上倉家のあやかし同居人 ~見習い鍵守と、ふしぎの蔵のつくも神~

Likeable MC, interesting setup, some underdeveloped aspects, but still a fun read

The heart of this series is the bond that the main character, a human teenager named Yuika, forms with the various tsukumogami, objects that have turned into kami, that live in her family's storehouse. Even though Yuika is a shy introvert who would like nothing better than to just keep her head down and avoid trouble, she wholeheartedly listens to the needs and desires of the tsukumogami and becomes strong enough to speak up for these spirits that wouldn't otherwise have a voice among humans.

I love that each chapter is about one particular tsukumogami from the storehouse. Each of them have different backgrounds, stories, motivations, and connections from their "lifetimes" that serve as a catalyst for Yuika to take action and while beginning to peel back the many layers of history surrounding the two neighboring rural towns that form the setting of this book. It's like a lovely small town museum exhibit where the objects on display will occasionally have noisy parties and may in one case try to kill you if you go up the stairs.

At the core of this history are the Kamikura and Tanba families, and their current heirs Yuika and assistant/partner/potential love interest Hiromitsu are at the very center. This is where the book falls apart for me, a little. Hiromitsu is a perfectly helpful guy, and he treats Yuika perfectly well, and... that's kind of it. There's really not a whole lot to his character even though there is a significant conflict between his and Yuika's families that is mentioned throughout the entire book and serves as the focus of chapter 3. The other human characters don't have a lot of dimension, either. It's the tsukumogami and Yuika's journey that really shine.