My blog Hi Books! It's me Jethplain

"Dying is easy. Anyone can throw themselves onto the pyre and rest a happy martyr. Enduring the suffering that comes with sacrifice is the real test."

The book starts as Yukiko our protagonists, battles two Oni in the Iishi mountains. We then get the back story of how she came to be in that situation. Basically, it's a coming of age story of a girl with secret power called "kenning" (she can telepathically communicate with animals, hear their thoughts, and feel their feelings) which is a secret because "yokai-kin" or people like her are hunted down and executed by burning (like the witch trials) It's a journey of fighting for freedom and right amidst an abusive and polluted society burdened by the concept that honor is serving the emperor regardless of right or wrong. After her experience in the Iishi mountains where she meets rebels and discovers the truth behind her mother's disappearance, Yukiko returns to the capital with the mission to kill the Shogun. Along the way she experiences, love, betrayal, and self-discovery.

"To be a servant can be a noble thing, but only as noble as the master served."

The story's setting is in Shima an island based in Japan, where mystical creatures used to roam until they left or died due to extreme pollution. Shima's skies and sea are red and rain comes down as acid black as dirt. Most people are addicted to the Blood Lotus, a toxic flowering plant cultivated by the people. It's utilized as tea, medicine, narcotics, fabrics, and fuel at the expense of the land as it poisons the soil making it incapable of sustaining life. So the people keep on burning forests to give space for growing it. The government also manufactures inochi fertilizers made from a secret ingredient (liquefied gaijin/foreigners!)

I would've given this 5 stars but some things were bothering me. There was a misuse of honorifics like "sama", "chan" and "san". Also "hai" was misused it became a substitute for the word "yes" in this case. But overall I love the concept of the story. I understand that Shima is not supposed to be Japan but a place similar to it. I like the concept and I love Buruu and Yukiko's relationship and 1 star for the execution and the author could've made better research ( )

Can't wait for the last book in this series ( )

Let's just say this was possibly the biggest disappointment for me of this year. And leave it there.

I didn't read this one. After the first chapter I realized it wasn't my kind of book. ( )

12/1/2022

Just gonna put this insightful instagram post here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYkRa-wNiwI/
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4/4/2021
Already had him in my avoid list but yikes just yikes

https://twitter.com/readbytiffany/status/1378381225941868544
https://twitter.com/readbytiffany/status/1378411866095935489


Ellen Oh's tweet

https://twitter.com/ElloEllenOh/status/1378426323111194628

More yikes:

https://twitter.com/bookloverscofe/status/1378527978880069633
https://twitter.com/alifestylenerd9/status/1378427093000843265
https://twitter.com/candevale_/status/1378526441583824896


Update: Minareads finally tweeted
https://twitter.com/minareadss/status/1379153816235425795