This was by no means a personal favourite. While Japanese mythology was seamlessly blended into a rich Asian=inspired fantasy world, the characters did little to capture my attention. The plot was fast-paced and full of twists and turns but did it engage me? No, I can't say it did.

In the end, this title was purchased for our library so I will encourage readers to give it a shot (regardless of my lack of personal enjoyment).

I am a huge Julie Kagawa fan and have been since her first novel, and Shadow of the fox did not disapoint. This was an incredible book by an amazing author.

2.5 stars. Julie Kagawa has been a bit of a hit-or-miss author for me, but I was keen to try her take on Japanese mythology after enjoying the Talon series. The prologue was incredible, but as things went on, and each chapter became more like "the journey continues...oh, and here's another new demon to fight" without really progressing the plot with the scroll, I began to wonder why I was continuing. There is a slow-burn romance brewing, but I'm not sure I'm keen enough to bother with book two to find out if it eventuates. The ending did redeem the middle 300 pages, especially the very last scene, so I'm glad I persevered. If only there had been more Suki and Lady Satomi throughout.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

Shadow of the Fox is Julie Kagawa’s latest release and is a lush and vivid world of Japanese folklore, magic and adventure!

Raised by the monks of the Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has spent her life trying to hide her yokai nature. Being half kitsune her penchant for mischief it matched only by her human spirit but Yumeko knows the day will come when she will need to choose between her two worlds. Then the family who raised her are murdered and the temple burned down. Forced to flee while in the possession of the temple’s greatest secret, a piece of an ancient and powerful scroll, Yumeko will need to journey to an allying temple in order to find safety. Kage Tatsumi is the infamous Demonslayer, a renowned samurai of the Shadow Clan. Tatusmi has been tasked with finding the scroll on behalf of his clan and when his path’s cross with Yumeko’s, the two will need to put aside their differences in order to reach their shared destination. Yet secrets simmer between them and if discovered they have the power to destroy what little camaraderie Yumeko and Tatsumi have created. As the fate of the world rests on their shoulders, will they be able to get where they need to go or will demonic forces conspiring against them destroy them before they ever have the chance….

Julie Kagawa continues to provide why she is one of the reigning queens of YA with Shadow of the Fox. Be it faerie’s, vampires, dragons and now Asian folklore, there’s nothing Kagawa can’t do as she draws her readers into vivid and compelling worlds of magic and adventure. Kicking off her latest series, Shadow of the Fox is an adventurous and thrilling story interwoven with elements of Japanese mythology and magic and brimming with danger and action.

Shadow of the Fox introduces readers to two different, but as equally compelling characters in the form of Yumeko and Tatsumi. Despite being half kitsune, Yumeko is an innocent and sweet young woman. She has lived a sheltered life and throughout Shadow of the Fox embraces the world with almost child-like wonder and inexperience as she discovers new things. I did like Yumeko—it’s hard not to; she was kind but willing and doesn’t back down when facing tough choices.

Tatsumi on the other hand is the picture of stoic and trained samurai who hasn’t been showed kindness much throughout his life. Taught not to feel emotion or concern, traveling with Yumeko is an eye opening experiencing and you can’t help but be entranced by the gradual changes and feelings he experiences throughout the story. It’s somewhat obvious where things are building but that doesn’t make it an less enjoyable to witness unfold.

There are also other personable and unique characters we meet throughout the story as well who readers are bound to love. Yumeko and Tatsumi slowly collect a rag-tag group of individuals along their travels including a former samurai known as a ronin, a shrine maiden, an aristocrat and a dog. These characters bring life and personality to the story that compliments the adventure with humourful dialogue and exchanges.

Brimming with folklore and mythology, Shadow of the Fox is a highly enjoyable novel and leaves me keen to see what Julie Kagawa has in store next. Especially seeing as the ending definitely leaves readers wondering what will happen and how Yumeko will manage to save a friend lost to his inner demons!

