Part 1 of Suzume's life has come and gone and if it's any indication based off of the title of the second part of Shadows on the Moon, Suzume now begins the next part of her life (and her journey) as a little fake servant girl named Rin.
The story line progressed at an amazingly smooth pace, detailing all the conflicts and issues surrounding Suzume's father's death and the following time that she and her mother spend living with Terayama-san. The writing and the imagery is beautiful and I love that the magical aspects of shadow-weaving just seems to come so naturally--both as a plot point and as a magical skill used by Suzume.
While it seemed as if we spend a lot of time just watching Suzume "live" quietly as an invisible presence in her step-father's home and being pushed away by her own mother who craves attention from her new husband and seems to loathe if it is given to her daughter instead, a lot seems to have happened along the journey as well. Suzume learns to use her shadow weaving skills, we get to hear about some legends, and we meet a bunch of foreigners who may or may not also know how to use shadow weaving. We learn a lot about Terayama's and Suzume's mother's personalities (and those two definitely deserve each other and Suzume just needs to find a way to run away).
Anyway, my quick update probably doesn't do this book much justice, but I'm extremely excited about reading the rest of the story to see where Suzume's journey leads her next as the little servant girl covered in cinder and ash, Rin.
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