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blancwene 's review for:
The Keeper of Night
by Kylie Lee Baker
The premise was intriguing (I always enjoy when fantasy novels put a new spin on old stories: in this case Baker riffs on both Japanese mythology and two different cultural personifications of Death), but I found the initial pace and setup in The Keeper of Night way too slow. I liked the concept of the British Reapers, yet felt like we should have either gotten more about them (some of Ren and Neven's powers feel inconsistent as the story progresses), or much less--they're mostly forgotten once Ren is exiled and takes off for Japan.
The pace picks up once Ren and co. start hunting Yokai (some of which are decidedly creepy!), and I thought the plot twist near the end was well done. Also, Baker's treatment of Ren's dual heritage felt sadly realistic for this vaguely Victorian time period: as a biracial woman, she's ostracized in England, but once she arrives in Japan she's also viewed as a stranger there. Ren isn't a particularly likeable heroine, but I found her quest interesting enough that I didn't need her to be likeable all the time. (I did find it surprising that our supernatural, centuries-old characters often acted like teenagers, but that's probably not as much of a detriment in a YA novel.)
In short: Our heroine is dark and unlikeable, but I still felt invested in her story. Once we leave England, the story really picked up for me--I just wish that the first quarter/third of the novel was either faster-paced or more tightly-constructed, because I think the beginning might lose some readers.
The pace picks up once Ren and co. start hunting Yokai (some of which are decidedly creepy!), and I thought the plot twist near the end was well done. Also, Baker's treatment of Ren's dual heritage felt sadly realistic for this vaguely Victorian time period: as a biracial woman, she's ostracized in England, but once she arrives in Japan she's also viewed as a stranger there. Ren isn't a particularly likeable heroine, but I found her quest interesting enough that I didn't need her to be likeable all the time. (I did find it surprising that our supernatural, centuries-old characters often acted like teenagers, but that's probably not as much of a detriment in a YA novel.)
In short: Our heroine is dark and unlikeable, but I still felt invested in her story. Once we leave England, the story really picked up for me--I just wish that the first quarter/third of the novel was either faster-paced or more tightly-constructed, because I think the beginning might lose some readers.