Rain (The Paper Gods, #2)

by Amanda Sun

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I am quite disappointed in Rain. It does have some good stuff going on, but overall, I just don't like the direction the series has taken. Katie has, of course, decided to stay in Japan, but it's been two weeks since she's seen Tomohiro. Finally, she catches him at a festival, and things seem to be okay, until the fireworks turn into ink. The news brushes it off as a prank, but she knows it means Tomo is not in control of his powers. Katie is desperate to help him, so she turns to the only other powerful kami she knows, Jun. This causes some tension between her and Tomo, but it also reveals a lot about the nature of his abilities.

I continued to enjoy learning about Japanese culture, but I grew increasingly annoyed with Rain as Katie continues to point out how she's so much different than everyone else. We get it, you're blonde and American in a country full of Japanese people! She seriously acted like she was the only American in the whole country, and she blamed everything on her being blonde. In the very first chapter she actually says she's the "wrong shape" for a Kimono, because she's tall and blonde. Blonde is not a shape! I was also irritated that a lot of the dialogue is essentially written twice. Of course, it's written in English with the understanding that they're actually speaking Japanese. However, random words are replaced with their Japanese equivalent and then Katie's inner monologue translates for us, or the speaking character says it again "in English." This is okay when there isn't an English word/phrase, but the way it was done was just awkward. Plus, there's a glossary in the back (with links in the Kindle version).

As for the plot, Rain focuses more on the relationships between Katie, Tomohiro, and Jun instead of the whole Yakuza issue. They're still there, but it's not the focus. Katie is repeatedly told that she's making Tomo's powers act up in dangerous ways and witnesses it happen, but she refuses to give him space! She might go away for a couple of hours, in which she seeks out Jun to find out how she can help (hint: go away!), making Tomo even more upset and unstable. Then there's the whole issue of Jun figuring out why Katie is linked to the ink and I was not happy at all. There's a "reasonable" explanation, which is fine, but she's a lot more connected than was thought in Ink. This whole situation just made me mad.

Rain simply was not for me. I don't think it suffers from Middle Book Syndrome, as a lot is revealed and the plot moves forward. But I am just not happy with how Katie is turning out to be connected to everything. She's always making such a huge deal about being blonde, American, and not fitting in. I liked the idea of her being a kind of amplifier for kami powers, instead of being kami. She didn't need to be more special and unique, so I think her having ink too is a huge mistake.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.