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iamtuaig's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
dmturner's review against another edition
3.0
An action-packed fantasy novel set mostly in Japan. While the characters are enjoyable and the premise is interesting (main character writes reality and enters unwittingly into a battle among Japanese gods and demons), the proliferation of names, Japanese words, and settings makes it really hard to follow. I made it through, though.
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
So I first came to Spencer's writing through the Ukiah Oregon series and then kind of lost track of her for a long time. Apparently, this came out in 2013...so I'm a little behind. Its been on my TBR for ages and I finally was able to get my hands on it.
Nikki is a USA citizen living in Tokyo to hide from her domineering mother. She's got an obsessive compulsive habit of writing-- only what she writes is usually right out of Japanese horror manga with creatures, blood, swords, and modern characters who end up dying.
Her fiction has developed an online fanbase, some of whom live in Tokyo, so that's where she ended up. Only, when she ends up at a shrine eerily similar to one of her writings, and is attacked by scary not-humans, she begins to realize that maybe her writings aren't entirely fiction after all.
What follows is Nikki, her friends, and shadowy operative traveling around Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and various shrines and famous places to unravel the machinations of an angry god-- all in time for the famous Gion Matsuri festival.
There are tons of little references to life in Tokyo that made me think Spencer had probably lived there at one time-- including offhand reference to children's rhymes like Jugemu Jugemu, etc. There are lots of little fandom easter eggs, like references to Disney movies and Naruto. It's a romp.
Sadly, there's lots of typos. Missing words in sentences, etc. At times the narrative flow becomes a bit confusing as Nikki is possessed by Taira no Atsumori and also writes from the POV of other people in the book due to her special power, so POV gets super-confusing (and all the voices sound the same so not much to distinguish them).
Despite its age, the book does hold up, don't be fooled by the old weird fantasy cover, the contents are more modern urban fantasy then schlocky manga.
Nikki is a USA citizen living in Tokyo to hide from her domineering mother. She's got an obsessive compulsive habit of writing-- only what she writes is usually right out of Japanese horror manga with creatures, blood, swords, and modern characters who end up dying.
Her fiction has developed an online fanbase, some of whom live in Tokyo, so that's where she ended up. Only, when she ends up at a shrine eerily similar to one of her writings, and is attacked by scary not-humans, she begins to realize that maybe her writings aren't entirely fiction after all.
What follows is Nikki, her friends, and shadowy operative traveling around Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and various shrines and famous places to unravel the machinations of an angry god-- all in time for the famous Gion Matsuri festival.
There are tons of little references to life in Tokyo that made me think Spencer had probably lived there at one time-- including offhand reference to children's rhymes like Jugemu Jugemu, etc. There are lots of little fandom easter eggs, like references to Disney movies and Naruto. It's a romp.
Sadly, there's lots of typos. Missing words in sentences, etc. At times the narrative flow becomes a bit confusing as Nikki is possessed by Taira no Atsumori and also writes from the POV of other people in the book due to her special power, so POV gets super-confusing (and all the voices sound the same so not much to distinguish them).
Despite its age, the book does hold up, don't be fooled by the old weird fantasy cover, the contents are more modern urban fantasy then schlocky manga.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
The latest book by one of those authors that I don't know anyone else that reads. I picked up Wen Spencer when I was looking to leave Atlanta - her books were placed in Pittsburgh and I was looking at Pittsburgh. This book is set primarily in the location and mythology of Japan and as such I'm sure I missed many of the references. It was a bit of a confused wild ride but Nikki and her friends are kind of a hoot. Kind of a murder mystery clairvoyant/precognition manga romp that unfortunately fell over near the end. I was also a bit disappointed that the cover never really happened - though I think it might have been an accurate portrayal of Nikki and Miriam. Call it 3.5 due to the rush ending.
thinde's review against another edition
4.0
If you don't mind a leisurely pace, this novel offers some beautifully crafted characterizations. Here is an author that cares for the people he creates. By the end, it's hard not to love the good-guys and even sympathize with some of the bad-guys.
I also revelled in the way modern Japan is used as a back-drop. It makes you want to fly over and stay for a week in an authentic hotel and sleep on a tatami-futon close to a Shinto shrine. We get to see Japan through the eyes of Nikki, a young western girl, thus making it accessible. It reminded me of "Shogun" by Clavell, but modern and with fantasy elements.
Memorable indeed.
I also revelled in the way modern Japan is used as a back-drop. It makes you want to fly over and stay for a week in an authentic hotel and sleep on a tatami-futon close to a Shinto shrine. We get to see Japan through the eyes of Nikki, a young western girl, thus making it accessible. It reminded me of "Shogun" by Clavell, but modern and with fantasy elements.
Memorable indeed.
rachel_from_cambridge's review against another edition
4.0
Fun book: monsters, fighting, a bit of romance. v.entertaining
nixwhittaker's review against another edition
5.0
Hopefully the start of a new series we have Nikki who has a crazy mother and has to flee to Japan only to find out that what she is writing is coming true.
and_it_spoke's review against another edition
1.0
This book was written for a specific audience. I was not it.
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
3.0
Picked it up at the library solely for the evocation of Buffy on the cover. Like Buffy, quite meta-textual. Our heroine writes the world and saves the world, assisted by her loving monsters. But Buffy gets deeper the longer I think about it. If there was the little deeper level here, I didn't see it.