Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Keeper of Night

I have a lot of feelings about Ren and the story. As someone who is mixed race, I understand Ren to a certain point. Identity is difficult to navigate as is but when there is something as big as different cultures/races to navigate as well makes it like a billion times tougher. What irritated me so much about Ren was her selfishness and how focused she was on only being one aspect of her identity. You should never disown any aspect of yourself, all sides of your identity make you you and her adamantly denying her Reaper/white side was annoying. I've been there, told I'm not enough this or that because I'm mixed, constantly seen as other regardless of where I go, but I don't deny any sides of myself. Granted I wasn't bullied to the extent she was nor was I ever disowned by a parent so of course she harbored a lot more negative feelings towards one side of her heritage. But to constantly deny and hate on it when her brother was always there for her was annoying at best. Also didn't love how adamant Ren was that Japan was better/going to be better when it is just as bad with racism and xenophobia. Didn't love that she was more willing to take racism in hopes of being accepted there. Yes it's the motherland, and we all want to be accepted in the motherland, but at what point do we find self respect and accept they don't want us there either and find a place that will?
Also didn't really like the kind of random make out session in the middle of one of the quests. Really threw me out of the whole thing for that little bit.
I did really enjoy the world though, I'm a sucker for yokai, and I hope Ren will find what she is searching for in the next book because what she is searching for deserves much better. I will still be planning on reading the sequel just for the hope that things turn out positively and some reconciliation will be there.
I also love that this was written by a mixed race author so of course I'm biased to support. Overall liked the writing and story so I hope Ren is less agitating in the sequel.

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thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

Ren Scarborough is half British Reaper and half Japanese Shinigami, for centuries she's been reaping the souls of London.

When she loses control of her Shinigami powers while being beaten and bullied for being a 'foreigner', she decides to flee everything that she has known, accompanied by her full reaper brother.

Ren must accept an impossible task to become accepted as a Shinigami by the Japanese Goddess of Death, along the way she must find out who she is and what she wants most.

A thrilling story that takes you on Ren's journey on Earth as well as the underworld. Beautiful and strong world building sets the scene for a fast paced fantasy filled with myths and legends of death around the world.

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mandkips's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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venus6277's review

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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kayladaila's review

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adventurous challenging dark sad slow-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? Yes

3.0

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asipofcozy's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Thank you to Inkyard Press for sending me a review copy of The Keeper of Night. This review is based on my honest opinion and feelings.

CW: bullying, racial slurs, racism, gore, blood, violence, mention of beheading, mention of mutilation and cutting up a pregnant woman, harming of a child, beheading, and animal death.

The Keeper Of Night follows Ren, a Half British Reaper and Half Japanese Shinigami, who was driven out of London after failing to control her Shinigami abilities. Accompanied by her brother, Neven, she travels to Japan to enter the Japanese underworld to earn her place among the Shinigami and gain the respect of the Goddess of Death. Respect that she never received from her fellow Reapers. To earn her place, Ren must kill 3 Yokai demons.

This story was dark, gruesome, and harsh. The reading experience that I can accumulate in this book is if you decided to go for a walk during a dark foggy day and felt like you saw movements in the shadows. That's what this book felt like; every page, you felt like there was evil, death stalking in dark corners. I loved every minute of it. While this is considered young adult literature, I would almost classify this with more new adults due to the themes and how dark this book is.

"I would drown all the islands of Japan if you asked me to."
"That's horrible," I said. But still, I didn't push him away. Was this not how humans showed affection? With grandiose declarations of devotion?

Ren is a morally grey character. Simple as that. As the story progresses, we see Ren struggle with what little humanity she has and this absolute obsession of finding her place in this world and doing whatever it takes to achieve that goal. There were many moments where Ren would toe that line between humanity and being a creature of death herself. It was almost like with each page that passed by; Ren would strip herself of another layer of humanity and slowly become that darkness that makes up the Yomi.

I was a butterfly twisted inside a tornado, the brightest colors between day and night, a little brown bird in the maw of the fox, waiting for the teeth to bite down.

Her only saving grace, and what keeps her humanity in check, is her brother Neven. Oh, Neven. Neven, while a reaper, is the complete opposite of what a Reaper is meant to be. He is caring, loving, afraid of the dark, struggles with doing his reaper duties, and is quite naive. While Ren does love Neven, and I genuinely believe he is the reason for her not ridding herself of humanity, he was a privileged character. Ren uses the word "privileged ignorance," and I couldn't agree more. Neven is ignorant of Ren's pain and struggles. Because Neven is white and isn't discriminated against, he never understands why Ren is so desperate to be a part of her Japanese culture. He looks at her and sees's "sister," not a sister that is part Japanese; he almost ignores it...which goes to show how white privileged he is.

While Neven is considered an outcast and Ren and Neven's love is wonderful for a brother and sister - I couldn't ignore the ignorance. It almost made me feel anger towards Neven. Also, I struggled with the fact that he cried, whined, and moaned about everything he came across. Especially when it came to the actions of his sister.

I am not giving Ren ANY excuses for her actions in the book, but when you are torn between two ethnicities and not accepted into either culture, you have someone who is blind to your pain...I would be on a rampage as well.

I was impressed by this unique world and how well the author brought together the culture of Japan to the forefront of her story-telling. I loved that she touched on so many issues, especially regarding family dynamics, racial differences, being biracial, heritage, and finding acceptance.

The writing was well done and I found myself loving every moment of Baker's storytelling. There was never a dull moment and that makes this book all the more worthwhile to read.

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thenovelmaura's review

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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!

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wackly93's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

3.5

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