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lenastockton's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
libbey_wolfe's review against another edition
5.0
The ending sucker punched me and now I"m sobbing myself to sleep. 10/10 would recommend
moonlit_dewdrops's review against another edition
5.0
I can genuinely say that Kylie Lee Baker is now an auto-read author for me!
The worldbuilding and fantasy elements in this book were really good with the various elements of Japanese elements/mythology creatures such as yokai, kitsune, yumi, and shinigami being weaved into the plot. The MC female character is no nonsense badass and I am here for it! Oh and did I mention she is also morally gray?
I also really liked how the book addressed the racism that mixed Asians face in real life, which I assume the author wrote based on her own experience. I think it's very important to write about such experiences through books and bring awareness to them.
Another thing I loved about this book is the focus on the relationship between the two siblings and it wasn't just focused on the romance aspects of it. While I'm all for romance, I think it is very important to also write about platonic relationships.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot! It had an engaging plot and setting and the characters were interesting and well-written
THAT ENDING had me gasping in shock (HIRO WHY). NEVEN was right all along. Be careful who trust! Be wary of handsome strangers!
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
The worldbuilding and fantasy elements in this book were really good with the various elements of Japanese elements/mythology creatures such as yokai, kitsune, yumi, and shinigami being weaved into the plot. The MC female character is no nonsense badass and I am here for it! Oh and did I mention she is also morally gray?
I also really liked how the book addressed the racism that mixed Asians face in real life, which I assume the author wrote based on her own experience. I think it's very important to write about such experiences through books and bring awareness to them.
Another thing I loved about this book is the focus on the relationship between the two siblings and it wasn't just focused on the romance aspects of it. While I'm all for romance, I think it is very important to also write about platonic relationships.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot! It had an engaging plot and setting and the characters were interesting and well-written
THAT ENDING had me gasping in shock (HIRO WHY). NEVEN was right all along. Be careful who trust! Be wary of handsome strangers!
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
“I knew how it felt to be weighed down by the world around you so much that you could barely move your lips to speak."
chan_bean's review against another edition
3.0
Rounded up from 2.5
I was excited to read this book when I read the premise, but unfortunately it didn't hold up for me.
The two biggest issues that made this book hard to read were the characters, and the lack of clear world building.
As far as the characters go, Ren is kind of insufferable. I understand that the author is writing from her own experiences of being biracial, but the way that Ren lashes out at the mere mention of her being biracial makes her feel so hard to deal with. She doesn't want to be treated like she's Japanese when she's in England, and when she's in Japan she gets angry (at times, violently so) that others even notice that she is half white. Her perception of self is constantly switching, and that would be fine if there weren't dire consequences at stake. Simply put, I did not go into this book expecting to sympathize and agree with Ren's white younger brother the most.
Ren also infuriated me because of her blatant disrespect for Japan and Japanese culture. She wants to be included in it and seen as Japanese, but she shows no respect for the culture or the people. Ren kills a yokai on her first day in Japan, she picks fights with anyone that even points out that she's half white, she traipses around sacred places and gets mad when people call her out on it, and she enters Izanami's palace and makes demands of the goddess of death! During the brief time we see of her in England, Ren does everything in her power to keep from hurting or offending the Reapers who are actively oppressing, harming, and plotting against her. She seems to be afraid of Ankou, the British god of death. None of that respect/fear/reverence is afforded to the people and spirits of Japan, even when they haven't wronged her. I thought this would be a growing point for Ren, but no, she remained disrespectful until the end of the book, even going so far as to say "How fitting it would be, as my last dying act, to ruin all of Japan ... Neven was worth every soul in Japan and more." ...AFTER SHE HAS (essentially) KILLED GOD and become the ruler of the dead! Not her point blank saying that she would just let all of Japan be destroyed for her white brother!!! I get it, he's family, but Ren feels like a character that wants to be treated as a Japanese person, while she consistently interacts with Japan and Japanese people in the same way a white tourist would.
