Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

DNFed at 58%

I wanted to like this book so bad, but after falling asleep three times while reading it (over a span of three days), I decided to call it quits.

The only thing that I really liked about this book was the world building and lore. I love how this book takes Asian lore and ties it into this book. The authors spend a lot of time with world building, which is much appreciated. As a Chinese person myself, it’s always nice to see someone like me represented in fantasy books. Plus there are cultural aspects and references that I enjoyed reading about.

However, I felt like there were too many characters and not enough plot. I wanted to know more about Emiko’s history. Why is she the Butcher? What happened? We get a glimpse of it in the beginning but nothing else since then. The whole issue about finding the Ebony Gate: the process to find it is slow. I got 58% through the book before realizing only a day or so had passed in the story. I wish the pacing was a bit faster.

Overall, there was very little that kept me engaged with the plot. Emiko could have been much more interesting, but it was hard to follow her. Perhaps these authors are not for me.

Would I recommend this book? N/A because I didn’t finish it.

Heard amazing things about this one and am so exciting to have been approved for this ARC— thank you again to the authors, the publishers, and NetGalley for this opportunity. I’m certain this one will be another hit for fantasy lovers and newcomers alike!

Ebony Gate was an absolute surprise and I loved it. It was billed as being similar to John Wick and I'm not sure that is accurate but it's understandable I guess. However, even though it wasn't quite similar to John Wick it was still excellent. I loved the characters and I'll definitely be picking up a copy of this for the library once it comes out.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC!

Ebony Gate was a fantastic beginning to a sure to be epic series! This book is more of an urban fantasy, with the setting in San Francisco and it was SO fun. I really adored the look into familial duty as well as so much Chinese and Japanese culture and lore which I just love to read about 🥰

Emiko is absolutely phenomenal, such a badass! And I liked the casual queer rep included as well. I definitely look forward to more of the series!

EBONY GATE takes the well-established Urban Fantasy tradition and drives it into a setting rife with East Asian themes, myths, and traditions. Where fans of Jim Butcher come to expect devious machinations of ancient vampire families, readers here will find devious Shinagami. The substitutions of East for West are the most obvious difference, and the writers hew to expected genre conventions surrounding the voice of the narrators (first person, cynical), as well as a punchy-plot-hooky pacing (problems arrive one-after-another, multiplying and complicating each other in a tangled web of short chapters that tend to pull the reader forward).

Where the East-vs-West setting suffers in execution of this book is where the authors seem to default to presenting backstory in in-voice narration. It is as though the baseline editorial expectation is that Western readers will be both unaware of what mythological basis of the story is on the page. For example, in a "Western" urban fantasy short shrift is given to explaining what a vampire is, most likely out of an assumption of shared knowledge. But in EBONY GATE, there seems to be a penchant for using an expository paragraph or two to explain every supernatural feature of the world, and it grew to feel as though the authors had little faith in the reader's prior knowledge or ability and willingness to learn on the fly.

For readers who want punchy urban fantasy with a unique flavor from Chinese and Japanese cultural traditions, this provides precisely that.

"Ebony Gate" by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle is a female-driven action-packed story that takes place in contemporary San Francisco's Chinatown. The book follows Emiko Soong, a former assassin and member of one of the eight magical families of the world. Emiko must complete a dangerous mission to recover the Ebony Gate and save her own soul from the underworld's hungry ghosts.

The world-building in this book is impressive, with a detailed magical system and an intricate web of family politics. The action scenes are fast-paced and thrilling, and the authors do an excellent job of keeping the tension high throughout the story. Emiko is a complex and interesting character, and the secondary characters are equally well-developed and engaging.

The book's unique blend of magic and action is reminiscent of the John Wick movies, with a strong female lead who is just as capable and dangerous as her male counterparts. The setting of San Francisco's Chinatown adds an extra layer of depth to the story, with rich descriptions that bring the location to life.

The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is that at times, the pacing can feel a bit uneven, with some scenes dragging while others move quickly. However, this is a minor quibble in an otherwise exciting and engaging read.

Overall, "Ebony Gate" is a thrilling and well-written book that fans of urban fantasy, action, and strong female protagonists are sure to enjoy. I highly recommend it.

