I have pretty fuzzy memories of the events in the previous Monogatari books, but I vaguely recalled liking Shinobu the most. So I was sorta looking forward to this? Especially after the Nadeko book. It ended up being more about Mayoi though.
The pacing of this book was pretty bad. Shinobu is a terrible narrator. The fourth wall breaking also got pretty stale, it wasn’t even really that funny the first time. Overall it wasn’t a very good story…but the character interactions kinda made up for it. And the Darkness phenomenon was interesting and made sense in that world. I should feel sadder Mayoi is gone but I feel like it might be temporary? I feel like it was hinting that Araragi could have done something if he had more knowledge. More time-travel shenanigans incoming? 😝
I’m also cutting the book some slack cos it feels like a set-up book. Set-up for Kanbaru and her aunt story and set-up for Ougi.
Categories: Book Reviews
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