This was such an interesting concept. We had magic with different layers and strengths; Asian inspired creatures; and a rich, underground culture. The plot moved at a quick pace with lots of action and plenty of mystery to keep me turning the page. My only complaint is with the characters. They seemed a little flat. There were times when Emiko showed a personality with her humor, but often times I just craved to know her as a person.
Other than that, it was a fun, action-packed read!

I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

I'm a sucker for chinese cdramas. So if I see anything with a sense of it being cdrama esque I grab it. I want to bring attention to non-Chinese readers. So I thought the summary captured that essence.

Now after reading it, I'm sad to say ... it was pretty stale. There was a sense of detatchment with the main character. It was all explicitly spelled out but I felt no real umph or drive to the story. It had a dull opening and I made it 25% through before closing it.

For a modern day fantasy, I expected better? Maybe others with not so high expectations will enjoy it.

Female John Wick except with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown? HELL YEAH. Emiko Soong is part of one of the eight premier magical families of the world, but unlike many others she isn’t that gifted with magic but rather blades. She became the Blade of the Soong Clan, or rather... she is known as the Butcher of Beijing before she moved to San Francisco. But Emiko is done with that life, she left her clan and broke her blade in an attempt to retire and finally get away from the killing... but when a Talon ( think of it like a blood oath marker that essentially is a debt- once called upon must be answered), is activated and she goes to answer it to save her younger brother who is the heir to the clan from having to deal with it... things are about to get bloody. To her shock Emiko discovers that her mother has given a Talon to a shinigami, a god of death.... and now Emiko finds herself being tasked with finding the Ebony Gate... a doorway that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi Underworld and if she can’t retrieve it she will have to forfeit her soul as the anchor instead. Finding this door is going to be harder than ever and it means that Emiko has to go back to her past career as the Blade and not only try and make new allies but uncover the new enemies who are after the door as well. With her blades, her pet lion, and a ticking clock, Emiko will have to slash her way to uncovering the truth behind why her mother owes a Talon to a Shinigami and what Emiko wants to do with her future. This is the first book in a series and WHAT A RIDE!!! It was non stop action, adventure, and I absolutely adored Emiko so much and BAO!!! (he deserves all the scratches and treats). I am so excited to see what the next two books bring and where Emiko’s relationship with certain individuals in this book goes, you get to see her open herself up to others and friendship in this book and it was wonderful. The quest was a fun one and the world setting was so interesting!! Definitely give this one a go if you like action fantasy with a bit of a twist and a contemporary setting!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I’ll be honest, I had no idea this was a modern day, urban fantasy novel until the moment I started reading it! I mean, it does mention San Francisco right there in the summary, so I really have no excuse. I think I just focused on the first paragraph and the overall feel of the cover art style. But I was definitely pleased when I did get it all straight in my head! I’m always on the look out for a good urban fantasy series, and this one definitely had a lot of unique ideas being presented right off that set it out to a good start.

While this book wasn’t the perfect fit I was hoping for, there was a lot to like, starting with the aspects that make it unique from other urban fantasy and paranormal novels. For one thing, I really enjoyed the use of San Francisco and China Town as the main location for the story. The location felt fresh and vibrant, and I loved how Chinese culture was woven throughout this aspect of the story. I particularly enjoyed how the various magical families had their own territories and would compete for power and wealth. This book has been marketed as a “female John Wick” story, and you could definitely see how this comparison could be made with this secretive, often violent, society operating within the borders of what we think is regular life.

There were also a lot of interesting magical elements to be found. In particular, the gates themselves and how access and use of them are managed. I also liked the choice to have Emiko herself not being a magic user, instead having to rely on her fighting abilities to make her way through this world. This was especially interesting for her having come from a supremely powerful magical family, and how this lack of magic has defined her life and choices. However, this did lead to times where I found myself becoming more interested in Emiko’s mother’s story than Emiko’s own.

