I was so amped up to read this. I do this thing where I binge read series’ and Julie Kagawa’s Shadow of the fox trilogy happens to be the latest. I wasn’t sure after I finished the first book because it was a struggle to get through. I chopped that up to the fact that the whole world was very new to me, specifically the culture and the new terms. But then I went onto Soul of the Sword and I loved it!!! So I was beyond ready/nervous to start Night of the Dragon because I didn’t want the series to end haha. I finished Night of the dragon with severely mixed feelings.
There was a lot in here that I enjoyed but then there were major plot points that had me screaming at the book in anger.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! You’ve been warned!
I want to thank Inkyard Press for including me in their Spring 2020 Blog tours featuring Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa.
I loved seeing Yumeko finally discovering her lineage and her ties to this reclusive Moon clan was definitely a cool way to intro another piece of this world. Her father being a nine-tailed kitsune was shocking and I was glad to see this mysterious Seigestu character finally come into the fold and get explained. I kept wondering who he was and it got infuriating because he kept poking into the plot and would talk about his grand “game”. That got super annoying as the book neared the end. That being said I loved how the amount of tails equalled how strong of a kitsune are. Great incorporation! Plus I liked the princess reveal for Yumeko, it seemed to fit.
However, Hakaimono was a letdown. At the end of Soul of the Sword he and Tatsumi had to essentially combine their souls into one body to save each other and that was a shocking twist because he was the villain for the majority of the book but then in this book he’s kinda not evil….no tormenting Tatsumi over his love for the fox girl, no threatening to kill anybody. He was a team player and likable which I think ruined his villainess character arc. I don’t think that’s the way it should have gone because it just undoes what happened in the sequel.
Tatsumi and Yumeko are finally together! It only took two full books haha! It was a really sweet, very slow burn romance which was fine because the plot took centre stage. One thing I didn’t like about it though was all of chapter 26. For those who aren’t familiar yet (and appreciate spoilers haha) the amount of times Tatsumi’s hand was on Yumeko’s waist was baffling. They’re in the middle of this huge battle and instead of fighting I had to read at least 5 maybe even 10 times where his hand was on her waist. Totally unnecessary! You can’t miss this either. Too obvious. It almost feels like this repetition was trying to compensate for the little romance Kagawa included in this trilogy and it just backfired.
“I would not ask just anyone to die with me, Okame-san,’ he whispered. ‘You are more than ronin. You have loyalty, courage, compassion, everything a warrior should strive for, and your honesty about the world is something most samurai are blind to. It would be an honor to meet that glorious death at your side.”
Oh man these two were just so adorable it hurt to see their ending play through. I was routing for them since book 2 (so pretty much as soon as Kagawa introduced the potential pairing) and I really thought they would make it out to the other side but I’m glad they were together in the end. Yes, very cheesy but I mean it. They were ADORABLE! Joking about a poem featuring a peacock and a dog was a sad but rather cute sentiment. They were always upbeat despite all the obstacles telling them they shouldn’t be and that’s an attitude I can get behind.
But the most annoying thing ever was the ending. OH MY GOD. Literally everyone died. Except for Yumeko. Ugh. I wasn’t expecting a happy ending persay because I knew that would be unlikely and completely unreasonable but this ending wasn’t that great. Even the epilogue didn’t fix it. Catching a glimpse of a reincarnated Tatsumi was too fleeting to satisfy this reader. Especially when it took SO LONG for them to admit their feelings. I’m just disappointed in how lot of things were handled in this book. I think I went into this with too many hopes so I wasn’t prepared when Kagawa squashed them. I should have been more prepared. I wasn’t happy with how things turned out and the second book is still my favourite in the series (I haven’t shunned this trilogy having now finished it) but all that being said, the writing was still excellent and the plot still had tons of creepy elements of supernatural folklore which I have loved throughout this series. I definitely recommend this book to those who love fantasy books more than romance readers because like I said there isn’t much here. But the plot and stories woven into this world were awesome. If you’re ok with an unhappy ending or what some might call “a realistic” one, then check this series out! It also didn’t feel like a YA novel which I know puts some people off but I preferred it. There’s a lot less teen angst which was great!
Overall I think this series is worth a read. The sheer amount of creepy, supernatural Japanese folklore made these a great, unique read. Her writing is well done too. I recommend checking out her other series too, especially the Iron Fey series!
“Never be where your enemy expects. Let them chase shadows, like reflections in a pond. Make it so they don’t know what is real and what is not.”
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