The second issue I had was with the world building. It just feels incomplete. Maybe this could be expanded upon in the second book, but it was hard to understand how this world works. I spent the first few chapters of the book confused about what the main characters even looked like -- aside from Ren being Asian, she mentions that she's like 200 years old, but it isn't until much later that she clarifies that she looks like a young adult. I thought Neven was maybe physically an elementary schooler (he's ~100) until it was mentioned that actually, he looks like a teenager and is taller than Ren.
Additionally, I was very puzzled by the family structures and magic powers. The Reapers seem to have ostensibly nuclear families, which is fine but feels a little weird when we're talking about beings whose lifespans go on for millenia. It seems like almost all Reapers live together in the catacombs, but no one ever branches out or leaves the country? Just how many reapers are there? It's also hard to grasp why there are different death gods and soul reaping systems based on very mortal country borders. As in, death is something that transcends space, time, and race, so why is there seemingly a different god and system for every country? British Reapers have no jurisdiction over Ren once she escapes to France. The line between normal human society and Reaper/Shinigami society just feels too thin. The reaping society is extremely tied to mortal society in a way that doesn't make much sense to me. Why is it forbidden for a Shinigami and a Reaper to have a child together? Why is Death a language that transcends cultures, but the same is not the case for the act of reaping souls? Why are different reaping abilities essentially race-locked? I know that the story is supposed to parallel being biracial, but it just kind of falls apart when I think about it too hard.
I'm giving this book 3 stars (rounded up from a 2.5) because in spite of all of this, I finished it, and I kept turning pages. Ren made a whole slew of bad and incomprehensible choices, but I still wanted to see how the narrative panned out, because the premise is very good. Baker's descriptive and action writing is also very readable and interesting! The different yokai were some of my favorite characters, and you can tell that Baker researched them thoroughly and lovingly, to the point where their descriptions really made them jump off of the page. The fight scenes kept my eyes scanning the page non-stop. I also think that the descriptions of Izanami, her palace, and her power were so great - it felt palpable, almost like I was also bound to my seat when I was reading how Izanami's power forced everything to bow before her. And for as much as I found Ren unlikable, I DID like the story that followed her.
I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel. Based on where the story has left off, all of the characters that I was really interested in are dead and/or missing, and I don't know if I can handle Ren again unless she goes through some major growth (but... seeing as she's god now... I don't see why she would).
I was excited to read this book when I read the premise, but unfortunately it didn't hold up for me.
The two biggest issues that made this book hard to read were the characters, and the lack of clear world building.
As far as the characters go, Ren is kind of insufferable. I understand that the author is writing from her own experiences of being biracial, but the way that Ren lashes out at the mere mention of her being biracial makes her feel so hard to deal with. She doesn't want to be treated like she's Japanese when she's in England, and when she's in Japan she gets angry (at times, violently so) that others even notice that she is half white. Her perception of self is constantly switching, and that would be fine if there weren't dire consequences at stake. Simply put, I did not go into this book expecting to sympathize and agree with Ren's white younger brother the most.
Ren also infuriated me because of her blatant disrespect for Japan and Japanese culture. She wants to be included in it and seen as Japanese, but she shows no respect for the culture or the people. Ren kills a yokai on her first day in Japan, she picks fights with anyone that even points out that she's half white, she traipses around sacred places and gets mad when people call her out on it, and she enters Izanami's palace and makes demands of the goddess of death! During the brief time we see of her in England, Ren does everything in her power to keep from hurting or offending the Reapers who are actively oppressing, harming, and plotting against her. She seems to be afraid of Ankou, the British god of death. None of that respect/fear/reverence is afforded to the people and spirits of Japan, even when they haven't wronged her. I thought this would be a growing point for Ren, but no, she remained disrespectful until the end of the book, even going so far as to say "How fitting it would be, as my last dying act, to ruin all of Japan ... Neven was worth every soul in Japan and more." ...AFTER SHE HAS (essentially) KILLED GOD and become the ruler of the dead! Not her point blank saying that she would just let all of Japan be destroyed for her white brother!!! I get it, he's family, but Ren feels like a character that wants to be treated as a Japanese person, while she consistently interacts with Japan and Japanese people in the same way a white tourist would.