And that speaks a bit to where the story started to come apart for me. Emiko is a pretty straight-forward urban fantasy heroine. I’m not sure quite why this is, but there is a bit of a standard to be found in urban fantasy and paranormal fiction where the leading character isn’t necessarily super complex with loads of depth or personality. And the same can be said about Emiko. Was she the worst? No. But was she particularly compelling on her own? Also, no. Much of the book is spent with her fixating on her own lack of magical abilities and her resistance to falling back into a life of killing (a resistance that is obviously futile as is seen within the first few chapters even). I kept hoping we would get a bit more from her, and it just didn’t come.

But my main struggle came with the style of writing itself. It’s a very straight-forward, “telling” sort of writing. In many ways, again, it does fit with the style of writing often found in urban fantasy/paranormal fiction. But here, I really did find some of it wanting. There was a very repetitive use of language and sentence structure that immediately hit me. Within the first few pages, there was a paragraph where the word “thug” was used to describe a group of people three times. On my kindle, this one word was literally stacked upon itself in three lines. Not only is this an unforgivable lack in creative vocabulary, but it speaks to the overly straight-forward approach to style and substance that the same word needed to be used three times in such quick succession to describe a scene and its action. From there, it really was hard to not be continuously distracted by the weak points of the writing itself. There were filler words dropped in everywhere, and an overall lack of any unique style or expression. Readers who really enjoy urban fantasy and paranormal fiction may be less bothered by this than I am, however, as there is a standard set in this subgenre for a fairly straight forward, “telling” sort of writing.

While I did struggle with this book, I am intrigued by the overall concept and world. Emiko also seems like a great character that can grow a lot in future books, even if all we got here was the very basic foundation for who she is. I will likely continue this series, just to see where it’s all going, and hopefully some of the writing wrinkles will smooth over in future books, as well.

Rating 7: A vibrant new urban fantasy world, if only held back by some weaknesses in the writing and a lack of overall depth to the main character.

(Link will go live July 19)

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately, this was a "its not you, its me situation." I don't read much YA at all, but I thought maybe YA urban fantasy would be more my speed. It is not. I have learned that now. I DNF'd this at 30%. I just don't see myself having any strong feelings for it if I were to finish it. Its not a bad book, I just don't think its for me.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, it fell flat for me and I had to DNF. While I did like the little details in the book (house deco, her favorite pants, etc.) the plot moved at a snail's pace which made me feel like I was just wasting my time reading filler paragraph after paragraph.

I did think the ability to jump between places was very cool! I loved the world-building of the clans, hierarchy, and legends (similar to Jade City, if I had to pick a book). The idea of our MC being the Butcher is such a refreshing concept. I like it when our MC is already immersed in the universe. But the plot dragged and we'd get halfway through the book before realizing a day only passed. The majority of the characters (including the MC) were dull and had no dimension to them. And although the romance/love interest was extremely subplot, they have nooo chemistry.

This book is great for YA book fans and beginner fantasy. It is written to that element specifically. For adult fantasy, it needs a bit more umfph in the story and better writing. The writing in this is very amateurish but is written to the effect needed by the over the top story. As a collection of elements, it works incredibly. But the elements in it are ones that need working on.

Considering that I don't think Dresden will be making an appearance soon, this will replace my current urban fantasy/protector of a realms magical and not void.

Heavy on exposition, there is a LOT to take in. This book does the best job it could with taking so much lore and meting it out so a reader could understand. If you're familiar with any Japanese folklore, then that will help. It doesn't detract from the overall story to have to learn the ins and outs of the clans, the auras, the talents, the alliances, the realms etc but there is a lot happening over a short period of time.

Emiko is a great lead and I'm partial to her Foo Lion (another thing I loved about Dresden). There is so much to learn and so many stories opened in just one book that I can not wait to explore this world more!

This was a fast-paced, fun read with a pretty badass main character. Ebony Gate has an interesting magic system based on Asian influences. It was neat to have a blend of different Asian countries making up the backbone of the world-building and magic systems and it was done really well.

