The Fox Wife is a highly crafted, exquisitely written and entrancing story. It has a flowing, almost misty quality with memories floating to the surface, and engulfing the main characters; Snow and Bao. In a novel that is so deeply interested in folktales, Choo really channels that narrative voice. It has an intimate, telling stories round the campfire feeling that remained strong for me throughout. I felt almost as if I was reading a book told entirely in hushed voices and whispers. Not to say that it wasn’t compelling or exciting! The mysteries of The Fox Wife had me hungry to know more about how the two main characters Snow and Bao would fare on their journeys. The main thread of the tale is simple. Two people on two distinct missions. A fox named Snow seeking vengeance for the death of her child, and Bao – a detective who can always distinguish truth from lies who is investigating the death of a young woman. Their stories seem untethered – though remain nonetheless highly intriguing – for much of the narrative before coming together to reveal an elaborate picture of events. I really enjoyed the way Choo chose to reveal the truth of the mystery just a little at the time particularly with Bao’s detective work. Sometimes she gave the reader more clues than Bao, so you were desperate for him to catch up with you, and at others she left you completely in the dark with the twists taking you by surprise.

The Fox Wife is beautifully written and certainly boasts an eerily mystical element that lives up to the reputation of the foxes that scamper across every page. The image Choo creates of late Qing Dynasty China is rich and enchanting. The clashing worlds of old and new, ancient powers and new uprisings, magic, mystery, love, death and treachery make for a fascinating novel. I thoroughly enjoyed The Fox Wife and look forward to exploring Choo’s other works.

I love love love stories about foxes based around Asian mythology. I love the idea of the mischievous fox spirits, shape shifters and trouble makers that go into human society and cause chaos. This telling was based around the Chinese mythology and differed in many ways from the Japanese tellings I’ve read before, but I enjoyed seeing the similarities.

I loved Snow’s character in this. It was masterfully woven to bring in the wildness of the fox and combine it with human emotion to make her relatable. I enjoyed how the author kept reminding the reader that she was in fact a fox with the base personality traits of mischievousness and troublemaking. She’s unlike any character I’ve seen before.

I also liked how this story wasn’t so romance based. This was a fox spirit who had already been married and wasn’t really interested in the romance side of things. And though there was hints at romance, it was a more steadfast kind of love. It was just very different to a lot of the things I read.

This is honestly just a really great read that I’d recommend to anyone!

I really enjoyed the originality of this, and how we followed the fox in her mission to find this mysterious man.

Perhaps I approached <i>The Fox Wife</i> with the wrong exceptions. I thought it would have a much darker tone, given the book's revenge tale premise. But in <i>The Fox Wife</i> the revenge storyline seems like an afterthought, and it often faded into the background. Much of the novel reads like a series of humorous misadventures, recounted to us in a conversational, ‘confessional’ almost, style (with lots of "anyways" and "i told yous"). Yet, it never fully leans into the satire, and there are several moments that are meant to be dramatic, but these are depicted in a way that doesn’t quite deliver on the pathos, the end result is that the book suffers from a confused identity, neither a fantasy of manners a la Zen Cho, nor a more tantalizing Catherynne M. Valente type of fairytale-esque affair.

The majority of the novel takes place in Manchuria in 1908 with chapters alternating between a female fox, posing as a young human woman by the name of Ah San, and Bao, an old detective who is able to discern truth from falsehood. The fox chapters are heavy with exposition, and she repeatedly goes over the same information or feels the need to explain things to us. While I understand that this was somewhat necessary given the novel’s historical setting, I wish that the world-building could have relied less on the fox’s ‘telling’. She is after Bektu Nikan, the man responsible for her cub’s death, and to learn more about his whereabouts she finds employment as a maid. The grandmother of the family is worried that her grandson, Bohai, the only son of the family, will fall to the family’s curse (the eldest sons die before they reach 24). Bohai and his loser friends have become close to a mysterious and charismatic stranger, Shiro, someone known to our fox. The fox’s quest is seemingly lost in favor of setting up this rather drawn-out storyline involving Bohai&co dealings with Shiro. Eventually, they find themselves in Japan where we encounter with yet another mysterious stranger, who is actually not a stranger to our fox. These two male characters left such non-impressions on me. They have little to no chemistry with our main protagonist, and their few interactions aren’t thrilling (nor do they make you wonder what exactly they mean to one another). This retaining of information does little in terms of creating suspense, maybe because the reveals themselves feel so predictable, maybe because this retention of information goes against our narrator’s conversational confessional style. Surprisingly enough I was more interested in the detective’s chapters. Sadly Bao is so many steps behind that whenever he learns more about these fox rumors it feels like old news. I wish his storyline hadn’t felt so behind the main one. I liked learning more about childhood and his gift and I wish that the story had focused on him and his childhood friend.

