This was good... But there was something missing.

I was enraptured by the world, the idea of Reapers and Shinigami being their own species with their own cultures and ways of ending lives. This was very dark, gory (maybe a little much for YA?) and steeped in Japanese mythology.

The characters were the weakest point for me. Morally gray, a little unlikable, and somewhat selfishly motivated. That's OK. But these are beings that are hundreds of years old and somehow have the problems of teenagers? It didn't feel very believable and their interactions were kind of stale and tedious.

I will give this the benefit of the doubt for being a debut, and in a lot of ways I really liked it - it was dark and twisted and I think the world was quite unlike anything I've read. And it's only a duology! ( )

* I got this book for review*
I really did enjoy this read. I loved the focus on Japanase mythology and loved the world that was created. I also really loved the siblings realtionship that was at the heart of this read. This book did have some pacing issues in the start and towards the end. It felt like the pacing was a bit confusing and clunky. I also really liked the quest elements and also just the big world for these characters. The main character i sometimes struggled with, but the end made me really enjoy her. I will def be checking out book 2 in the future ( )

* I got this book for review*
I really did enjoy this read. I loved the focus on Japanase mythology and loved the world that was created. I also really loved the siblings realtionship that was at the heart of this read. This book did have some pacing issues in the start and towards the end. It felt like the pacing was a bit confusing and clunky. I also really liked the quest elements and also just the big world for these characters. The main character i sometimes struggled with, but the end made me really enjoy her. I will def be checking out book 2 in the future ( )

teen audio fiction (12 hrs 22min) - book 1 of 2, audiosync 2023 free download; author is of Chinese/Japanese/Irish descent.

half British/half Japanese reaper is threatened by her peers (but may be destined for something greater than all of them) and escapes their persecution by traveling to Japan with her younger half-brother, where they meet all sorts of dangerous yokai as they travel to the Japanese Underworld in search of her mother. CW/TW: gory/fantasy violence (teeth, swords, dismemberment), sexual situations (not explicit but semi-intense/violent though consensual), parents who seemingly disown/turn their back on their children.

The audiobook version has skilled narration; I liked Yeo's British accent and there is also good voice differentiation among the various characters without making any of them too ridiculous or disagreeable.

The first half of the story is maybe a little slow to hook the reader in, but it's an interesting enough "journey" type of story with lots of yokai encounters; by the end I was rooting for Wren/Ren and her brother. It works as a standalone but I would also willingly read the second/final book to find out what happens to them next. ( )

The Keeper of Night was quite good! My favorite parts were those where we meet and there were interactions with different Yokai, each of which are actual yokai from Japanese folklore like Yuki Onna (Snow Woman), Iso Onna (Sea Vampire), Tomamo No Mae (Nine Tailed Fox/Kitsune), and Jorōgumo (Spider Woman). The descriptions were really cool and the interactions were fun. It was also neat to see how Ren would use her Reaper’s clock to freeze time. Really the whole idea of half British reaper and half Japanese Shinagami was a cool concept.

Ren’s character gave me some Adelina Amateru vibes from The Young Elites, and she is one of my favorite characters. Although I did find her choices to be a little more single minded and short sighted. Towards the end of the book her decisions seemed to make a little less sense and the ending seemed a little rushed and sudden but before that point I was enjoying her character growth and changes. The ending is what really had this book go from a 5 star to 4 star.

Though not fully satisfying, this book had a very interesting ending that opens the door wide for what could happen in the next book so I look forward to reading where the story goes from here. I hope Ren’s character has some more growth and we get to see some new Yokai! ( )