Emiko is an interesting character and I enjoyed being in her head as she fed the readers a little bit of information at a time about her past. We don't get all the answers in this book though, but hints at a past that I'm eager to read about in the next book.

While Emiko's personality is fleshed out, the other characters fall a little flat. Adam, a potential love interest? has a pretty small part, as well as her business partner. I'm assuming we'll have more of them in the second book, but I would have loved a bit more from them in this book. The info-dumping at the beginning is also a little difficult. I was confused for the first 15% of the book at what was going on and how this world functions. It does pick up quick though and gets less confusing once you're past the initial setup.

I would recommend this book and will be picking up the next one to unravel more of Emiko's past :) Definitely a nice take on contemporary fantasy that stands out.

I would like to thank Netgalley, tor Books and Julia Vee and Ken Babelle for an advanced copy of Ebony Gate. All opinions are my own.

I admit I requested this book purely because I really, really miss that good, old-style urban fantasy series akin to Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson and Dresden. I want first person pov, the grit of the city setting, down of their luck heroes fighting against the magical foes, episodic nature of books with one overreaching arc.
In that sense, Ebony Gate totally fits the bill.

Emiko Soong is our main protagonist.When we meet her, she is trying to keep a low profile in San Francisko, which is kind of hard when you are a from the Hoard family and you have a bloody reputation as the Butcher of Beijing. That kind of baggage makes it hard for her to make friends among Jiārén- those who have Dragon blood and powers that come with it- or Waīrén, humans without powers. Being a magical dud of Soon family, taking the Blade was the only way for her to serve her family, but the endless killing took a toll on her which is why she ran away from her family and settled into San Francisco 2 years ago. All of this makes Emiko a bit of a loner which is exactly how most of the urban fantasy series start.
And... that's pretty much all I have to say about Emiko, because she is the main reason for my rating. She sounds one-note on most of the things and thus, comes off a bit dull which contributed to why I never felt particularly engaged in what would happen to her. First person point of view allows the reader to get into this complex character's head, but it seems that Emiko's past and her reputation is her entire personality. A lot of telling and not even showing is such a cliche thing to say in a review, but I've read pages of Emiko telling us all about her training and how many people she killed and yet, I was frustrated with her deduction skills in times: do you want to hear how many times people would try to comment on her aura? Or how she was allowed to the eight level in Library, something that's very odd for a magical dud like her, but she shrugged it off? Or how she didn't take in consideration what kinetic would be able to do with his power knowing fully well there will probably be kinetic? These are, of course, contrived to keep the suspense rolling out and for twists to land, but I honestly don't expect obtuseness from someone with Emiko's so much pointed out training and experience.
The reason I find this so baffling is that every other character introduced- especially Tran siblings- were miles more intriguing, not to mention her parents who are teased in a big way and who, I hope, we'll get to know better in the next novel. Even both love interests were fun in their way, though there was a bit of fawning in describing Kamon which I was not a fan of, but I hope to see more of him and his powers.
Action scenes were plentiful and fun especially combined with various Jiārén powers.
Infused with Asian culture, magic system introduced in the book is complex and detailed and I have a feeling we haven't even scratched the surface. The first book carries the burden of introducing the world to the reader, so it made for a lot of infodump scenes, but not confusing at all. I especially liked the fact that the magic system it's fully encapsulating Asian mythology and not limiting it to just Japanese or Chinese. A lot of small touches like culture of bargaining or "dash of skepticism" oil. Since Emiko is going to Tokyo in next one, I hope the magic system will be expanded with more lore, powers and Hoard families.

There was a lot of things to like in Ebony Gate, but the most important for me, the main character just didn't grip me enough. but I do hope this will be remedied with the sequel. After all, it took me several books to get into Kate, Mercy and Harry as well. :)

I was so lost when trying to read this book. I think for me it was just too far out there.
I am sure it is a fantastic book, but not for me.

The marketing team sent me the blurb for this, and I was absolutely ecstatic. I began reading it immediately. We open up to an image of our protagonist covered in blood, and the imagery was so powerful.

