Book Review: “Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Volume 2” by Fujino Omori

Warning: If you have not read “Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol. 2” by Fujino Omori and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda, do not read this book unless you don’t mind spoilers or already read the book.

I’m back with another book review, and this time it’s for “Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Vol. 2” by Fujino Omori, illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda! I think it’s been over a year since I read the first book, mainly because I spent a lot of time finishing up the “Book Girl series” at first. Now that that is over, I’m following this series as well as “The Devil is a Part-Timer!” Here’s a summary of what this book is about:

“”Hello, white-hair.”

When someone calls out to Bell with these words, he discovers that the voice belongs to a girl who introduces herself as Lilly. Somewhat goaded into teaming up with her despite the many doubts running through his head, Bell has a successful turn in the dungeon with his new companion.

Though their alliance is short-lived, the negative rumors swirling about the guild to which Lilly belongs, the Soma Familia, are anything but. Later Bell is confronted by the tales of a mysterious sacred wine said to steal the hearts of all who drink it, and–?!”

This was definitely an interesting second book, for sure! Bell is getting used to adventuring, and we learn more about the worldbuilding of the book, where Supporters are introduced. Lilly, a notable character Bell meets, is one of them, and it’s through Bell’s many interactions with her that we learn of what the Supporters do and how they’re treated by actual adventurers and all. It was written in such a way, however, that Lilly wasn’t used as a huge information dumper and had a lot more character than just providing information, which was really nice.

Plotwise, I thought the book was definitely interesting. I feel like it could have lingered more on the sacred wine part of the plot, mainly because we didn’t get a huge amount of buildup to that, but otherwise I thought it was quite fun to read. Lilly and Bell’s interactions hugely drive the main events, and how they interacted with each other made me want to read more. Given what happens at the end of the book, I hope to see Lilly more in the next one. Despite all the bad that she’s done with her stealing from Bell and such, it’s clear that Bell doesn’t approve but he tries to make amends with her. Bell learns to see past the fact that she’s a Supporter and a girl to see her as a person who’s just as faulty as anyone else, and that definitely gives Bell some growth. With Lilly, I think it’s possible she will have some more redemption not just at the end of this book but also the next one, given how she now is officially sticking around with Bell as friends.

What disappointed me was that we didn’t see much of Aiz interacting with Bell. I previously observed last book about how she rarely interacted with him and that I wanted to see more of that. It’s clear, however, that despite Aiz being this cool warrior that Bell looks up to, she’s getting more fleshed out as a person. She may be stoic and calm, but she has a softer side she doesn’t show to just anyone—heck, it’s revealed she has a small admiration and/or crush on Bell, actually! I’m hoping she further develops in the next book and actually talks to him more than once or twice.

What I also found surprising was that Hestia didn’t have a huge appearance in this book, despite being the leader of Bell’s guild and all. I thought she would raise more of a fuss over Lilly hanging out with Bell, given how she was portrayed last book as being a bit more on the easily jealous side, and I was disappointed that she was used more for comic relief this time around than a character that affected Bell and the relations the two have with each other. I hope to see a more fleshed out Hestia next book.

Overall, I’m rating this book 4 out of 5 stars! This was definitely, arguably, better than the first book, and I plan to keep reading this series!