The Haunted Bookstore - Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Light Novel) Vol. 5
STORY OF THE HEART
Kaori and Suimei have finally realized how they feel about each other, but their love will have to wait—the bookstore is in terrible danger. One day, a fox spirit called Hakuzousu storms in, screaming, “The spirit realm has no use for such an unscrupulous bookstore!” He blames his daughter’s love for a human on the influence of human books. Shinonome can’t just shrug off such an insult, and Kaori fears that a fight between her father and the fox will reduce the store to ashes. So, she sets out to seek help from the Three Great Tanukis of Japan to quell Hakuzousu’s anger, but whether they’ll answer her call is another story...
Kaori and Suimei have finally realized how they feel about each other, but their love will have to wait—the bookstore is in terrible danger. One day, a fox spirit called Hakuzousu storms in, screaming, “The spirit realm has no use for such an unscrupulous bookstore!” He blames his daughter’s love for a human on the influence of human books. Shinonome can’t just shrug off such an insult, and Kaori fears that a fight between her father and the fox will reduce the store to ashes. So, she sets out to seek help from the Three Great Tanukis of Japan to quell Hakuzousu’s anger, but whether they’ll answer her call is another story...
336 pages, Paperback
First published June 18, 2021
3 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 3, 2023
At the end of volume 4 Kaori confessed her love to Suimei, but Suimei was not in a position to give her an answer (not that there is any doubt of his answer even to Kaori but there is always that nervousness). Now they are about to finally meet again, but instead of getting some time alone, they end up in the middle of a mess when a fox threaten to destroy the bookshop out of some kind of misplaced blame. The fox's daughter fell in love with a human, and it were those hated books that pushed her into the human world.
Like previous volumes, family (especially fatherhood) and mortality are the central themes of the book. Mix in old Japanese folklore and literature and you end with the kind of interesting story that we are used to. There are many kinds of fathers, and while most act out of love for their daughter, that in itself is not enough. The extra details we get on Noname and Tamaki's history are a great bonus. And Kaori and Suimei are cute together, especially their clumsiness at the end.
The plot itself was a bit convoluted, plots within plots within plots, trying a bit too hard to fit various famous Japanese stories in regards to foxes and tanuki and than adding Tamaki's end purpose on top. Nothing major, especially considering it fits the world the series set up with spirits being influenced by the stories told about them, just that the twist lacked a bit of an impact for me as a result.
So, a story great for its world building, characters and its integration of Japanese folklore (at least as far as I can judge considering my lack of deep knowledge on the subject), it was a great read and I am looking forward to the next part and its focus on the main father in the series.
Like previous volumes, family (especially fatherhood) and mortality are the central themes of the book. Mix in old Japanese folklore and literature and you end with the kind of interesting story that we are used to. There are many kinds of fathers, and while most act out of love for their daughter, that in itself is not enough. The extra details we get on Noname and Tamaki's history are a great bonus. And Kaori and Suimei are cute together, especially their clumsiness at the end.
The plot itself was a bit convoluted, plots within plots within plots, trying a bit too hard to fit various famous Japanese stories in regards to foxes and tanuki and than adding Tamaki's end purpose on top. Nothing major, especially considering it fits the world the series set up with spirits being influenced by the stories told about them, just that the twist lacked a bit of an impact for me as a result.
So, a story great for its world building, characters and its integration of Japanese folklore (at least as far as I can judge considering my lack of deep knowledge on the subject), it was a great read and I am looking forward to the next part and its focus on the main father in the series.
September 22, 2024
I really do enjoy this series. In this volume, The Bookstore gets threatened, then a spirit angered by their daughter reading a romance novel and falling in love with a human, wants to destroy the store. Meanwhile Kaoru and Suimei, finally decide to reveal their feeling for each other. But have to travel around Japan collecting spirits to help save the bookstore.
AS usual with this series, the characters feel real. Their is action, but not a lot. Mostly it's dialouge and trying to talk to each other about past mistakes.
AS usual with this series, the characters feel real. Their is action, but not a lot. Mostly it's dialouge and trying to talk to each other about past mistakes.
August 25, 2023
Weirdly I think this was my least favorite of the entire series so far. All of the stories in this collection but 1 were progressing the main plot, but they dragged and I struggled to click with the emotional decisions of the characters. The last page of the entire thing absolutely makes me want to read the next book in the series though.
July 3, 2023
Definitely the weakest of the series so far. I had a hard time finishing it. The story didn't interest me at all. I'll pick up the next one, but if it is as weak as this one I'll be done with The Haunted Book Store. Which is sad because it started off so strong and entertaining.
June 10, 2023
Absolutely beautiful, can't wait for 6!
August 22, 2024
I THINK I'M GOING TO CRY A RIVER FOR THE NEXT BOOK, I'M NOT READY
April 23, 2025
I love this series, and this particular installment was fun because we see a lot of new perspectives!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews