I am a die-hard fan of Japanese folklore, and THE KEEPER OF NIGHT does not disappoint! It has a touch of horror when it comes to the depiction of the yokai and the world itself. And Ren, the protagonist, is not at all what you'd expect; she is not heroic, loyal, mortally righteous, or even kind. But this actually drew me to her character, sparking my curiosity about who and what she is. The whole story was rich, imaginative, and compelling in all the right ways that kept me clutching the book from start to finish.

This book took me by surprise. It is very different than what I've been reading lately.
A sort of retelling of Shinigami and Reapers, there are no good guys. And normally I need a good guy to root for but somehow this story drew me in despite that. The MC, Ren, was not nice. She wasn't kind or loyal or anything. But somehow I still found her fascinating. It was so much fun reading about the different Yokai too. And the mystery behind Ren and her powers. She was BA for sure! I liked not knowing what was going to happen because Ren's decision making would be sporadic. I also liked the adventure/ hunt for yokai across Japan!

The Keeper of Night is one of these books that keeps you awake in the night. This one have to be more recognized. The writing makes this book a action-packed fiction to good to not be read by everyone.

Rich and compelling. Those were the two words that surfaced when I dived into the first installment in The Keeper of Night duology. The story began with a haunting yet alluring scene of Ren Scarborough froze the time and heartlessly took a human’s soul to be delivered to the Ankou, the God of Death. That moment beautifully described Ren’s character and her job as a Reaper. It was so powerful and I knew that this is going to be one hell of a ride.

But in the next second, the bizarre scene turned into another night of torment for Ren as some of the High Reapers blatantly disregard her half British Reaper blood then tortured her. Angered and in an act of self-defense, Ren accidentally unfurled the power that she was trying so hard to conceal because no British Reapers should have the will to control the light. It’s what Japanese Shinigami do.

Escaping her doomed fate in British, along with her brother Neven, Ren decided to visit the land she always imagined as her home—Japan—only to met with a test Izanami, the Goddess of Death, has given her. Only by succeeding in this dangerous task, Ren would finally be recognized as Shinigami.

I cannot get over how The Keeper of Night enchanted me from the first chapter. Every word written painted stark and haunting images on my mind. Woven with Japanese folklore, it truly enhanced the world-building. Ren’s adventure in completing the impossible task brought me to travel different places in 1800s Japan and met with blood-curling demons. I couldn’t help but think that this book is perfect to be read in October as the month of horror and terror.

Shinigami’s power to control light was another thing that interest me. Although there was no detailed explanation on how it worked, basically a Shinigami could extinguish or even blow up the source of lights around them. Emotion played an important role in this especially if the Shinigami is not yet a thousand years old. Aside from that, Shinigami also has the ability to see in the dark. It’s a must-needed skill if one needed to travel to Yomi, the Japanese underworld and Izanami’s domain.

I could hardly tell that The Keeper of Night is Baker’s debut novel because the pacing was smooth. Even though the ending seemed a bit rushed, I didn’t find another trouble with the pace work. It started strong then built up nicely to the climax with the perfect amount of action, eerieness, and a layer of mystery. If you’re wondering whether this book has a romance in it, the answer is yes. It wasn’t insta-love but it has been hinted since the beginning. Although, I think Ren would do just fine without any romantic relationship.

Speaking of Ren, she is a character with such an interesting arc. She began as a biracial girl who didn’t feel like she belong in her British Reaper family. The Reapers always treated her as a foreigner, even her father acted like she didn’t exist. What I admired about Ren were her determination and courage. When she arrived in Japan and thought that she’d be free of the foreigner’s label, Ren still needed to battle the Yokai demons to be accepted as a Shinigami. In the end, she realized that she didn’t need someone else to tell her who she is.

Neven was probably my favorite character aside from Ren. He deserved to be loved and protected at all costs! Born and raised by British Reapers’ parents, Neven’s gentle personality contradicted Reapers’ harsh, cold and detached nature. Even though he has been through a lot, his heart remained pure and kind. On the other hand, there was also Hiro. A mysterious boy the siblings met when they arrived at Yomi. I had a good impression of his character at first because he has the potential to be more.

Overall, The Keeper of Night was an enthralling and unputdownable fantasy read that highlighted Ren’s struggles as no British Reapers nor Japanese Shinigami claimed her as wholly theirs. As a biracial myself, reading this book and witnessing Ren’s immaculate arc was encouraging. Being half this and half that and both sides never see you as someone whole, I could relate to that. If you’re looking for a newly released YA fantasy with rich world-building set in 1800s Japan and a plot that will hook you until late at night with its twists, The Keeper of Night is a perfect choice for you.

[Received an ARC]

Rating 5/5
Plot 5/5
Character Development 5/5

“The Keeper of Night” by Kylie Lee baker is a YA, Historical Fiction, that shares a Japanese folklore story. This book shares the life of a girl who is part of two worlds (half Reaper, half Shinigami), but is accepted by none all while, the soul collector seeks her destiny. This book is a haunting and dark fantasy that takes place in Japan during the 1890s.

This was my first time reading a dark fantasy and Kylie Lee Baker didn’t disappoint! I first heard about this book during an HCCFrenzy book event and I was intrigued from the beginning. This is the first book in the series and I can’t wait for the sequel (coming out in 2022).

This book is so incredibly good I have been recommending it to students, friends, and anyone who will even remotely listen to me. As the Goodreads blurb states: "Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries." Like...WUT. Y'all. I love a piece of fiction that introduces me to new things, and you better believe I went down a rabbit hole of what Shinigami are. We meet Ren, and her Dad is cold and a jerk and also a little racist? Which is WILD since he HAD A CHILD WITH A JAPANESE WOMAN, but whatever. She is a Reaper (cool), oppressed and unhappy (racism), who gets in trouble (undeservedly) and decides to bail and go on a quest to locate her mother in Japan. Her brother, a myopic, loveable boy who hates reaping, joins her.
The adventure is amazing and Baker weaves it in such an effortless and informational way. There's also a hint of a romance which is lovely until it's not (but in the BEST WAY). This was truly a fantastic reading adventure which did, in fact, keep me guessing until the end. I cannot wait for the next book in this series!

#TheKeeperOfNight #KylieLeeBaker #Netgalley #bookstagram #bookreflection #bookreview #Japan #Reaper #Shinigami #Mythology

Pluses: first-person POV, Japanese Mythology, World building
Minuses: I didn't like the main character (Ren) very much and reading her arc felt like watching a trainwreck.
Overall, I got lost in the beautiful prose.

Full of twists and turns and things lurking in the darkness, The Keeper of Night is one of the funnest books you'll read this year. Beautiful writing, unexpected story and great characters.

Rating: 3.5/5 ☀️

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. This review is also posted on sunglowreads.wordpress.com as of December 26, 2021.

To get into it – The Keeper of Night was an enthralling fantasy adventure full of lush descriptions and amazing worldbuilding. The mythology was gorgeously rendered, and the way it intertwined with the historical setting was so well done. It was a unique take on a villain origin story and corruption arc, and admittedly I came away feeling somewhat dissatisfied with the execution, but I can not deny that it was a pretty great reading experience.

I loved the journey aspect of the book, and how the way the reaper/shinigami realms were described. The quest and the mythology of the kitsune were also really strong. And then there was Neven, who absolutely won my heart. I loved him as a character so much in terms of what he represented for Ren and how his character developed.

Hiro is a point of conflict for me. At the beginning, he came across as rather boring. Ren was just so ready to take him at his word and the perspective of him is so rose-tinted that even though I knew he probably had some ulterior motive, he just was not inciting much of a reaction from me. Even the romantic chemistry was lacking. However, when the reveal happened, I was so, so excited. I went from hoping he would die to wanting to read more of him. Unfortunately, it happened quite far into the book, and then it was cut off before I could even enjoy it. The pacing at the end was a real weak point, as the last few chapters shoved so much in there and it was so rushed. It honestly felt like it should have been in the sequel.

The bigger issue, though, was just Ren herself. I can accept terrible choices made over the course of a corruption arc, but she was unlikable from the start in a way that makes it really difficult to feel bad for her. She seemed edgy for the sake of establishing her darkness, but I didn’t necessarily see her as any worse than the other reapers or shinigami since everyone was just doing their job. It made me pretty annoyed and it was difficult to be sympathetic for her beyond getting her feelings as an outsider, especially with how she treated Neven.

Still, the book even missed the mark in its approach to Ren’s mixed heritage and the conflict it created. Ren was just strangely haughty regarding her heritage, and while I understood her desire to belong somewhere, there were a number of moments where it felt like she saw herself as superior to the other shinigami. I found myself thinking about it in terms of my own identity: I’m ethnically South Asian, and while I am not mixed, I grew up in the United States and I would never presume to know better than people who live in India, nor do I expect them to see me as the same as them because I know I am not. It’s not better, it just is. However, the narrative not only upholds Ren’s superiority, but affirms it as she becomes the new goddess for a world she is barely a part of, and I hope I misread, but it seemed to have an imperialistic savior implication.

So yeah, it was a conflicting read for me. I’m somewhat at a loss, because where it worked, it really worked, and where it didn’t work, it really didn’t work. Personally, I’m undecided whether I want to read the eventual sequel, but I think this is another book where readers might have to decide for themselves.

If I only could use one word to describe 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 by Kylie Lee Baker, it's gonna be MINDBLOWING! Even giving this book five stars still won't justify how much I love this book because it deserved a gazillion stars.

In this book, we follow Ren Scarborough, Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami who has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. But being half Shinigami makes the Reapers despise her and bully her for being "different". 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.

☾ 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕀 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
This book is very thick with Japanese culture and folklore. And as someone who used to be a huge addict to all things Japan, I could feel the authenticity.
The scenes were so vivid that you could feel that you saw everything instead of reading it.

Exploring about the world of death already made this book stand out but I honestly didn't expect this book is a debut novel because the writing style is so damn good! It's very atmospheric and the way she described the world of "death" sent chills throughout my body.

This book is so gruesome, eerie, and dark but also deep at the same time. Lots of sentences that resonate with me but this is my tops: "Even the land of the living has hellish creatures, but that doesn't make it hell"

I AM LOVING THE CULTURE MIXTURE IN FANTASY BOOKS RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE!
Okay, the question that has always lingered in me is, what if you are from two different cultures but magical, how does that affect you growing up, your magic, your life, your surroundings and the threats around you?
While Ren's childhood is unfortunately not joyous, it shows the good and bad points of the two worlds she is caught between and how it both shuns and wants her. THE BADASS POWERS! I WANT THAT!
AND FOR ONCE, the trauma and hurt during the MC's childhood didn't make them kind but morally grey because being hurt and shunned and only having one good person will do that! Great character turmoil!

Side note: I feel like Neven was both necessary and unnecessary; he was the moral one and the one to push buttons because he didn't understand his sister's hardship and was an outside view of her struggles then he because the outsider in the Japanese death world.
The only qualms are the slow pacing in the first 1/4 then the racing I felt in the last 1/3.

I am highly excited for the sequel!

as soon as I read that it was Japanese folklore I knew I had to read it.
I love a morally grey main character, with a villain origin story. That is probably my favourite YA trope.

The Keeper of Night has easily become one of my favorite reads of this year. The opening scene immediately grasped my attention and beautifully introduced me to the world of reapers. It was also the perfect setup to show us Ren’s personality and how she views herself and the world. The foil between the two types of Reapers we encounter was perfectly balanced and a crucial part of Ren’s identity. The story was engaging and wonderfully written. The settings came alive on the page and the interactions between our characters moved our story forward in ways that wouldn’t have happened without Baker’s way with words.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy a good “light and dark” story. I cannot wait for the sequel!

I was initially interested because I tend to love books that deal with how death is seen through different cultural lenses, and I couldn't be happier with that aspect of the book. Definitely recommend this rich folklore fantasy to any readers looking for a strong morally grey protagonist and dark creatures inspired by Japanese mythology.

Thank you Harper Collins for the eARC! I binge read this book in a day and absolutely loved it. I am a huge fan of death mythology and Japanese mythology and culture, so this book was just perfection. I am also bi-racial so I could relate to some of Ren’s feelings about never fully belonging to the Reapers or Shinigami. I thought she was a very morally grey character because her actions near the end were so questionable, but you could totally see where she was coming from. I thought Neven was such a sweetheart but it was kind of hard to picture him taller than Ren, because I kept thinking he was a small child because of his attitude. I loved the worldbuilding in this book and thought it was so fantastical. I also thought the idea of death in different cultures was so fascinating. I also loved all the yokai folklore and I had lots of fun googling who every yokai was. Overall this was a great story and I can’t wait to read more by Kylie 😍

4.5/5 Stars

It was a good book. I will definitely check out more books by the author in future. Thank you netgalley and publishers for providing me with an arc of this amazing book

I was really excited to see a Shinigami fantasy story, and it did not disappoint! The Keeper of the Night does an excellent job of exploring family, class, and race within the Shinigami mythos and keeps readers enthralled as they explore a new world alongside the protagonist.

Sorry I didn't post in here! I really appreciate the print copy you sent instead :-) That's always preferred. I'm already excited for her next book.

Excellent and engaging books. I loved the Japanese mythology and strong, yet flawed heroine. The adventures are thrilling and the characters are well developed. I can't wait for the second installment. I will definitely reccommend this title to my teens and anyone who enjoys YA books. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley & Inkyard Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ren Scarborough is half-Japanese & half-English. She also happens to be a reaper of human souls. Despite doing her job well over the centuries, she has suffered abuses and humiliations at the hands of the English Reapers. She decides no more and plans to find her mother in Japan and figure out her own destiny as a result.

Wow, damn...going to be thinking about this one for a while. A morally grey protagonist and dark AF mythological creatures...enthralling! Ren has a ton of internal conflict throughout the story, she wants to follow her own path but also struggles with wanting to please others. She doesn't really understand what she really wants until she loses it. It's really refreshing to see a protagonist struggle with power and self-worth!

I really enjoyed the characters and was happy that there wasn't so many that it was overwhelming, the story and world-building made it easy to follow. The Japanese mythological creatures were terrifying but soooo dang cool! I'm glad that there were ruthless monsters but also very peaceful ones so it wasn't like the world in this book was *that* dark all the time.

A great dark story with awesome mythological creatures & a strong protagonist!