The story felt a bit too vanilla, childish even. Which is a pity as there was potential to go for a more ambivalent type of tale, especially when it came to the foxes. They were the perfect candidates for morally ambiguous types of characters. Yet, our central character feels simultaneously naive and like a busybody old maid (she was giving miss marple). Her narration is less clever than trite. She's prone to truism and unnecessary asides ("I’ve told you before that every action has an equal opposite reaction"). Maybe this will work for some readers but I found her to be an inconsistent and not particularly charming nor alluring character. There were so many instances where I wanted her to act differently, especially given how she goes on and on about foxes’ special abilities. Her revenge...was very anticlimactic, and even here Choo plays it safe. Worst still, we learn virtually nothing about her cub or her life before. This made her into a rather surface-character, who is there to give us the dos and don'ts of being a fox and interacting with humans.

The novel's initial set-up is intriguing but the story felt surprisingly directionless and lacking in momentum. Still, this is probably Choo's best (so far).

I heard about The Fox Wife on a couple of my favourite podcasts (I believe they were Talking Scared and She Wore Black) as a ‘most looking forward to in 2024’ book. A mystery involving the shapeshifting foxes of Chinese folklore, mixed with a gothic tale about a woman seeking revenge-I was intrigued.

I’m so glad I received this as an ARC, as I can say their anticipation and my interest was well-deserved. This is a gorgeous book full of eloquent prose, mystery, a hint of creepiness and a lot of humour and heart.
Told in dual perspective, the story revolves around the titular Fox Wife, fuelled by grief and on a mission to avenge the death of her only child. Her chapters are told in the first person, which differentiates her from the second protagonist, Bao, who is written in the third person. Bao is a private investigator, a former teacher and now a now old widower, who is hired to discover the identity of a deceased Courtesan found outside a popular restaurant. He is excellent at his job, in no small part due to his ability to tell when someone is lying - a mysterious side effect of a severe childhood illness. As the story progresses, their stories become inexorably intertwined.
Set in turn of the century China and Japan during the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, it is an effortless blend of historical, detective, gothic fiction and fantasy. This is a wonderful book that has a wide appeal to all kinds of readers, although content warnings should be heeded regarding death of a child. The novel also discusses sensitive topics surrounding the disparity between sexes and class warfare.
I had never read anything by Yangtze Choo before, and have now tracked down her previous two novels as I loved the Fox Wife so much. The audiobook narrated by the author is also wonderful, her voice lends itself perfectly to this beautiful tale where myth, history, mystery and a mother’s undying love collide.

Like Yangsze Choo’s previous two novels, The Ghost Bride and The Night Tiger, The Fox Wife is a fascinating blend of history, fantasy and folklore. It takes as its premise the idea that fox spirits, who play a large role in Chinese and Japanese mythology, really exist and can take on the appearance of human beings.

Beginning in Manchuria in the winter of 1908, one thread of the novel follows Bao, an elderly private detective who has been called in to investigate the death of a young woman. The woman’s body was found frozen in the doorway of a restaurant and people are already starting to whisper that she was lured to her death by foxes. Ever since he visited a shrine to a fox god as a child, Bao has been blessed, or maybe cursed, with the ability to detect truth from lies. Now, he hopes he can use that gift to find out what happened to the woman found dead in the cold.

In chapters that alternate with Bao’s, we meet Snow, or Ah San, a white fox spirit who is searching for the man she blames for the death of her daughter two years earlier. Snow has taken the form of a human woman and joined the household of a Chinese medicine seller. In her position as maid, she is able to accompany the family on a trip to Japan where she hopes for an opportunity to take her revenge.

At first, the two threads of the novel are very separate; Bao’s story is written in the third person and focuses on his investigations, with some flashbacks to his childhood; Snow’s narrative is in first person, giving it a more intimate feel. Eventually, their paths begin to converge, producing some interesting plot twists and revelations. We also find that there’s not just one fox in this story, but who are the others and what is their relationship with Snow? It takes a long time for everything to unfold and for a while in the middle of the book I thought it was starting to drag, but the pace does pick up again towards the end.

My knowledge of Chinese folklore is sadly very limited, so I enjoyed learning more about the significance of fox spirits, their characteristics and powers, and some of the myths and folktales that have been told about them. With the novel being set partly in Japan as well as in China, we also see how similar myths and legends about foxes cross over into Japanese culture. It’s all very fascinating, and whenever my attention was starting to wane due to the slow, meandering plot, there would be another passage about foxes that would grab my interest again.

