The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night duology, 1)
"Sharp and seductive...a fantasy with teeth." --Julie C. Dao, author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
A girl of two worlds, accepted by none... A half Reaper, half Shinigami soul collector seeks her destiny in this haunting and compulsively readable dark fantasy duology set in 1890s Japan.
Death is her destiny.
Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.
When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she's never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death...only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task--find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons--and learns how far she'll go to claim her place at Death's side.
Don't miss the must-read sequel coming in 2022!
A girl of two worlds, accepted by none... A half Reaper, half Shinigami soul collector seeks her destiny in this haunting and compulsively readable dark fantasy duology set in 1890s Japan.
Death is her destiny.
Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.
When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she's never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death...only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task--find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons--and learns how far she'll go to claim her place at Death's side.
Don't miss the must-read sequel coming in 2022!
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Community Reviews
This was an interesting story in regards to the Shinigami and grim reaper mythology and the desire or obsession a person can feel when trying to find their place in the world.
I found Ren to be a little unlikable as the main character. Through the novel she kept focusing on the things she didn’t have or that in her mind no-one could ever understand her and her feelings. As a result she never looked at the brother who was constantly with her, trying to help and gave up everything to make sure she never had to be alone. Even in the last few chapters of the novel Ren is still claiming Nevin would never know what it’s like to be unwanted, however to me Ren’s biggest character flaw is that she can’t see she is wanted, by her brother!! 😤
So frustrating!!!
The action in the novel was really good and moved fast paced, keeping the story alive and kept it engaging to a point.
Overall, while I enjoyed the mythology of the novel I wasn’t so into the characters and would probably not reread the story.
The world building and development of the different creatures and their history was absolutely amazing but frankly I was so upset with the ending that I had to lower my rating. It was just very astonishing. I knowww it is believable because of how badly she wanted to belong somewhere but still after everything she went through with her brother I just felt so upset for him and the way his story carried along in the book. #JusticeforNeven 😭😭😂
This story was unique in so many ways. I thought the setting was intriguing and learning the differences about the Reapers and Shinigami were fascinating. I enjoyed reading something new in YA Fantasy.
Ren is not a very likeable character and to be honest I still didn't care for her by the end but I think that is the point of this story. She grew up never really fitting in and because of that she was bullied. She's become hardened over time and doesn't let people just walk all over her. She's got her mind set on becoming a Shinigami and she won't let anyone stop her from doing so.
I enjoyed the sibling relationship between Ren and her brother for most of the book but when Hiro shows up things shift in their relationship and take a dark turn.
Hiro is the love interest in this one and to me there always seemed to be something off about him. You want to trust him but at the same time you're not sure if you can and Ren's brother seems to be the only one skeptical of Hiro's intentions.
This YA Fantasy is unique, fast-paced, and includes all our favorites from romance to betrayals. I enjoyed it and definitely look forward to the next book! I listened to the audio and it was well developed and I thought the narrator did a great job!
Thank you to Netgalley & Dreamscape Audio for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Ren is not a very likeable character and to be honest I still didn't care for her by the end but I think that is the point of this story. She grew up never really fitting in and because of that she was bullied. She's become hardened over time and doesn't let people just walk all over her. She's got her mind set on becoming a Shinigami and she won't let anyone stop her from doing so.
I enjoyed the sibling relationship between Ren and her brother for most of the book but when Hiro shows up things shift in their relationship and take a dark turn.
Hiro is the love interest in this one and to me there always seemed to be something off about him. You want to trust him but at the same time you're not sure if you can and Ren's brother seems to be the only one skeptical of Hiro's intentions.
This YA Fantasy is unique, fast-paced, and includes all our favorites from romance to betrayals. I enjoyed it and definitely look forward to the next book! I listened to the audio and it was well developed and I thought the narrator did a great job!
Thank you to Netgalley & Dreamscape Audio for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
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