Kylie Lee Baker has crafted a wonderfully interesting and exciting novel with The Keeper of Night. Ren, half British Reaper and half Japanese Shinigami, sets out to discover who she really is and the extent of her abilities. After dealing with other Reapers who harass her for being different, her powers are revealed and she is forced to flee London. She decides to leave for Japan and discover the truth behind her Japanese heritage. With her brother and a mysterious new companion, Ren ventures on a journey to slay three monsters- a mission that, she believes will ensure her future as a full fledged Shinigami.

Ren's journey is not a cheery one- in fact, this is one of the most gruesome and gory young adult books I've ever read. Baker does not shy away when it comes to describing how Ren must defeat these monsters and the effects they have upon her and those affected by the monsters' powers. Baker also does a great job in giving the reader a view into Ren's mind, letting us see how she is feeling, what the affects this journey has on her, and her uncertainty and fear of not figuring out who she really is.

The entire story was a great read- the plot moved at a very swift pace and very rarely lagged, the characters were very well-developed, and the tension and suspense was palpable throughout. Her writing style flows with ease and you will find yourself clamoring to read what happens next. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and cannot wait to read the sequel.

My thanks to NetGalley for an E-ARC of this title.

TL;DR: The Keeper of Night is an intriguing exploration of bicultural identity wrapped up in a horror-heavy Japanese folktale-fantasy, albeit with inconsistent and, at times, irritating character development. My rating: 2 of 5 stars.

I had to revisit the book description to double-check the genre on this one since it struck me as belonging to the horror genre over fantasy. The publishers do describe it as a “dark fantasy,” so reader, be warned, it’s definitely dark. I felt dread in the pit of my stomach for much of this story. Which, to me, is the mark of good horror writing. Many of the most frightful elements are drawn from Japanese folklore, which were woven into the plot really effectively.

That said, the supernatural beings that I didn’t really “get” were the main characters themselves. Ren is half-Reaper and half-Shinigami (basically the British and Japanese cultural equivalent of an angel of death/demon type that lives hundreds of years and collects souls) and her brother, Neven, is a Reaper. Readers are told several times that Reapers/Shinigami aren’t human, don’t have human emotions, can’t experience love, etc. buuuut they both act very human and definitely experience human emotions, including love. This wouldn’t have bothered me so much if this book was super driven by world-building and plot, but it really isn’t--the plot follows a simple folkloric structure of a hero going on a quest and having to complete 3 tasks. Instead, the focus is on Ren’s internal feelings and character development. Above all, it’s an exploration of her frustration, longing, and sense of alienation as a biracial/bicultural individual who doesn’t feel she fully belongs to either culture.

This theme would have been much more poignant if Ren had actually been a likeable character, but honestly, she’s a bit of an asshole--especially to her half-brother. I get that she’s going through some shit and has a lot of resentment towards Reapers writ large but damn she abuses him pretty needlessly. Every fight they had left me frustrated at their utter inability to communicate and empathize with one another’s experiences and emotions. Is that because they’re Reapers? Or just kind of shitty humans?

This YA fantasy novel inspired by Japanese folklore had me hooked from the very first page. This novel incorporates plenty of dark and fantastical elements of Japanese folklore, including Shinigami (death spirits), yōkai (supernatural spirits), Yomi (the Underworld), the nine-tailed fox, and much more. Before reading this, I knew relatively little about Japanese folklore and mythology, but now I am very excited to learn more. This novel is set in the late 1800s and due to that fact, our MC endures a lot of racism and Othering. There are discussions on belonging, white fragility, identity, and family. As I mentioned, this book hooked me from the first page. My one critique would be the insta-love relationship, although I will say that it goes to very unexpected places, places that had me shocked and wickedly delighted. I cannot wait for book two in this incredible duology.

Ren has been reaping human souls for the master of death in Britian. half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, 200 yr. Old Ren I unhappy. She just had n encounter ith other Reaper where one has cut off her hair. She became so angry, she burst into light that injured the Reaper. It scares even Ren when that happened. Her father gives her no support — that is he doesn’t fight what the High Reapers want to do with her. Scared but angry, she decides to go home and pack. She will go to Japan and be a Shinigami and not a BritIsh reaper. She wants to find her birth mom. Why? Her brother, Neven finds her leaving and tells her he will go with her. He ends up going with her to Japan. Eventually she finds the master Shinigami high gives her three terrible tasks in order to become a Shinigami. Will Ren be able to do it? Will her friend, Hiro help her?

