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singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Physical abuse
morganish's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Okay I'm VERY biased about this book because it basically has my favorite trope/character convention, and I feel like it's a trope I rarely see in books with western sff settings unless it's done... not to my taste. So this book was a completely delightful breath of fresh air, and I'm not really able to look at it clearly through other lenses, because I'm just so happy to have found this one!
The trope I'm talking about doesn't have a consistent name that I've found, but it's essentially "character(s) who are outsiders/ostracized from their communities because of something about them which is magically/abnormally monstrous/demonic/inhuman." Bonus points if this is a part of the character's identity that they have to hide. A lot of how this is done in western fiction correlates really strongly with our ideas of race, which always gives me a bad vibe and is most often written by white people trying to explore elements of race/racism in a one-dimensional way. But my favorite stories use this in a way that, at least to me, feels like a more general metaphor for not fitting in, having any complex/dual identity, or exists as a stand-in for other things like queerness or neurodivergence rather than race.
Shadow of the Fox has not one but two main characters who fit this bill for me. Yumeko is part kitsune, and spends a lot of her life trying to balance her yokai self with being passably human. And she spends a lot of this story trying to hide her yokai heritage and abilities from others. Kage - Yumeko's unwilling partner, future love interest and the other MC - is an assassin viewed as dangerous by his clan because of the demon he has to carry as part of his role, and is kept wholly separated from other humans because of it.
Those characters alone are enough to make me like this, but there's also a sacred quest, a lot of intriguing mini-adventures, a slow-burn romance, and a surprising found-family element as they pick up companions along the way (at least one who provides a delightful amount of humor).
I watched a lot of anime in my late teens and early 20s, so there are a bunch of Japanese-inspired tropes and world-building I picked up on quickly and really enjoyed. But I'm not sure if people unfamiliar with Japanese media will recognize a lot of those tropes, or if readers who are familiar will automatically like this book. But for me, this is definitely one of my favorite books of the year, and a series I absolutely plan on continuing.
If you like Japanese-inspired fantasy, adventures with angsty murder boys, enemies-to-lovers romances, found-family dynamics, or humor juxtaposed with horror elements, this book should be fun! It doesn't have much that I can recall in the way of queer diversity, though, and the one major caveat I have about the book is that the enemies-to-lovers romance doesn't play around: Yumeko and Kage might like each other, but there's a very real element of both of them being like, "hope he doesn't murder her because she's a yokai and he's a possessed demon-slayer, lol." If that's not your thing, you might want to take a pass. In general, I'd say the best parts of the story take a while to warm up to, so this story has a lot of things I love, but it might not be as exciting for all other readers.
The trope I'm talking about doesn't have a consistent name that I've found, but it's essentially "character(s) who are outsiders/ostracized from their communities because of something about them which is magically/abnormally monstrous/demonic/inhuman." Bonus points if this is a part of the character's identity that they have to hide. A lot of how this is done in western fiction correlates really strongly with our ideas of race, which always gives me a bad vibe and is most often written by white people trying to explore elements of race/racism in a one-dimensional way. But my favorite stories use this in a way that, at least to me, feels like a more general metaphor for not fitting in, having any complex/dual identity, or exists as a stand-in for other things like queerness or neurodivergence rather than race.
Shadow of the Fox has not one but two main characters who fit this bill for me. Yumeko is part kitsune, and spends a lot of her life trying to balance her yokai self with being passably human. And she spends a lot of this story trying to hide her yokai heritage and abilities from others. Kage - Yumeko's unwilling partner, future love interest and the other MC - is an assassin viewed as dangerous by his clan because of the demon he has to carry as part of his role, and is kept wholly separated from other humans because of it.
Those characters alone are enough to make me like this, but there's also a sacred quest, a lot of intriguing mini-adventures, a slow-burn romance, and a surprising found-family element as they pick up companions along the way (at least one who provides a delightful amount of humor).
I watched a lot of anime in my late teens and early 20s, so there are a bunch of Japanese-inspired tropes and world-building I picked up on quickly and really enjoyed. But I'm not sure if people unfamiliar with Japanese media will recognize a lot of those tropes, or if readers who are familiar will automatically like this book. But for me, this is definitely one of my favorite books of the year, and a series I absolutely plan on continuing.
If you like Japanese-inspired fantasy, adventures with angsty murder boys, enemies-to-lovers romances, found-family dynamics, or humor juxtaposed with horror elements, this book should be fun! It doesn't have much that I can recall in the way of queer diversity, though, and the one major caveat I have about the book is that the enemies-to-lovers romance doesn't play around: Yumeko and Kage might like each other, but there's a very real element of both of them being like, "hope he doesn't murder her because she's a yokai and he's a possessed demon-slayer, lol." If that's not your thing, you might want to take a pass. In general, I'd say the best parts of the story take a while to warm up to, so this story has a lot of things I love, but it might not be as exciting for all other readers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement and Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Additional content warnings: *a romantic relationship where both parties are afraid that the male love interest might kill the female love interest. It's portrayed in such a way that it's based on fantastical storytelling elements instead of misogyny or IRL unhealthy relationship dynamics.
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