I had mixed feelings about The Fox Wife, then, but I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to learn something new! It’s definitely worth considering this one – and Yangsze Choo’s others – if you have any interest in Chinese myth.

I'm incredibly grateful for the chance to dive into the e-ARC of this book, though it took me a bit to finally get my review up. Let me just say, I absolutely adored this book and easily give it a solid 5-star rating. It's a must-read, especially for fans of Asian fantasy and mystery.

The author's writing style struck me as refreshingly matter-of-fact, which actually added to the book's memorability for me. Even after a period where I stopped reading due to life getting busy, jumping back into the story was seamless. I immediately knew where I was and what was going on, which speaks volumes about the author's ability to craft a compelling narrative.

The way the plot unfolds through the perspectives of Snow and Bao is quite interesting. You can sense from the beginning that their paths are destined to intersect, but the author keeps you eagerly anticipating how it'll all play out.

And the cultural richness woven throughout the book is truly something to appreciate. It's incredibly informative about Asian culture and history, portrayed with such authenticity and depth. That aspect alone made the reading experience all super memorable for me and I’m happy I had the chance to be an advance reader for this book and this author.

I went into The Fox Wife with zero expectations. I haven’t read anything from Yangsze Choo before, though The Night Tiger is on my TBR. I was browsing on NetGalley one day when the cover caught my eyes and since it sounded up my alley, I thought why not? I fully intended to read and review it way before today, but a massive slump happened, so, yay. But, at least I’m able to review it on its release day, so at least there is that.

The Fox Wife hit my soft spot with its 400 pages, which I was able to read in a week, even though I read the majority of it over the weekend in 2 days. But partly because I wanted to finish in time, and partly because I was hooked, I finished the last 25% on a weeknight, when I usually don’t read. I also stayed up later than I intended, but who needs enough sleep to function the next day at work? Apparently not me. I’ve no regrets though.

The story is set in China in 1908, when times are turbulent, the Empire is crumbling and people rarely believe in foxes anymore – except when something bad happens, or it’s convenient to accuse someone of being possessed/bewitched by a fox. The story is told from two POVs: Snow’s and Bao’s. Snow is a fox, or rather, a creature that can take both a human and a fox form, whose kind is featured in many folktales. She is on a journey of revenge, hunting a photographer who caused the death of her child. Her POV is written in first person, we are reading her account of the events.

Bao, on the other hand, is an old man with an uncanny ability of being able to tell if someone lies. He is a widow and earns his money by investigating lost objects, people, or whatever he is hired for. His investigation starts with the frozen body of a young woman and leads him on Snow’s trail eventually. His POV is written in third person. An interesting choice, that worked for me. Snow’s account is personal, the reader feels like we are there, like we are part of the story. Bao’s POV forces us to take a step back, to be a less personal observer, and maybe a more objective one. Both get equal attention, and neither overpowers the other. But I think I liked Bao more, nonetheless.

Despite the strong presence of both MCs, The Fox Wife felt more plot-driven to me. At least, I was more interested in finding out answers and seeing what was going to happen than in the characters themselves. I never really got attached to them. I’m not quite sure why, because I can’t say they were one-dimensional. Snow goes through a range of emotions as she finally confronts her grief and what happened 2 years previously, while Bao faces his own mortality. There are quite a few side characters who make this book a pleasure to read. I especially liked Kurosaki and Snow’s old mistress. But I would have liked if there was more exploration of the relationships between the characters, because there was a lot to unpack.

I always find books with an Asian setting fascinating, and it’s not different for The Fox Wife. I enjoyed the cultural aspects and the fact that even though it was primarily set in China, there were Japanese elements as well as Mongolian. And some historical tidbits that I enjoyed learning about. We get a glimpse at rural North China and some of these people’s lives – the poverty, and the different beliefs. How views change from generation to generation and how superstitious some people can be while others refuse to believe such things as fox spirits.

Choo’s novel is easy to read and although there are some Chinese and Japanese expressions, they are always explained in a smooth way, so it never gets confusing. The plotlines are all neatly concluded, though some questions remain – but life would be boring if we got all the answers we seek. At times I found it a bit repetitive, but not so that it would get in the way of my enjoyment. I’m also nitpicking.

