Review – Shadow of The Fox by: Julie Kagawa

Description: One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

Wowza. Not even sure where to begin with this one. The amazing Japanese lore, world building and characters just make this book into a total adventurous package. Julie Kagawa definitely nailed this one!

With our protagonist, Yumeko, she’s young and very shielded from the world for good reason. I will say she came off very naive, almost baby-like, and while it annoyed me a bit in the beginning, I began to understand that she was growing with the story and becoming who she finally needed to be. She’s the type of character you become proud of.

On the other side, I adored all of the side characters. Okame, Daisuke, and especially Tatsumi. Okame is the perfect character relief you’re always looking for. While much larger of a role is Tatsumi. He is our other main character on a journey of his own that quickly becomes tied to Yumeko. I adored his darkness and constant internal conflicts. He’s every bit the brooding protector and I loved every part of his story.

Overall, the world building and information on the accident Japanese demons and empires were out of this world. It look me a bit to get into the story, but once it took off, it really took off. I adored the last 40% of the book and honestly could NOT put it down. Absolutely fabulous read and cannot wait for the next book in the series.