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thenovelmaura's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Whatever I expected when I first picked up this book, Lee Baker threw those expectations out the window from the very first page. This was a fast-paced, borderline villain-origin story, so you have to like your characters morally grey in order to enjoy this one. And the book is gruesome! These monsters from Japanese folklore are terrifyingly described, but that's what makes the fight scenes so enthralling. Ren's anger at her treatment as a biracial Reaper-Shinigami and her confusion about her identity are so relatable to those of us who have been there. I also liked the prominent and complex sibling relationship between Neven and Ren. His involvement ended up making things a lot more interesting than if Ren had undertaken the journey on her own.
Something about the pacing didn't sit quite right with me; events could happen so quickly that they ended up feeling brushed over. This fed into the instalove relationship that ended up feeling shallow, as well. Personally, I liked the ending and don't necessarily think it needs a sequel, but I'm curious to see where Lee Baker will go with the story. All that being said, if you're looking for an intense rollercoaster of a YA fantasy, then this may be the book for you!
Something about the pacing didn't sit quite right with me; events could happen so quickly that they ended up feeling brushed over. This fed into the instalove relationship that ended up feeling shallow, as well. Personally, I liked the ending and don't necessarily think it needs a sequel, but I'm curious to see where Lee Baker will go with the story. All that being said, if you're looking for an intense rollercoaster of a YA fantasy, then this may be the book for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Violence, and Racism
Minor: Bullying
cora_hreads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.0
The Keeper of Night had started out as a generic fantasy — only set in Japan — but as Ren made her way through the mission given to her by Izanami, the depths of her, Neven, and Hiro all came to fruition smoothly. Ren was both a storyteller and her own character, which let me follow her conflicts and emotions like we were one in the same. The explicit detail that Lee Baker wrote in about Japan and Yomi was engrossing; there were moments of beauty and fantastic scenery alongside rich darkness and images that could terrorize your dreams. Additionally, the gore and death was easy to handle, in my opinion, but in retrospect it was written as equally in detail as the scenery, which could be off-putting for a more sensitive reader.
The plot “twist” could’ve started to reveal itself sooner than whenHiro, Ren, and Izanami had begun to fight, but the buildup itself was incredible. Neven’s fears were confirmed, and Ren had to suffer the consequences for all eternity. Ren wasn’t just a main character who got the best in the end — she was human, ironic as it sounds. She had to choose between extremely hard decisions, try to deny what was true, and just make mistakes. This sums up Ren extremely well, and I’d certainly recommend it to another reader to not only extend their knowledge of darker fantasy, but also the struggles that surround being from two cultures that equally won’t accept you.
The plot “twist” could’ve started to reveal itself sooner than when
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting
wackly93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Bullying
kkmillsaps1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Bullying, Gore, Violence, Body horror, and Cannibalism
jennlcollier's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
jadatrack's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, and Death
silene's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
This one is very much a tragedy, but there’s supposed to be a sequel that might ease that or make it worse. The world building is fantastic, and I love the merging of English and Japanese myths. The characters are deeply flawed, but their motivations and thought processes are believable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Animal death, and Racism
tinyy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
Um. I wanted to like this. I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, even from the ninth page, all my annotations were about plot-holes or things that bothered me.
After reaching page 130, I flipped through the pages to land on a random one, page 336, and picked up from there. Everything still made sense and I skimmed the rest.
Ren was deeply unlikeable—morally grey doesn’t describe her, she is just…bad. Good for her, but I didn’t enjoy reading about it, nor did I connect with her. Whether that caused, or was a result of, my skipping half the book, who knows. She continuously made stupid decisions and trusted the wrong people.
The writing style was fantastic though. Easy to read while still being gorgeously descriptive.
Can’t believe the only worthwhile character DIED. WTF. Rest in pieces Neven.
Also I should have known I wasn’t going to enjoy this book when the cat died in chapter four.
After reaching page 130, I flipped through the pages to land on a random one, page 336, and picked up from there. Everything still made sense and I skimmed the rest.
Ren was deeply unlikeable—morally grey doesn’t describe her, she is just…bad. Good for her, but I didn’t enjoy reading about it, nor did I connect with her. Whether that caused, or was a result of, my skipping half the book, who knows. She continuously made stupid decisions and trusted the wrong people.
The writing style was fantastic though. Easy to read while still being gorgeously descriptive.
Also I should have known I wasn’t going to enjoy this book when the cat died in chapter four.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Racism
booknerdbetty's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Death
author2223's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Gore, and Death