I think I could have loved this book had it been more plot-focused. Conceptually, it is really cool, but as I was reading, I just felt like I was getting a huge batch of exposition building up the world with nothing interesting actually happening. I gave up at the 5% mark. That said, I’m here for immortality peaches,

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

Ebony Gate is a stunning fantasy-thriller that brings together beautiful atmosphere, a stunning magic system, and a lush writing style. the main character was super interesting, and the structure is a blend of classic and twisty, which makes it so much fun to read! i think several elements—such as the romantic plotline, info-dumping, etc. would keep me from rating this a full five stars, so my rating currently stands at 3.5/5.

Ebony Gate is a compelling novel that blends action, fantasy, thriller and family drama with a Chinese and Japanese inspired magic system. The protagonist, Emiko Soong, is on the run from her family and her violent past (You don’t earn the moniker ‘Butcher of Beijing’ for no reason.) She seeks a peaceful existence in San Francisco, but soon finds herself entangled in clan politics and bound to a death god who must restore the Ebony Gate.The book provides an intriguing world-building and well-developed lead with a mysterious past (that, sadly, isn’t fully explained). Despite her desire for independence, Emiko is tied to her past, her family, and her town. She’s a strong lead, dedicated and unyielding. While the plot is simple enough to follow, it is complex enough to keep readers guessing. Each character has hidden motivations, and the ticking clock adds a sense of urgency. However, the book appears to be mostly set up for future adventures, with much of the information and characters unnecessary except for hinting at a greater future plot. And we get a lot of informations that slow down the pacing. Those who love lore, we’ll be thrilled. Those more interested in characters and plot progression may feel rich descriptions and exposition slow things down.

Overall, Ebony Gate is an intriguing start to the series. I’m looking forward to seeing how the story progresses in future books.

First off, I would like to offer much thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for allowing me the chance to review this book. Additionally, congratulations to the authors on their work being published!

Ebony Gate is part-action, part-thriller, part-fantasy novel, infused with a Chinese (and, at some points, Japanese) inspired magic system and family drama to boot. The story follows Emiko Soong who has escaped across the ocean to San Francisco after breaking with her family and her bloody job of destroying their enemies. She hopes to carve a peaceful, low-key existence away from her past… but it wouldn’t be much of a story if she could do that. Our protagonist finds herself bound to a death god, fighting a tight deadline to restore the titular structure and successfully navigate a web of clan politics she does not have the patience for.

Emiko is easily the most interesting part of Ebony Gate for me. The authors do a nice job of slowly dropping breadcrumbs to her backstory in a way that leaves the reader feeling as if they are unraveling a mystery. Emiko wants so desperately to be independent, but previous baggage makes this goal impossible. Even after leaving her old life behind, she discovers that she is beholden to her family, her past, and her city, to name a few. She is a morally flawed character just how aware of inadequate she is, but her snippy internal dialogue and unceasing determination endear her to the reader. After reading this novel, I want to know more about her backstory and what may be hidden from both her and the reader.

I also found the magic system intriguing. It holds a complex history with eight/nine dragons, and most major characters possess their unique talent. These talents were innovative and wove into Emiko’s story (Emiko believes that she has no talent). There also appear to be references to different Eastern religions holding different magics that I hope will be explored more in future books.

Ebony Gate’s plot is simple enough to follow, yet complex enough to keep you guessing. Each character has their hidden motivations. It contains several action-packed sequences and the sense of a clock ticking down. However, I did get the sense that the book was mostly set up for further adventures. Despite the cataclysmic portents of the undead, one receives the sense that the true danger lies in Emiko’s past and the future of a building conflict. Lots of characters and information appears throughout the story, much of it unnecessary, except that it hints at a greater, future plot.

In addition to the setup, I found some of the side characters difficult to connect with. I went in expecting some characters such as Adam, Emiko’s possible love interest, to become major, fleshed out players in the story. However, Adam and many characters like him quickly disappear from the screen. Emiko is supposed to care about and grow with them, but I mostly saw them off-camera. This not only feels like more setup, but it makes it difficult for the reader to care about each of them. The side character dialogue also feels scripted at times, though I am reading an uncorrected copy.