This was a lot of fun! Most of the Asian-inspired fantasy I've read has a more historical-esque setting or is focused on one culture, so it was very cool to see a pan-Asian magic system and mythology. I will say it's very clear this is the first in a planned series, and I'm hoping the final edition includes a chart of the magic types or some glossary because there is a lot going on here. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the next in the series.

Thank you Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me this e-arc in exange for an honest review. My opinion is my own and not influenced by others.

First of all let me mention that I loved reading this book!

The Ebony Gate is about a young woman Emiko who has familiarities with john Wick in a very good, human way, because of this I sympathied quickly and easily with her.
The story has action, a lot of good, wonderful world building, well written characters who I liked a lot like a tiger who fights battles among side Emiko and a very good writing style which made me want to keep on reading. The use of Japanese and Chinese mythology, but also information about the Japanese and Chinese world and uses were well developed and I loved reading about it.

This book is one of the best urban fantasy books I've read and I can't wait to read more about Emiko's journey!

Oh this was an epic start to a series! I thoroughly enjoyed the Japanese and Chinese cultures, customs, mythologies in the story. Emiko was a strong female lead character. I dug the subtle lgtbqia+ rep in there as well. This was a power house urban fantasy from cultures not typically seen until recently and I am here for it!

I am so ready to embark on this new urban fantasy series! I especially love series where the cities they take place in feel like characters in their own right, and boy is this steeped in city magic as well as dragon magic. Throw in that the city in question is San Francisco, a city I love deeply, and I was already in for the ride.

Emiko's relationship with San Francisco, both as a city young in its magic vying for her to take up the mantle as its Sentinel, as well as a place for her to learn who she is without being at her clan's beck and call, is so central to the story and one of the things I absolutely love about this. This isn't just a book set in a city, this is a book that lives and breathes the city and its neighborhoods and its people, that reflects the old and new cultures, both of those tied to the clans and those outside.

The magic system itself is very interesting - eight (or nine, depending on your viewpoint) dragons were exiled from their Realm long ago, and their human descendants now live with various talents and magical artifacts in a tenuous balance. The system clearly has its roots in Chinese dragon mythology - meridians, qi, and auras are intrinsic pieces of being able to use talents, and different types of talents are recognized by the beasts of the cardinal directions - but sort of follows the flow of communities in diaspora. This leads to an interesting mix of cultures and threats - the shinigami and the titular Ebony Gate holding back Yomi are tied to Japanese myth rather than the dragons - but all of the mythical beings seem to be aware of each other and spheres of influence bleed into each other the same way that neighborhoods and families do.

The action scenes are great; it feels like the urban fantasy books I grew up loving, with a fresh, modern take. As Emiko tries to unravel who's behind this disturbance and why, more and more characters get involved, but it never feels crowded or overwhelming. Instead, each encounter has just the right amount of tension, even though the book takes place over what have to be the longest 48 hours ever. The side characters help with this, lending new voices and support to Emiko, as well as wonderful characters in their own right. I love the Tran twins so much, and I can't wait to see more of Emiko training Leanna.

My one quibble is that this very, very much feels like the setup of something bigger - Emiko's reason for being expelled from her training is clearly a coverup, and there are flashbacks to things we aren't meant to understand yet, all of which would be fine, but there are too many questions directly raised by the text and too few even hints at answers that it feels teasing in an unsatisfying way. I would've wanted to read more of Emiko's adventures even without the other handful of hooks about her past. That said, I'm definitely in for the next book.

I love urban fantasy, always have always will. This was one that stood out to me as a series I hope gets many more volumes. There is always the risk when picking up a series that you don't get the first book and can get kind of lost in what's going on in the world. And while this is the first book in the series, at least I think it is, and there is plenty mentioned of past events I felt like that was reveals yet to come rather than me missing anything. Loved the quiet queer representation and the non Eurocentric mythology explored as well. Wonderful book! Freddy is a delight

This was so good I was enchanted from the very beginning. I loved this so much and the dragon magic was a perfect touch. I think this is a must read fantasy that needed to be on everyone's TBR.
I just reviewed Ebony Gate by Julia Vee; Ken Bebelle. #NetGalley
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I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.