The Samurai Detectives: Volume 1

While I felt the book was addicting I would have to argue that is is indeed a difficult read for people not familiar with historic Japanese society. Especially in the beginning the elaborate character introductions can feel overwhelming. Additionally, given it is a translated version it can read slightly choppy at times. Some languages just do not lend themselves to translation into English as well as others. While I found this a non-issue personally, one of my friends dropped the book because of it. I was positively surprised by the themes discussed in the book. However, it is important to keep in mind, that this not a modern book so some aspects we may see as a bit problematic today (slight spoiler: age gap relationships)

So where the begin. I had rather high hopes for this book and was quickly disappointed. I had a hard time adapting to the story because of all the information and explanations which were new to me. So I dragged it and wasn’t that involved. But I forced myself to keep reading and I’m glad I did. The stories became more interesting and as I got used to the languages and all the Japanese terms and explanations the reading experience became fun. I thought this would be a bit more intriguing so I was a bit disappointed but since I also bought the second book I finished it and it was indeed a light novel to be read after a reading slump. It got me into reading again. The second book was better so if anyone’s thinking of reading it keep in mind this is just a light novel and not that deep.