Prelim Review: Honestly speaking you'd never guess just how creepy this book series could be from looking at the cover. The second volume of the series gave us more background on Konoha, we met someone related (kind of?) to Tohko and lest we forget super creepy family dealings.

Seriously these books only get creepier.

Full review to be posted at Poisoned Rationality ( )

A charming but dark sequel to the first book. Once again, it mingles themes of great literature and mental illness, this time taking a cue from Wuthering Heights in its exploration of obsession and the kinship between consuming love and consuming hate. The protagonist takes a bit of a back seat this time, serving mostly as a (usually baffled) viewpoint character with only brief insight into his own issues.

I did feel like maybe the book took a too-generous view of the problem characters, and in particular of Aoi. The twisted affection that exists between him and Haruto at the end does not for one second excuse or outweigh his horrific behaviour towards her, and his punishment doesn't either. There's no question that he belongs either in prison or in an asylum, and the book letting him wander off to endure a personal hell was a step too far towards the literary aspect of the series, considering its conceit of transposing older literary themes into a modern-day school. It just seems out of place that the many people aware of what has happened don't feel it necessary to involve any authorities. Being practical for a moment, I don't know what the situation is in Japan, but it seems unlikely that a pupil would be allowed to reach Haruto's state without intervention from the school and likely from child protection services. This would, of course, ruin the story.

I'm still interested in further exploration of the characters and this premise in the rest of the series. I can't help noticing that it seems to be inclining towards the common manga trope of a boy utterly incapable of picking up any information that isn't explicitly stated with corroborating evidence, which... does not reflect in any way my memory of school. Teenagers are far more likely to extrapolate wildly from whatever hints they get, boys as much as girls. It's a bit tired to my mind. But all the characters are interesting.

But again, I enjoyed the book on the whole despite these weaknesses, and despite its rather depressing tone much of the time. I think obsession (of this particular kind) was a less interesting topic for exploration (because it largely exists in fiction) than the depression that Suicidal Mime focused on, but it was still a good read. ( )

Book Girl and the Famished Spirit is the second book in Mizuki Nomura's sixteen-volume light novel series Book Girl, illustrated by Miho Takeoka. Originally published in Japan in 2006, the book was released in English in 2011 by Yen Press. Once again, Karen McGillicuddy serves as the translator for the series. I read the first volume, Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime not too long ago and absolutely loved it. The book more or less made me an instant fan and so there was no question that I would be picking up Book Girl and the Famished Spirit. I am still quite fond of the premise of a "book girl," a yōkai that devours the written word instead of food. Even though this story element is often relegated to the background, it is still important and I find it to be utterly delightful. Because I enjoyed Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime so much, I was really looking forward to reading Book Girl and the Famished Spirit.

Despite insisting she doesn't believe in them, Tohko, the self-proclaimed "book girl," is afraid of ghosts. Normally this wouldn't be such a problem, but someone has been leaving encoded messages in the literature club's mailbox. Messages that seem to be similar to the ones rumored to be left all over the school by a wandering ghost. But whether a prank pulled by a classmate or a legitimate spirit (book girls exist after all, so why not ghosts?), one thing is clear--the notes are asking for help. Tohko intends to investigate the incidents, assuming that Konoha, her underclassman and the only other member of the literature club, will be willing to assist her. But he's reluctant, especially as the notes become more threatening. He hopes that she will just leave the whole matter alone.

While Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime was heavily influenced by Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, Book Girl and the Famished Spirit takes its inspiration from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. In some ways the story is actually more cruel than the original. If you've never read Wuthering Heights, don't worry. If there's one thing that Tohko likes to do besides eating literature, it's talking about it and she provides a very nice summarization of the novel. Throughout the series she frequently launches into tirades about books, even at seemingly inappropriate moments. This is part of her charm although it can come across as tangential. Nomura is constantly dropping references to various works and authors, some more well known than others. But my favorite thing about Book Girl and the Famished Spirit was the introduction of Ryuto. I almost hope that he also turns out to be some sort of yōkai, but I'd still be happy even if it turns out he's just simply a masochist.

For the most part, Book Girl and the Famished Spirit can stand fairly well on its own and it's not absolutely necessary to have read Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime. The main mystery is almost completely separate with only a few minor references to the previous one. However, more information is given about Konoha and Tohko. To be honest, it is their backgrounds that intrigue me the most at this point. Konoha's past in particular is slowly being introduced, piece by piece, within the context of the incidents he and Tohko get caught up in. It's an interesting but effective technique. Although I enjoyed Book Girl and the Famished Spirit, I didn't like it nearly as well as I did the first book. I'm not really sure why; maybe it's just that I happen to prefer No Longer Human over Wuthering Heights. Regardless, I still intend to continue the series with the next volume, Book Girl and the Captive Fool.

Experiments in Manga ( )

A strange thing about this book: while I was reading it, I found it very compelling and interesting, but afterward, I couldn't really pick out what made it an enjoyable read.

As a sequel to Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime, Book Girl and the Famished Spirit continues the theme of a work of literature playing out in the reality of Konoha and Tohko, with the mystery aspect of trying to figure out the story and bring it to a happy end. The book also continues exploring Konoha's past as he comes up against it in relation to the plot, and more details about both him and Tohko come to light.

The work of literature used for Famished Spirit is Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Although I knew that it was the base for the plot, because Nomura changed the names and details just a bit, I found it difficult to see the parallels between the books until well into the story, which I appreciated because it kept everything fresh and horrible. (Wuthering Heights is a gothic horror, after all.)

I enjoyed the first book, and I enjoyed this one as well. I'm also looking forward to the third book in the series. I like the way Nomura wove the plots together, including how the really interesting parts — about the book goblin Tohko and about what happened to Konoha in middle school — are only alluded to, with bits and pieces trickling out, because of course Konoha already knows it all and is the narrator.

Finally, as I referred to above, Famished Spirit has a horror aspect to it, because of the Wuthering Heights plot. It's a psychological, emotional horror that I felt strongly. It definitely showed creativity, that a plot I knew well enough to be mostly used to the horrible aspect was tweaked enough to get that feeling again. ( )