Yuki Hirano does some more growing up in Kamusari.

A quick, engaging read. I'm curious how much is based on genuine Japanese folklore and custom and how much the author just made up. ( )

***DNF & Minor Spoiler***

“That’s the point of the story?”
“Yes! Right, Granny Shige?”
“Yep. It’s ages now since I had pleasure with my husband, but what we had was fine, all right.”
She looked blissful, remembering bygone days, or nights. Sheesh. What’s with these oversexed people?
“For a young guy, Yuki, you seem kind of take-it-or-leave-it,” said Yoki disapprovingly. “At this rate, you’ll never get it on with Nao.”

I read a little further on but that's the passage where I basically decided to not finish. The charm of the characters and interesting passages describing traditional forestry methods found in the first book, [b:The Easy Life in Kamusari|58755262|The Easy Life in Kamusari (Forest, #1)|Shion Miura|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1628776735l/58755262._SY75_.jpg|16948391], are often noticeably absent from novel #2.

Also, although the narrator for the audio version is fine, his voice sounds far too mature to portray a young adult. The story is told from the pov of Yuki Hirano, who is barely out of high school, yet with the audio, I kept picturing a 40 year old.

I really did have high hopes for this one but was totally disappointed. Onto other books, waiting to be read. ( )

I enjoyed this sequel, but I think I enjoyed the first novel a little more in terms of learning about the town and the forestry job. There were also some magical realism events that occurred in the first one that were interesting and weird, whereas in this one, they were treated more as legends or myths of the region. Still a nice, comforting read though. ( )