The author has written an action packed plot. Somehow the author has done such a “smooth writing with fitting Japanese mythology and the Victorian era that I thought “ how did she do that”? It is perfectly written and filled with action, deaths, motives and emotions. Ren is in the process of trying to figure out who she is. Can she trust herself? The novel touches on racism, discrimination of the handicapped, self acceptance and finding yourself. It is dark and engrossing. I think anyone could enjoy this novel. Horror lovers don’t miss out reading this book!

This is a unique fantasy that is seeped in Japanese mythology. We follow Ren, a half British reaper and half Japanese Shinigami. Ren has gotten on somewhat peacefully in Britain for the last two centuries but when she loses control of her Shinigami powers she is forced to leave, along with her half brother, Neven. Ren and Neven make their way to Japan so Ren can finally claim her Shinigami powers and hopefully be reunited with the mother she has never known. The Japanese Goddess of Death agrees to let Ren become a full Shinigami if she completes the task of finding and killing three Yokai demons.

The Japanese myths that center this story were my favorite part. I loved learning about the different legends and characters that Baker introduced throughout her story. I was pleasantly surprised by the horror aspects that were in this book. Obviously a complete novice to Japanese mythology but I’m assuming that is a common occurrence in the lore. Another aspect of the story that I loved was Baker’s atmospheric and beautiful writing. I highlighted so many lines in my Kindle because I was so blown away with the elegant way she writes.

As intriguing as I found the story and as stunning as I found Baker’s writing I did find that the plot slowly started unraveling the more we got into it. I found the beginning to be instantly attention grabbing but unfortunately, for me, that was the strongest part. I still enjoyed the bulk of the story despite it’s many flaws. Ren is supposed to be a morally grey character and Neven takes on the role of the white knight but I found both of these personality traits underdeveloped.

I thought this book was ending at the perfect moment but then it kept going. And then I again thought that we had come to a satisfying conclusion but no the story continued. The end also had major pacing issues. It was obvious that Baker wanted to stop at a certain point but she should have added another 100 pages or so and told a more complete story. Or, what I would have preferred, saved some of what happened at the end for the sequel.

I would still recommend this book for the incredible way Baker weaves in Japanese folklore with stories of reapers and the dead. This is Baker’s debut novel and the plot coupled with her mesmerizing writing are reasons enough for me to be eagerly anticipating the sequel. If you are a fantasy reader who is looking for distinctive and compelling world building then look no further than The Keeper of the Night.

The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1) by Kylie Lee Baker is a unique YA historical fantasy novel. I'd really been looking forward to reading this and it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. I really got swept up into Ren's world as a half British Reaper and half Japanese Shinigami. It's very dark, complex, and creative with enchanting world-building. The world-building is easily the strongest point of the novel, but the characters themselves are intriguing to follow too. Ren might be our lead, but her brother Neven is the real scene stealer of the show. If you a fan of dark historical with cool fantasy elements, I can't recommend this enough. I can't wait to see what's coming in the sequel, The Empress of Time.

1800s: Ren Scarborough is half British Reaper and half Japanese Shinigami. Reapers and Shinigami collect souls when a person is ready to die. Since Ren is half Japanese living in London, her British Reaper family and community doesn’t recognize her as one of their own. After two centuries of living like this, Ren decides to travel to Japan to find her true identity as a Shinigami. Her half-brother, and only true friend, Neven, travels around the world with her. When they arrive and meet the Japanese goddess of death, Ren is given a seemingly impossible mission, to hunt dangerous Yokai demons, that will finally give her the acceptance she has always craved.

This was an intense and wild story. Ren and Neven encountered many demons and creatures from Japanese folklore. Ren had learned about some of the demons in her studies of her culture, but some of them were not the same as the tales. Both the British and Japanese soul collectors had their own methods of doing their job, so Ren had to get used to a whole new system. Though Ren felt like an outsider at home in England, Neven became an outsider in Japan, since he didn’t speak the language and didn’t look like the residents. It was an interesting look at if it’s harder to be born as an outsider and never know any differently or if it is easier to choose to live in a culture as a visible outsider.

The ending of this story was intense and fast paced. It left me wondering if the next book will be about Ren, based on where the story left off. I’m really curious to see what the next book in this duology will be about.

The Keeper of Night is a great book with Japanese folklore.

Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars - This was an incredible debut!! Lee Baker's writing is phenomenal - the way that she captured the frightfulness of Japanese folklore and the very real horror of what it would be like to be a British Reaper was incredible. I love horror fantasy, and Lee Baker made this extremely palatable for YA audiences while keeping it super creepy and unnerving. In addition to this, our main character Ren is very morally gray (almost villainous) and I am obsessed with her. She is exactly the type of main character I love to read from and every decision she made completely unraveled her - how her story can possibly conclude in two books is beyond me but I know Lee Baker can do it just from the impressiveness of this debut novel. The entire last 100 pages of the book had me gasping out loud because I could not believe what was happening, it kept me on the edge of my seat. My one complaint was the book's love interest. While I do think he played a crucial role in the unraveling of Ren, I think their love moved far toO quickly for my liking and I wish there were just a tad more pages to really develop their love for one another and the ending would have been a tad more believable to me. But other than that, THIS WAS GREAT AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I really loved this book. It was such a fresh take on YA historical fantasy. It follows Ren, a half Japanese Shinigami, half British Reaper girl, who collects souls and delivers to them to the god of death. Being half Japanese, she is never truly accepted in Britain and decides she's had enough after an intense altercation with the other Reapers. She travels to Japan along with her brother where she is tasked by Japan's goddess of death to kill three demon-like creatures in order to be accepted as a true Shinigami. They also meet Hiro. An outsider himself and hoping to gain favour with the goddess, he acts as their guide and Ren's love interest.

In terms of plot, you've got your classical monster hunting quest, but the focus on Japanese mythology really breathed fresh life into this trope. Since Ren herself is somewhat of an outsider, the myths are introduced in a way that's very accessible to a reader with little to no knowledge of Japan. I also never realized how cool and creepy Japanese myths are.

I loved reading about Ren. She's an angry, selfish, morally grey heroine which was so refreshing to read. It seems like every YA heroine is self sacrificing and always does the right thing, which gets boring and I don't find it very relatable. Ren really wasn't afraid to take what she wanted and I was here for it. I connected so much with her whole "I'm a bad person and I don't care" attitude.

A large focus in the book was Ren's half British, half Japanese heritage, how she is not really accepted in either society, and her search for belonging. While I couldn't directly relate to her situation, it was really interesting to read about and caused me to do a lot of introspection around my own heritage.

Also the ending to this book was wild. So much went down in the last 5% of the book. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book because I have no idea where the story is going to go or what an ideal ending would be. Definitely recommend!

DNF @ 27%

The summary sounded sooo good, but I was barely engaged for the hour that I gave this and can barely remember anything that was info-dumped.

I had the chance to read an ARC of THE KEEPER OF NIGHT and I am so glad that I did. This story is dark and brutal and in some ways a bit gruesome, so if you're planning on picking it up, please go into it with that in mind. It goes to surprisingly twisted places for a YA novel. But even if that normally puts you off, I'd encourage you to approach THE KEEPER OF NIGHT with an open mind, because while there are a lot of things in this book that would normally be intense enough to stop me from reading, I loved THE KEEPER OF NIGHT.

Ren Scarborough is half-British Reaper, half-Japanese Shinigami. She begins the novel working as a Reaper in England, collecting the souls of the dying. But Ren's status as the only Shinigami-Reaper hybrid around makes her the target for a lot of bullying, harassment, and abuse, and when her life is in danger, Ren and her half-brother flee London. They go to Japan, where Ren tries to establish herself as a Shinigami but runs into resistance there too.

Ultimately, the book is about Ren discovering her place in a world that constantly defines her by what she's not.

This book incorporates a lot of really interesting mythology, but what really drew me to this book was Ren's feelings about being between two cultures. I really related to her anger, as it reminded me of what I felt when I was a teenager. Like Ren, I know how it feels to be constantly defined by what you aren't, to feel like you are the only person in the world that doesn't have a say in what you are or what you're going to be.

Ren is unapologetic, flawed, and the first person to tell you that she isn't a good person. She makes a lot of questionable decisions, and by the end of the book even I wasn't sure if Ren was a good person or starting to cross over into "villain protagonist" territory. But I understood every decision that Ren made, even the ones that I disagreed with, because I knew what she was feeling. I can't wait for the sequel!

i sometimes chafe against genre on behalf of the author, and this is a classic case. tragic that baker has to market this as young adult just because it has a female protagonist. it's just an easy to read and dynamic adult fantasy. ren is such a relatable character, truly someone who's not afraid to take up space and be flawed.

A thank you to NetGalley, Inkyard Press, and Kylie Lee Baker for providing me with an eARC of this book. I am leaving a review voluntarily, all opinions are my own.

This book was such a cool mix of so many things. I loved the Japanese lore throughout and our MC was refreshing, I always love a good morally gray character, especially as the MC.

I loved the sibling relationship theme throughout and her wanting to take care of him, with a younger brother myself I could definitely relate.

I can't wait to see where this story goes in the next book and just LOOK AT THAT COVER!

My Review: What A Solid Debut!

The Pros: What Worked For Me

I loved the Japanese mythology that was central to this story. From Shinigami to other demons, I was enthralled!

