"American Katie Green has decided to stay in Japan. She's started to build a life in the city of Shizuoka, and she can't imagine leaving behind her friends, her aunt and especially Tomohiro, the guy she's fallen in love with. But her return is not as simple as she thought. She's flunking out of Japanese school and committing cultural faux pas wherever she goes. Tomohiro is also struggling—as a Kami, his connection to the ancient gods of Japan and his power to bring drawings to life have begun to spiral out of control.
When Tomo decides to stop drawing, the ink finds other ways to seep into his life—blackouts, threatening messages and the appearance of unexplained sketches. Unsure how to help Tomo, Katie turns to an unexpected source for help—Jun, her former friend and a Kami with an agenda of his own. But is Jun really the ally he claims to be? In order to save themselves, Katie and Tomohiro must unravel the truth about Tomo's dark ancestry, as well as Katie's, and confront one of the darkest gods in Japanese legend."
I love Ink very much. And I still love it even though I'm more than disappointed in this book. Rain has suddenly become a soap opera, and I'm just all.. disoriented. I have to say that I'm not sure if I'm even reading a book by Amanda Sun. It doesn't sound like her. It is all different and strange, and I find the changes to be all distasteful.
But let's start zooming in.
There is too many love triangles. I can make a diagram, but I'm afraid that most people won't understand it from the sheer complicity of it. I'm not kidding. But I'll try. Be aware that there will be spoilers, so you might want to cover your eyes (or actually skip the next paragraph). Here we go... It is going to be nasty.
Spoilers... Tomo and Katie are in love, right? That is the main couple of the entire book (the golden couple, as one might say). Then there is Jun, who is in love with Katie. Actually, he likes her and has a Grant Ward-style crush on her, so... I'm not particularly big on Jun. Even worse is that Katie herself is confused after clearly being not interested in him in Ink. [Insert eye rolls gif here] And there is some more stuff. It turns out that Ishikawa is in love with Tomohiro (who does not return the feelings and only see him as a friend).
Yeah... it is complicated and crazy. From the sheer size of the previous paragraph, I think we can all tell that this series has become a soap opera. I'm considering whether or not to jump ship and pretend the only book that exists in this series is Ink.
The storyline is all wonky, and I so wish that the author didn't go into some areas. The fight scenes are pretty clear. There are some parts of the book that seem force and uneasy. (And the only reason I will probably continue reading this series is to read the ending).
Katie Green is suddenly dislikable. I don't like her anymore. In the first book, I liked her very much. (And Tomohiro is also... ugh at some points of the book). I greatly don't like some of her moments, and she doesn't seem as strong anymore.
And why is every character suddenly bashing in her head? Oh, wait. Maybe because they all had personality changes and are really strange. I swear... every character seems muddled and different. I don't like the sudden change at all. (And yes, Katie's character changed, too).
Rating: Two out of Five
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