This was a great new Japenese mythology-inspired fantasy. I loved the journey these characters went through and the uniqueness of the story. I am very excited about the sequel.

okay so.... this book took me three months to read. I read this continuously on and off from a period expanding mid-september to late december. three months... rip. granted, I did read 18 books in between and hundreds of thousands of works of fanfiction as well!! but it didn't catch me by the throat and haunt me, as girls of paper and fire did. it was a good read, once I settled down long enough for long stretches of time to commit to it.

it's definitely the first book of a trilogy, as a lot of it is travelling, getting distracted by sidequests and Forging Bondstm. the sidequests were kind of annoying at times, but served their purpose of binding our motley crew more tightly, teaching tatsumi (weakness) how to rely on others! the ghost monk story had me going 'damn this some type Inuyasha shit man'.

while this book was good enough, it.. dragged. tbh. it reminded me a lot of the manga I read while growing up: naruto, inuyasha, sprinkle of dbz, even a little bit of tsuki no shippo. there were a few things that irritated me and snapped me out of The Zone (you know, the zone you get into while reading that plays the words out in front of your eyes like a movie? only me? ok...)

such as: random japanese. look, I know julie kagawa is japanese and iwagoto is inspired by feudal Japan but the level of excess??? omggg I kept getting flashbacks to ffnet in 08, 09. cursed time. random japanese substituted for english to remind us that we were in japan, or this was a japanese show. ive seen a lot of this scattered throughout the book, and maybe a little firmer editorial hand might have stopped them becoming so abundant. I mean... you can say good morning?? its not a specifically japaneae thing like onegaishimasu and hajimemashite. you can substitute it with english words without losing its essential meaning. or perhaps the author is trying to invoke those cheery and perky girls in jdramas and anime who chirp 'ohayou gozaimasu!!' i was also guilty of substituting japanese words into my (terribly written, unpublished ameen) naruto fic lmfao. and there is a glossary!!!! there was no need to include so much unnecessary japanese in the text lol.

some examples:
- DAIKON MEANS RADISH!!!! its like me saying chai tea omg
- 'sugoi,' imma need to start tallying these lol
- hakama jacket??? hakama.. are... pants... I think she meant kosode lol.

fave quote: 'I'm a kitsune who can make a teapot dance around like a loon.' yumeko is such a cute character, bless her heart. such a pure shounen protagonist: protective of her friends, strong-willed and with a hint of kitsune sneakiness.

ok but the ending tho... It redeemed itself in like two chapters. I'm pumped for soul of the sword! actually emotionally invested now, all due to daisuke, reika and seigetsu (love him!!!!) I called daisuke the ''long-haired, silver-haired, bishie prince!!!' but it feels like he doesn't have much of a character?? he's very two dimensional compared to reika. I hope he gets more development in the next book.

seigetsu, on the other hand, can like get it... damn bitch what a dramatic entry (in2 my heart). oh enigmatic soul, are with you the angels or the demons? a source of good or walking calamity? how your ambivalence inflames thine being. he had the most badass introduction: beautiful spun-silk silver hair, gigantic ass sword, billowing white robes, gold era /clutches chest/ my weakness... kami bless you kagawa-sama.

(written when I was 64% in) I think I'm being a little unfair to julie kagawa because I literally just finished the poppy war two books book ago and I'm making unfair comparisons, but.... god. the repetition of japanese words then english words translated irritated me. the plot was unexciting, I feel like I've already read it ten times over (hey inuyasha) and kai/shiro/whatshisnames (tatsumi's!) internal monologue is entirely uninspired. I applaud her for tackling Japanese mythology and mostly staying true to its roots, but there was a whole lot less gods and nature spirits than I expected. the first person pov also grated.

I must say, I really enjoy reading Julie Kagawa's novels. They're always such fun books, with plot and characters that tend to be a little generic but very accessible and likeable all the same. Shadow of the Fox is a little different from her other novels, being a high fantasy. It honestly had such a classic plot that I could see in a manga or anime. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've read manga with similar storylines of an adventure where the protagonist has to go on an adventure and find different objects that combine for some sort of purpose.

The story so far in Shadow of the Fox isn't tangling with intricacies, but I'm actually quite enjoying how linear the plot is. There are quite a few different POVs, focusing mostly on the two main characters, but also some from others including the main villain. I'm also loving the Japanese influences- the nine tailed fox is especially one of my favourite Asian mythological creatures.

I'm certainly looking forward to further books in Kagawa's series. She tends to start off a little slower and end strongly so I'm already anticipating the next one.

Ratings
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
World Building: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5

I really, really enjoyed this book. It's my first Julie Kagawa novel and it won't be my last. The book is based on Japanese mythology such as Kitsune, Oni, Yoki, and I loved learning about the mythology aspects. It felt like such an authentic book.

Yumeko is a half human, half kitsune girl. I liked Yumeko quite a lot, although, being raised in a temple and having no contact with the outside world, she can come across as naive. But I adored her for the most part, especially as a lot of her scenes could be quite humorous. The other MC is Tatsumi, a shadow clan samurai. I loved Tatsumi. He struggles with his emotions quite a lot and always tries to put his job first.

