Reviews

Ebony Gate by Ken Bebelle, Julia Vee

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lenastockton's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

ajira's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Just realized I hadn’t published my review here, and book 2 is almost out already so here goes! I absolutely loved this book. Emiko Soong is our weary albeit stab-happy, double sword wielding reluctant hero who's trying to just get on with her life after the trauma of losing herself to her work as a Blade for her clan, despite being kept in the dark about her Talent in a world that values Talents over almost anything.

Although she's done her best to keep to herself after distancing herself from her family, she builds connections with her new community in San Francisco, looking out for folks as they look out for her. When a death god calls in a favor that her mom owed, she steps in to fulfill the blood debt and recover the stolen Ebony Gate or forfeit her soul in its stead.

Emiko's many layered traumas, dissonance about them and everyone’s reluctance to see her as anything but the Butcher of Beijing are a double edged sword that cuts in all ways. Her exhaustion comes through in so much of her self-doubt, even as her innate and trained badassness never lets her just give up.

I really enjoyed the incorporation of various East Asian myths as well as the magical system with eight dragon clans whose members had varying Talents… AND this 2 day action-filled adventure took place around San Francisco and the Bay Area (my US hometown) which was lovely and immediately made me want to go back to all the landmarks mentioned! Bao, the magical foo lion sidekick was also a fave and I want to see all the artist renderings there are of him. Reading this book definitely made me want to get swords! STAT.

This story reminded me of how hard it is to leave family business/drama, especially when it’s a big family. You can get dragged back into that mess before you know what’s what. It’s action filled, with interesting and funny characters and a hidden layer that just piqued my interest consistently. I’m eager to read the next installments and find out if the hoard remains protected. Special shoutout to the city’s magic sentience which I’m also eager to see more of! I can't wait for book 2!

Thank you to B2 Weird for including me on the tour, and to Tor Books and the authors for a finished copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

yuck1209's review

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Reminded me of The Jade City.

Emiko is a decent protagonist, with her main motivation slowly transforming throughout the course of the story. She goes from wanting to stay far away from her past and clan politics to striving to protect the city and the people around her who’ve offered her a second chance. Emiko often considers herself a blunt instrument of sorts, out of touch with the inter-clan politics and niceties, though I was occasionally frustrated with that translating to bumbling mistakes in her quest to track down the Ebony Gate.

Other characters that stood out… well, it’s hard to say since Emiko maintains a distance from most everyone else. I was convinced, for example, that she would team up with Tessa and Andie, get their assistance in her mission, but that didn’t happen. I wondered if she’d have some sort of romance with Adam, or enlist his help

after taking him under Soong Clan protection

, but no. I guess even Kamon, her hot Tiger ex-boyfriend, points out that she doesn’t ask for help so I guess it all tracks… Some exceptions included the Trans, mostly Freddy, the Suns, and Popo.

This means that a lot of the narrative weight falls on Emiko’s shoulders, though she isn’t compelling enough to pull it off all the time. She leans heavily on being a disgrace, not being equipped to navigate the goings-on, and the slightly bitter “pulled back into the life you never fully left” schtick. Her narrative voice is fairly straightforward - competent, with the occasional wry or sarcastic comment.

The world-building was interesting, mixing in elements from various Asian cultures and mythology (e.g., shinigami, pennangalan, qi). I did chuckle at some of the smaller day-to-day references to Emiko’s heritage or the fact that she’s Asian and lives in the Bay Area (e.g., mentions of Daiso products). All this to say there were bits that felt thought-out, with other small winks and nods to the characters’ and authors’ identities and culture.

It looks like there will be other books in the series, which hopefully means I’ll get an answer to Emiko’s “nonexistent” Talent. There are hints across the story that this explanation and her fragmented memories around it are more than they seem, so I was annoyed that nothing was revealed by the end.

Felt a little lengthy given that it takes course over the span of like two days.

moukinnokage's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gperna01's review

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5.0

Thank you thank you thank you to Tor and Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle for giving me the greatest honor to read their book early in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an ENIGMA! I loved every moment of it. If you want a high Asian fantasy with complex characters and a unique magic system this is the series for you! The first installment of this series follows the POV of Emiko Soong. Emiko is a walking paradox, she is a no bullshit bad ass who is prickly but yet deeply emotional. Once the Blade of her clan, one of the eight most powerful clans, she fled her old live to start over in San Francisco. After a year of order and calmness, Emiko is called on to payback a favor to the Death God himself in place of her mother and brother. On this journey, she is made to confront old wounds and find out who she truly is and her mother has been hiding from her all along.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! So incredibly well written. Emiko had me in a chokehold and I love how prickly she is but yet she cares so much.
This book has:
-found family
-bad ass FMC
-unique magic system
-dragon lore
-unrequited love
-himbo kings aka Freddy

I highly recommend this book so much and I cannot wait for book two! This took me for a wild ride and was brilliant written. Asian fantasy is always my fave but this one has really captured my heart. The characters come alive on the page and you can truly feel them especially with Emiko’s description of everyone. I cannot wait to see where they go with this and to read the rest of Emiko’s journey.