This series has a lot of potential, and I can tell it is going places. I found myself interested in Emiko and the world, and there were several tense moments that grabbed my attention. There was also a lot of set up that sometimes negatively affected the book. I debated between rating the story 2.5 or 3 stars. It’s a mixed bag, and I am interested to see how the series progresses down the road.

Thoroughly enjoyable! Fluid writing style making for an easy reading experience, kickass heroine who was throughly enjoyable, awesome dragon heir magic system, back notes of self-discovery within all the action and excitement. I really loved this book. I'd say the only thing keeping it from a full 5 stars was a lack of emotion towards the story in a consuming sense. I had FUN while reading it, but my heartstrings weren't tugged as much as I would have hoped.

First of all, I’d like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of the ARC!

There were many things I liked about Ebony Gate, the main thing being the incorporation of Chinese and Japanese culture and mythology. I can tell the mythology is well researched and it is explained in depth which may be useful for people who are unfamiliar with myths from these cultures. I think it was very unique that Ebony Gate uses a mix of Asian cultures for inspiration while most Asian-inspired fantasy books use just one- it makes a more interesting mix of mythical creatures and magical powers. The urban setting of San-Francisco is also a nice touch, I always enjoy urban fantasy because it makes a familiar modern day setting infinitely more interesting with magic and action.

Emiko was a very interesting heroine, all of her action scenes were really exciting to read and she’s clearly a very interesting character. There are many hints throughout the book at a dark past where she was known as the ‘Butcher of Beijing’ but her past isn’t really explained in this book which is a bit frustrating but hopefully means there’s more to come in the following books! Another really intriguing part of the book was the history behind the various clans and the relationships between the families. Despite wanting a peaceful life, Emiko is very loyal and dutiful towards her family which reflects Asian culture very accurately.

One thing I didn’t really enjoy about this book was the writing style. The action scenes were well-paced and gripping, however a lot of the book suffers from a lot of information dumping and random facts about the characters that don’t really contribute to the story. One such example is when we learn the exact type of face cloth Emiko uses to wash her face or the “5.11 cotton poly blend tactical pants with lots of pockets and a Teflon finish” she chose to wear one time. There’s so much random information throughout this book that is really unnecessary and it distracts from the more important aspects of the plot. Also, there is a lot of information dumping (although I appreciate the authors are trying to explain the mythology in detail) and it leads to pacing issues. Every character, mythological creature or some other world building aspect has one or two paragraphs explaining it, which is just too much information and makes it really hard to keep up during the first third of the book. There are also many Chinese words used in the book and, while I am Chinese myself so I understand, I feel like this would be confusing for readers who don’t speak the language so maybe a glossary of terms would be a helpful addition!

Overall this was an enjoyable enough read despite these issues, it was really unique and intriguing! I will definitely read more in this series!

This was such a cinematic read. It really felt like I was watching a movie, and I loved it. I don't know, though, if I would market it as similar to John Wick. I can kind of see where they are coming from with that comparison, but I really do think there are better more accurate ones out there. This was still fantastic, though. The characters and the world-building were really well done. I also loved the setting and the plot was paced so well. I enjoyed getting to read about a myth-system that wasn't your standard fantasy, too. I think this is going to do really well with the teens at my library, so I'm really excited to get the physical copies in!

4.75 stars. Emiko Soong was the Blade of her Clan until she earned the title of the Butcher of Beijing. Now she's building a new life for herself, importing antiques in San Francisco. But when a god of death calls in a family debt, Emiko must recover the artifact that holds back the hungry ghosts of the underworld, or forfeit her soul in its place.

This was a wild ride, and I'm hoping this turns into a multi-book series. It was refreshing to read a contemporary fantasy with a badass Asian heroine and culture. I did find myself wishing for a glossary or primer at times, but I also appreciate that the author didn't stop to comprehensively explain each newly mentioned school of magic or technique. Emiko isn't the only reason to dive into this book, either. Many of the supporting cast members could have their own spinoffs exploring different Clan magics and Hoardes.