This was quite the adventure tale and I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series!!

I received a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how to put my thoughts into words. I was soooo excited for a new Julie Kagawa book. The Iron Fey books are some of my absolute favourites.

Unfortunately, for me Shadow of the Fox hasn’t reached the mark.

We see Yumeko a half kitsune who was raised in a temple travelling with Tatsumi the bearer of the cursed sword from the Shadow Clan. She is fleeing the murder of everyone she knows and trying to carry a part of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers to another temple. He is seeking that scroll but thinks it’s at the other temple so agrees to help her get there. The whole book is about their journey to find the person who can tell them where the temple is. They don’t even get to the actual temple.

They collect more travelling companions along the way and fight some evil and some truly disgusting baddies along the way. But mostly the book is just a very long walk.

The story telling was fine, the description was good, the slow burning romance was nice, but there was just nothing truly outstanding. Sadly I probably won’t continue with the series.

Shadow of the Fox is a book that kept me spellbound from start to finish. I loved the premise, the characters, and the seamless blend of Japanese folklore and myth with a fantasy world. There is a strong pop-culture influence too; I could see this story working perfectly as an anime or manga. I could picture the characters drawn that way. Another thing I appreciated about this book was the super-slow-burn romance. It's there, but it came about subtly, with no instalove or the standard YA love triangle. This is definitely a series I would like to continue reading. I can't wait to find out what will happen next!

*thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia, HQ (Fiction, Non Fiction, YA) & MIRA for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The spider does not spin its web in a heartbeat, nor does the albatross fly across oceans with a few flaps of its wings. Many would consider what they do impossible, and yet, they still complete their tasks without fail, because they simply ... start."

Julie Kagawa has once again created a fantastical world of which I am happy to get lost in. Shadow of the Fox is a delightfully exquisite story of magic, myths and mystery. I am loving all of the diverse own-voice stories that are in the YA-sphere as of late and this is a beautiful entrance into the sphere.

I have been a fan of Kagawa's for a long time and have devoured The Iron Fey series and the Talon series. I had high expectations for this start to a new series and Kagawa did not disappoint.

I absolutely adored all of the characters within this book.  Yumeko is a highly empathetic and mischievous young woman; Tatsumi is the exact type of male that I enjoy reading about (I love a fixer-upper) and the ragtags that join the motley crew are all written to perfection.

I cannot wait for the second book and it has quickly joined my awaiting release TBR pile!

A BIG thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book. Oh, and of course, thank you to Julie for writing it. Like, you're the best.

I'm not going to lie, the first 10% or so on the Kindle version for me was a slow set up, and I was extremely confused with all the Japanese/the world presented terms. There IS a glossary at the back of the book for anyone struggling, but I didn't discover it until I finished (obvs) and it explained a lot. Still though, once we got into the meat of this one I felt like I was back discovering this author for the first time, when we made the delightful journey in the original Iron Fey books. I had really REALLY been disappointed in the Talon series, but Julie was still on my insta buy and read list. This book just cements that.

I adored all the hints of Japanese legends, folklore and customs. Samurais, demons and pleasing manners. Add in a dash of sword fighting, keeping secrets and an oblivious romance that may never develop and I was completely sold. This book was everything I wanted in YA Fantasy and more things I didn't even know I wanted. Yes, it's THAT good.

I can't get into spoilery things, but let's just say this is my must read YA book of the year. I can't wait for it to be out so I can fangirl with people. Five stars? OF COURSE!

I received this book via Netgalley from Harlequin Australia.

I’m forever grateful to the publishers for granting me an ARC of this book, I have found a new favourite!! Based on Japanese Mythology, this book includes ghosts, demons, yokai, samurais and more. This book was utter perfection to me... I adored the characters, especially Okame the ronin, who provided some comic relief! I also particularly loved how this book was written. Although our characters are travelling for a lot of the book it wasn’t boring at all, as they kept getting into various situations along the way leading mini side stories and quests.
I expected to enjoy this book, but had no idea I would adore it as much as I do! I’m going to have to order a hardback and pop it straight onto my favourites shelf! I absolutely recommend this book to everyone, particularly if you enjoy Japanese folklore! I was getting Miyazaki feels at some parts of the book, particularly when the Kodamas (forest spirits) made an appearance.

Now begins the agonising wait for book 2...