There is a strong mystery element to the book, although I still wouldn’t label it as such, myself. Maybe if there was more focus on the investigation(s) itself. But it works as historical fiction for sure. I think The Fox Wife is rather a tragic story about love, second chances, and the choices that we make. Our actions have consequences, be they good or bad. If you ever wondered about fox spirits and what it would be like if they walked around us, then The Fox Wife won’t disappoint.

The Fox Wife is a magical dual story of a Chinese fox woman who is searching for the killer of her child and a private investigator who is pursuing the answer to a mysterious death of a young woman in the snow.

The story unfolds beautifully and I felt swept away like in a fairy tale. It took me a long time to read, but that was maybe because I wanted to savour it.

Five stars from me.

I will confess that I struggled to start reading this book. Why, I hear you ask? Because I knew that once started I would read on and on until I had finished and once read it couldn't be unread. And I knew it would be one of those books where I would feel sad that I'd finished it because I would want it to go on forever and there may be quite a wait before the author's next book! Yangtze Choo is one of those authors who you could never call prolific but the old adage 'quality not quantity' applies here. I fell in love with this author's work when I read The Night Tiger. I was lucky enough to snaffle a proof before its 2019 publication date and I was also lucky enough to participate in a social media buddy read organised by the publisher Quercus Books. The book and that experience will stay with me for ever.
The Fox Wife is a very different book in terms of content but the themes are still there, an element of fantasy, the nature of creatures and their place in our world, the convergence of humans, animals and spirits.



Foxes sometimes get a bad rap. Certainly in the UK urban foxes have become a familiar part of the landscape. I have one who visits regularly and gave birth to four cubs last season to the frustration of some neighbours around me and to the delight of myself! There is a certain mystique that they carry with them, in part through their physical appearance in that sense sometimes that they are laughing at you and something more, something undefined yet present in an other wordily sense.
That sense is captured here in the novel.

'Manchuria, 1908.
In the last years of the dying Qing Empire, a courtesan is found frozen in a doorway. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and handsome men. Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman's identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they've remained tantalizingly out of reach--until, perhaps, now.

Meanwhile, a family who owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments but can't escape the curse that afflicts them--their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. When a disruptively winsome servant named Snow enters their household, the family's luck seems to change--or does it?

Snow is a creature of many secrets, but most of all she's a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child. Hunting a murderer, she will follow the trail from northern China to Japan, while Bao follows doggedly behind. Navigating the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits, both Snow and Bao will encounter old friends and new foes, even as more deaths occur.'



Although we are given a year when the novel starts there is a timelessness to the narrative, a fey, almost dreamy sense as we begin our journey with Snow and Bao. It's a slow start, measured and controlled, offering us information, thoughts to conjure with, the reader can settle and adjust to an ambience of the Orient and a culture probably very different from the one they are used to. The notion of shapeshifting is fundamental to embracing the story. The mythology of foxes, so important in Chinese lore, is prevalent and a sense of folk mythos, enigmatic yet tantalising.

The chapters shift between Snow's perspective and Bao's. Both are on journeys with different intents; Snow to find a murderer and Bao to uncover the identity of a murdered courtesan. I loved the way the story progressed and developed as you feel the convergence of their two paths approaching.

Yangtze Choo's writing is hypnotic, mesmerising almost. Her characterisations are so empathic that even if a character is of dubious integrity there remains a draw, a pull, a desire to find the good in them. And the atmosphere she creates is almost surreal. And yet as well as being full of ethereal mystery it is also a detective tale!

I feel credit too must be observed for the historical aspects of the novel, some serious research has been undertaken here and it all reads so authentically.