I did get lost in the setting of the deadline for recovering the artifact (possibly because the god mentioned the full moon but we didn't initially know how far out that was from that moment), and I was puzzled by how casual Emiko seemed with the time she had until her threatened moment of doom. There were also elements of her backstory that I'm surprised weren't expanded upon, but perhaps that's for the next book.

I was given the opportunity to review an e-ARC of EBONY GATE through NetGalley and the Tor Publishing Group.

Introduction:

Emiko Soong is a member of one of the world’s top magical families, but she never relied on magic. Instead, she was known as the Blade of the Soong Clan. However, after a gruesome incident in a Chinese market where she was covered in blood and surrounded by dead bodies, Emiko gave up her assassin lifestyle and settled in San Francisco where she imports antiques.

But her peaceful life is disrupted when a god of death, a shinigami, demands that Emiko repay a family debt by recovering the Ebony Gate, which holds back hungry ghosts from the underworld. If she fails, Emiko will lose her soul. Thus, the retired assassin must come out of retirement to save San Francisco from an army of the dead.

Thoughts:

Sugiwara’s voice was low and terrible, the sound of waking nightmares. “I will not allow Miss Soong to be harmed.”

His eyes dropped to where the knife had pierced my side, blood welling around the wound. “Any further.”

Oh, so he was a comedian now.

Reading Ebony Gate was like watching an Asian action movie. It was action packed from start to finish with impressive world building, sprinkled with comic relief and beautifully crafted magic system based on east Asian lore and mythology. Although I felt disoriented at the beginning of this urban fantasy book as the authors kept throwing terminologies without explanation but as the story progressed this was remedied and I began to enjoy the story.

The backstory of the clans in Ebony Gate was highly engrossing, with the tale of the eight dragons being banished from ‘The Realm’ to the mortal world, and their descendants inheriting their respective dragon’s magical gift to form the eight clans with the ability to travel to fragments of the realm, across the Void through Doors. The book’s magic system was skillfully constructed and the magical creatures featured were well-explained, making for a highly immersive read. The world building was also exceptional, as the authors took great care to explain the intricate details of Asian mythology in a way that would be easily understood by readers unfamiliar with it.

One aspect of the book that I found particularly admirable was how the authors portrayed the familial bonds of Asian families, despite the estrangement that often exists between family members. Additionally, the concept of the city Sentinel was highly intriguing, as it depicted how a city itself could bestow power upon a worthy individual to protect it.

Despite the numerous positive elements of The Ebony Gate, the book also had some notable flaws. For a book that explained so many things well, I never understood why Emiko was called The Butcher of Beijing because it was never explained. Also this entire book seemed like a stepping stone to a much larger picture because I never believed for a second that Emiko was without any power because of the fleeting flashbacks and the hints from the shinigami. I wished the authors tried to at least give us a glimpse of this bigger picture because I personally love a jaw dropping cliff hanger ending at the end of a first installment. Another thing I thought unnecessary was the huge cast of characters. It made it extremely difficult to remember names and the importance of their characters to the story.

Having said that, I liked all the main characters with their different and unique personalities. Emiko with her struggle to wanting a peaceful quiet life but wanting to fulfil her familial duty to her clan. Freddie reminded me a lot of my dear friend Jamie with his carefree happy go lucky self. Fiona was a tiny bundle of badass energy. Sally and Baby Ricky were so endearing. However, while I found Kamon as a shifter extremely intriguing, I was not convinced about the chemistry between him and Emiko. Same goes for Adam. At last but not in the least, a shout out to our adorable two hundred pound foo lion, Bao.

Wrapping up my review of Ebony Gate, I am eagerly anticipating the release of the next book in the series, which I am certain will be nothing short of awe-inspiring.

My sincere thanks to Netgally and Tor Publishing for providing me this advanced reader copy.

Note:
Quotes may change upon publication of the book.

Rating:
4.5