Another step in my review of the Kingdom Hearts novelizations. I had already read volume 1 of the KH2 novelization a while ago, but realized I hadn't yet read volume 2. 

Kanemaki's writing is still pretty competent for a middle grade novel based on a video game. She really makes the characters pop. It's also clear that the novelization seems based on an earlier or more complete draft of the game's script, as it contains a number of scenes that don't appear in the game but are crucial to explaining the trajectory of the plot behind the scenes, particularly with Axel, Namine, Riku, and DiZ. All that said, the novel as a whole suffers from the fact that KH2 has the weakest plot of all the games in the series (and I stand by this), so the action consists of 1. Sora bouncing around Disney worlds, while 2. a number of characters who aren't Sora do all the actual cool stuff that drives the plot. 

I would give 3 stars but I added some decimal points because it has the scene where Saix wastes Axel, which is my favorite For Sicko Reasons.