The second issue I had was with the world building. It just feels incomplete. Maybe this could be expanded upon in the second book, but it was hard to understand how this world works. I spent the first few chapters of the book confused about what the main characters even looked like -- aside from Ren being Asian, she mentions that she's like 200 years old, but it isn't until much later that she clarifies that she looks like a young adult. I thought Neven was maybe physically an elementary schooler (he's ~100) until it was mentioned that actually, he looks like a teenager and is taller than Ren.
Additionally, I was very puzzled by the family structures and magic powers. The Reapers seem to have ostensibly nuclear families, which is fine but feels a little weird when we're talking about beings whose lifespans go on for millenia. It seems like almost all Reapers live together in the catacombs, but no one ever branches out or leaves the country? Just how many reapers are there? It's also hard to grasp why there are different death gods and soul reaping systems based on very mortal country borders. As in, death is something that transcends space, time, and race, so why is there seemingly a different god and system for every country? British Reapers have no jurisdiction over Ren once she escapes to France. The line between normal human society and Reaper/Shinigami society just feels too thin. The reaping society is extremely tied to mortal society in a way that doesn't make much sense to me. Why is it forbidden for a Shinigami and a Reaper to have a child together? Why is Death a language that transcends cultures, but the same is not the case for the act of reaping souls? Why are different reaping abilities essentially race-locked? I know that the story is supposed to parallel being biracial, but it just kind of falls apart when I think about it too hard.
I'm giving this book 3 stars (rounded up from a 2.5) because in spite of all of this, I finished it, and I kept turning pages. Ren made a whole slew of bad and incomprehensible choices, but I still wanted to see how the narrative panned out, because the premise is very good. Baker's descriptive and action writing is also very readable and interesting! The different yokai were some of my favorite characters, and you can tell that Baker researched them thoroughly and lovingly, to the point where their descriptions really made them jump off of the page. The fight scenes kept my eyes scanning the page non-stop. I also think that the descriptions of Izanami, her palace, and her power were so great - it felt palpable, almost like I was also bound to my seat when I was reading how Izanami's power forced everything to bow before her. And for as much as I found Ren unlikable, I DID like the story that followed her.
I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel. Based on where the story has left off, all of the characters that I was really interested in are dead and/or missing, and I don't know if I can handle Ren again unless she goes through some major growth (but... seeing as she's god now... I don't see why she would).
cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book even that beginning was rough with info dumping for me best part was Ren and Neven siblings relationship. Ending sort of rushed but I will definitely read second book.
julessssss's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
this book had me on the edge of my seat through so much of it and ngl with the mindset I have been in, this reminded me of why I love reading fantasy. and with this being horror adjacent, it fed my soul in a way that I feel like I have not had in a bit.
up until the ending though I was thinking this was going to be a straight 5 stars, but I feel like the ending came a little too quick and everything there was more chaotic than it needed to be. I get that was part of the point, especially because she was being forced into a marriage and all of that actually happened quickly, but the fact that Hiro sent her brother away like he did did not feel like something his character would have done because of his supposed love for her, even with the lies that he told. idk just mans seemed smarter than that in terms of knowing how she might react . With that in mind, it seemed like some of it was just chaotic to be chaotic as opposed to something the characters would actually have done (don't get me wrong though, my jaw was on the floor as much as I am criticizing this).
Overall, I would recommend very highly and I have the next book in the duology on hold already lol.
up until the ending though I was thinking this was going to be a straight 5 stars, but I feel like the ending came a little too quick and everything there was more chaotic than it needed to be. I get that was part of the point,
Overall, I would recommend very highly and I have the next book in the duology on hold already lol.
gaviaroma's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
haleymurkin97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
eiencafe's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0