A review by violetamethyst
The Courtesan and the Samurai by Lesley Downer

2.0

I loved the world building and characters in this book. It was wonderfully done. But the pace of the story was a little off. The couple only meet about halfway through the book and from there on, things seem much more rushed. I liked that we were shown their own individual stories but if not for the blurb at the back of the book, I would have thought I was reading 2 different books.

The worst part was the end... where Yozo just abandons his friends to save Hana and then he's just like... well it was a stupid plan anyway, they're probably all in prison now. There's nothing to hint that he may try to save them.

The author's notes give us a little more insight into what could have happened to those characters but I felt it was pretty inadequate after everything Yozo had been through with them.