Reviews with content warning for Death - The Night Tiger

Rounding up to a three, but this book was actually very hard for me to rate. The story held my attention, and I liked it better than The Ghost Bride, but I was so deeply uncomfortable with the relationship between Ji Lin and Shin.

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thequiltyreader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

A lovely story and murder mystery all wrapped up around a Folklore tale.

I found the characters loveable and was was really routing for some of them throughout the book.

I quite enjoyed jumping back and forward between the main characters perspectives. I did find the timeline a little hard to follow though so gave up on that part and just enjoyed the story.

I felt there were a couple of things never quite fully explained but I think this worked well with the fact this book had a strong link to a Folklore story that in itself has a lot of mystery wrapped around it.

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ameliabee33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

The mystery of this book is definitely intriguing. As readers we are led around by your two mcs, so we glimpses of two sides of the same story. People are going missing and dying and Ji Lin and Ren are in the middle of it, whether they like it or not. There is a touch of magical realism in the mystery, men that turn into tigers at night, numbers & virtues lending weight to decisions made, and the dead that can talk to our mcs as well. The descriptions of the train stations of the dead were intricate and some of my favorite parts of the book, learning about the stations between the living and dead.

This story could have done without the romance though, specifically the love story between Ji Lin and her stepbrother, Shin. I can't get around the incestuous undertones of their relationship. They were made stepsiblings from a young age, his father abuses Ji Lin's mother, he got the college education Ji Lin desperately wanted, Shin treats Ji Lin as his property. It is frequently mentioned that Ji Lin is the smarter sibling and that she has progressive views on a woman's place in the world. Yet Shin just repeatedly doesn't seem to respect it. Also I did not want to root for this relationship!!! The book kept oushing for them to Yes they aren't biologically related to one another, but they are still siblings!!! I really draw the line at incest, it isn't a taboo I want to read about at all. So tw, if you also don't like that trope

Like I said before really enjoyed the mystery with magical elements, and i would have liked to have heard more from a character named Lydia. I think she would have added to the story as an unreliable narrator, which could have added to the big reveal at the very end. I did enjoy the povs we did get though.

Overall, stars are for plot sans romance.

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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Rating this four stars for now, but may come back and tweak that after I figure out what I think of some of the themes and situations in the book. It was definitely an engaging read regardless, though not, in my opinion, quite as entrancing as The Ghost Bride.

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marigold_faye's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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horationelson's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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obfuscatress's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

Progressing from a languid look into the lives of two young people to a dizzying, complex mystery that's rich with legend, this novel is a stunning foray into magical realism that draws expertly on its setting. Its unique atmosphere will keep you engaged, turning page after page long into the night.

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