The theme about identity resonated with me; Ren struggles throughout the story to find a place where she is accepted and I felt that deeply.

The sibling relationship was wonderfully developed. The author captures the complexities of it, without making it cheesy.

The Cons: What I Didn’t Like

I wasn’t a fan of the romance. The bond was formed too quickly for my liking and it progressed very rapidly at the very end.

I wanted more mythological immersion, with more demons being introduced!

Overall, this is a pretty solid debut with many positives. I can’t wait to read the sequel (and conclusion) to this engrossing series!

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod THIS WAS SO GOOD????? Morally grey MC, villain arc, Japanese mythology, historical fiction? Check, check check, and CHECK. This book did it for me. I genuinely don't know ow to write a coherent review for this because it was just SO good. Kylie Lee Baker is a genius and I needed the preorder links for Book 2 yesterday.

"Death didn't need to find me because it was always there, in my blood and bones. I was made of Death."

The Keeper of Night is an interesting story! Ren our main character, cares for her younger brother and wants what's best for him. Her Shinigami powers are greater than those around her and makes her a threat causing her to leave. So, she leaves with her brother, saying goodbye to what she knows to find something better.

It was so wonderful to see how important her brother Neven was to her and how she always wanted the best for him. I am looking forward to book two and seeing how the rest of the story plays out. Overall, this was an intriguing story and one that has a morally gray character at its center.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

tw: violence, gore, matricide, death, threatened death of child

I wanted to like this more than I did. The folklore was A+ but I found myself having a hard time connecting to the inhumanity of the main character - which, I mean, she’s not human - and with the world as a whole.

I’m not sure if I’ll seek out Book 2 in this series though it ended on a compelling note, because I’m not sure it would be fair to the author for me to engage with something I’m so clearly not feeling for reasons I have trouble articulating.

This book took me outside my comfort zone. It was a bit disturbing at times and definitely a more serious read. The main character has a Japanese mother and British father. She is looked down upon by and ridiculed by society and is by all accounts virtually left as an orphan with no one but her brother, Neven, for support to aid her on a set of dangerous events that found me on the edge of my seat. Excited to read the next book in this series!

This book was really good! It’s been a while since I got my hands on a solid historical fantasy novel that didn’t either confuse or bore me so this book was a very pleasant surprise. Not only was the world-building and the lore super well done and fascinating, but the characters were also all consistent. The protagonist was morally grey but not in a way that people call downright villainous characters morally grey - no, she was actually morally grey. This book left me feeling breathless in the best way possible; my only criticism was that occasionally the setting wasn’t described enough for me to imagine the scene vividly enough. All in all, I highly recommend this!

I’m a huge fan of YA fantasy, but I think I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of fantasy duologies. I have started to notice, at least in the duologies I have read recently, is a big issue with pacing. Most fantasy stories need time to develop and establish world-building. I find that the first book in a series of 3 or more books, spends the majority of book 1 just creating the visual for readers. While duologies tend to priorities plot over world building. The success of the initial depictions generally decides how much I will enjoy the series, so it is a pretty significant thing for me. I need to feel immersed in the world before I can appreciate the plot, characters, and ultimately the story. Instead, with these fantasy duologies, I feel rushed and book 1 and 2 feel almost like separate stories to me.
The Keeper of the Night series falls into this duology pitfall for me. While I have not read book 2 yet, I would have preferred book 1 to simply be longer rather than have another book. Baker covers quite a bit of ground in this first story, and I felt a bit rushed while reading it, simply because we are still learning about the world of Death while being in the middle of the action.
For the story itself, this is such a unique take on death lore from around the world. While our focus is mainly on Shinigami/Japanese mythological creatures and legends, Baker does a great job of tying in lore from a variety of other cultures as well. It’s such a cool concept to explore the world through ‘death’s eyes’ and to really see the differences and similarities of death lore from different cultures. Huge points for uniqueness.
Our cast of characters is also extremely unique. They are all hard to relate to especially Ren but considering none of them are human, it actually adds to the story rather than detracts. Only Ren’s brother Neven, shows any sort of humanity which makes it hard to determine exactly how the siblings feel about each other. The relationship with Hiro is also a bit hard to fully understand but once again could just be because of the lack of humanity in the characters.

For a debut and being targeted at a younger audience, I did enjoy the story. If you are looking for a fantasy that dives into folklore, specifically Japanese folklore but not limited to it, then I would pick this series up. The ‘rushed’ feeling I had while reading the story though, took away from my experience. I would have liked a bit more lead-up and world-building at the beginning of the story.

The Keeper of the Night is out now. Huge thank you to Inkyard Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof_books.