The Primroses Were Over

This is what I was hoping the original book would be. I take back any negative things I said about the scare factor of the first book because this had it in spades.

Spoilers for the first book in the series will be unmarked, as a heads up. Guys, don't read reviews for sequels before you've read the first book! ;)

Tark and Okiku have settled in a bit into a ghost-hunting lifestyle, and my, is it a dangerous and glorious thing to see. Dolls unsettle you? Turn back now. No, seriously.

While there is certainly character growth, this book is definitely much more focused on the scares, and it handles a few plotlines deftly and without any pacing issues. I may possibly have picked it up intending to read a chapter or two because it was going to be returned to the library soon and accidentally finished the whole thing. In like two hours. In the dark. Without getting up, because I was maybe the tiniest bit afraid of what would happen if I put my feet on the floor.

Aokigahara, often known as the Suicide Forest, is one of those places that has always fascinated me. I often get fascinated by strange and creepy things I cannot pronounce in a million years, for some reason. At any rate, setting the action here, adding a layer of mystery, and keeping the chills coming kept me reading much much longer than I should have on a work night.

If you liked the first book, or at least were ambivalent about it and wanted more scares, this is definitely worth picking up. I'll be poking around to see what else the author has written, because you can now color me impressed.