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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
Yumeko spends a lot of time hiding the fact that she's half kitsune, with repeated references to how she's averting her instinctual reaction of doing magic when she's in danger, and making sure to avoid reflections (e.g. water, mirrors) because her ears and tail will be visible in them. I love how Yumeko gradually collects people and decides to journey with them while Tatsumi only barely avoids constantly feeling frustrated because he has to keep from showing any emotions at all. It's a great grumpy/sunshine dynamic and I enjoyed it immensely. At first I was a bit frustrated by Tatsumi's "no emotions" routine, but gradually it becomes apparent that he isn't actually emotionless and that the Shadow Clan conditioning him to be this way is actually a combination of emotional abuse and literal torture. He carries a demon-possessed sword which will take him over if it can get a strong emotional reaction from him (and it can do some damage with even mild emotions).
The worldbuilding is gradual, with Yumeko often serving as the mouthpiece because she's excited to explain whatever now-relevant thing the monks had taught her. Having two main characters with occasional other points of view for brief stretches allows for a lot of worldbuilding conveyed through the different ways they view what's happening. Occasionally when the perspective switches there will be an overlap in the scenes to convey at least what the second narrator thought about what happened, with only minor duplications when describing the events.
A few minor characters are portrayed in frustrating ways, such as in an early incident where a canonically fat character describes a (now dead) yōkai as the only one who ever loved him. He’s then almost immediately killed. I think his size was supposed to indicate that he used his wealth to hoard resources, especially when a later section comments on how farmers often starve for at least part of each winter, but it comes across as fatphobic when combined with his lament.
The three narrators for the audiobook work well, with one narrator each for Yumeko's and Kage Tatsumi's perspectives, then the third narrator for other points of view. The plot follows their travels from one temple to another, and the battles they fight along the way. By the time they get there, several events have created a new goal for them which I assume is the subject of the next book. The overarching goal of the trilogy as previewed here is to keep anyone from using a scroll (which was split into pieces and hidden at several temples) to summon the Kami dragon. I'm very interested in where this goes next, I enjoyed the characters and the cliffhanger ending promises answers which I very much want.
The worldbuilding is gradual, with Yumeko often serving as the mouthpiece because she's excited to explain whatever now-relevant thing the monks had taught her. Having two main characters with occasional other points of view for brief stretches allows for a lot of worldbuilding conveyed through the different ways they view what's happening. Occasionally when the perspective switches there will be an overlap in the scenes to convey at least what the second narrator thought about what happened, with only minor duplications when describing the events.
A few minor characters are portrayed in frustrating ways, such as in an early incident where a canonically fat character describes a (now dead) yōkai as the only one who ever loved him. He’s then almost immediately killed. I think his size was supposed to indicate that he used his wealth to hoard resources, especially when a later section comments on how farmers often starve for at least part of each winter, but it comes across as fatphobic when combined with his lament.
The three narrators for the audiobook work well, with one narrator each for Yumeko's and Kage Tatsumi's perspectives, then the third narrator for other points of view. The plot follows their travels from one temple to another, and the battles they fight along the way. By the time they get there, several events have created a new goal for them which I assume is the subject of the next book. The overarching goal of the trilogy as previewed here is to keep anyone from using a scroll (which was split into pieces and hidden at several temples) to summon the Kami dragon. I'm very interested in where this goes next, I enjoyed the characters and the cliffhanger ending promises answers which I very much want.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Classism, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Body horror, and Self harm
Minor: Torture, Suicide, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
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