A review by gperna01
Ebony Gate by Ken Bebelle, Julia Vee

5.0

Thank you thank you thank you to Tor and Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle for giving me the greatest honor to read their book early in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an ENIGMA! I loved every moment of it. If you want a high Asian fantasy with complex characters and a unique magic system this is the series for you! The first installment of this series follows the POV of Emiko Soong. Emiko is a walking paradox, she is a no bullshit bad ass who is prickly but yet deeply emotional. Once the Blade of her clan, one of the eight most powerful clans, she fled her old live to start over in San Francisco. After a year of order and calmness, Emiko is called on to payback a favor to the Death God himself in place of her mother and brother. On this journey, she is made to confront old wounds and find out who she truly is and her mother has been hiding from her all along.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! So incredibly well written. Emiko had me in a chokehold and I love how prickly she is but yet she cares so much.
This book has:
-found family
-bad ass FMC
-unique magic system
-dragon lore
-unrequited love
-himbo kings aka Freddy

I highly recommend this book so much and I cannot wait for book two! This took me for a wild ride and was brilliant written. Asian fantasy is always my fave but this one has really captured my heart. The characters come alive on the page and you can truly feel them especially with Emiko’s description of everyone. I cannot wait to see where they go with this and to read the rest of Emiko’s journey.