My thanks to Quercus books for the netgalley link and a hardcopy

This book started slowly and it took me a while for me to really get into, but it's worth it. "The Fox Wife" is my first of Yangsze's books and i wasn't disappointed in the least. "The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo is a delightful escape into a world where myth and reality blur. Set in early 20th century Malaya, the story follows Mei and Ji Lin's forbidden romance. Choo's storytelling is captivating, weaving together folklore and romance effortlessly. With engaging characters and vivid settings, this book is a joy to read. "The Fox Wife" is a charming journey filled with love, sacrifice, and discovery that will keep you hooked till the last page.
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This is a beautifully told tale told from the perspective of Snow (Aka Ah San), a female fox sprit on a quest to seek revenge, and Bao, an older detective with the gift of telling when people lie and a fascination with fox folklore.
This is a slow read, and I had to continually adjust my pace to match that of the books several times. For me, it picked up around 30% of the way through but slowed right down around 60% and for a while, I did wonder whether I would end up DNFing it, but there was a reason for that also which I’ll get to in a minute.
As to the motive of Snow’s revenge, this is slowly unravelled as the plot advances, and we get the get the first glimpse of what happened not via Snow but through Bao while investigating the death of a courtesan. We also come to understand the first connection between Snow and Bao’s story, the photographer. It is this connection that will eventually lead to him catching up with Snow, as well as an old friend of his. It was these intricate weaved connections that made me really enjoy this book as I thought they were well crafted and revealed.
Out of both perspectives, Bao’s was the least interesting. Especially around the 50% mark, but I did find his childhood, especially his friendship with Tagtaa interesting and heartwarming. It also helped explain his interest in foxes. Snow’s is more emotive and wittier. I also really loved the little titbits about the traits of fox spirits.
As for the resolution to Snow’s revenge, I found it extremely anticlimactic, and this is why I thought I might end up not finishing the book. What bothered me the most was that after all the build-up, the resolution happed essentially off-page. It was disappointing that given its importance to Snow, it wasn’t a resolution that she was involved in, and therefore wasn’t able to solve on her terms.
Afterwards, I felt like the story lacked direction and I continued to read purely to see how things would end up and while I can’t say I was totally engaged by the story at this point, I thought the epilogue was really lovely and a touching end.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A very enjoyable mystery and heart wrenching love story.

I'd recommend this to any fantasy readers as well as anyone with an interest in chinese culture!

As a person who really loves Asian culture and mythology, this was a book tailored almost exactly for me. The Fox Wife and Bao the detective and all the old stories that just may be true - that's what got to me. I was always a bit fascinated with the old tales, not only Asian ones but in general, but something about Asia just draws me that much more in. The folklore elements were wonderfully incorporated and the mystery took hold in all the right ways, keeping you intrigued, a bit on the edge of your seat and in suspense when needed.

As I usually can get annoyed by the POV switching, specially if they are switching from first to second or third person, in this book it was done really well and served to separate which character we were reading from even more. I think I liked Bao more than the Fox Wife, but the writing just set that apart for me. And the writing as what set this book apart from some others, just beautiful, I highlighted a lot.

I did find it a bit slow to start and it took a while to draw me in (I do admit that I was in a reading slump before this though), but once it did, boy did it! The romance was there although subdued and not in your face and I quite like that. Also, am not sure why, but reading this in winter almost made me wistful in a way. I think now it's also finally the time to read Night Tiger, a previous book from this author that has been on my tbr list since forever.

Beautifully written, so atmospheric - but it does move slowly.

Things I liked:
- the description was so lyrical, it painted such a vivid picture of the setting, the weather, and the atmosphere
- the foxes! you really got a sense of how they aren't human and don't think in the way humans do
- the reveal / twist. it's not a twist in the sense of you not seeing what is happening, but the way that everything fitted in together slowly was very, very satisfying
- the romance. it's also not a traditional romance, so i guess i should say it's more what we the readers find out about the relationship. it's very introspective and just subtly done
- the POVs. not just the characters, but they are both the definition of an unreliable narrator in very different ways and that was cleverly done
- the setting. i really enjoyed being on the cusp of an industrial and cultural revolution period and finding out the way that korea / japan / china were spilling into each other

Things that didn't work for me:
- this is a very slow moving book. it took me a long while to get into it and i really think the first half could have been edited down a bit more

This book reached me at the right point in my life, and I am thankful for that. It provided me with a vivid escape that made me forget “real life” for a few hours every day, giving me a much needed brain vacation. If you are looking for a fast paced, action packed book this is probably not for you, but if you want to be immersed in a vivid reconstruction of a long gone Northern China, cross the yellow sea and experience a glimpse of Japan, you should definitely pick this one up.
The book flows beautifully, and the author is able to convey all the right details to turn this book into a totally immersive experience, never compromising the readability of the prose - folks not accustomed to to the traditions and myths of China/Japan and Korea are in for an incredible lesson, people who do will be comforted by so many details that will feel familiar and cleverly thought trough.
This book is to me a clear 4.5 stars, and I am really looking forward to catching up with the previous works of this author.

Enchanting vulpine myth and mystery

Bao, a private investigator, is hired when a young woman's body is found frozen in a doorway.

Seeking vengeance for the death of her child, Snow tracks the murderer from northern China to Japan, unaware that Bao is on her tail.

A detective novel wrapped in fox folklore, which tells of second chances.

Masterfully plotted, illuminating and utterly charming.

This book was a surprise and a delight. It's sharp and delicate, gentle but with bite--a deeply character-driven story which slowly unfolds like the petals of a flower in the snow. I was enchanted from the very first chapter. It's a 'quiet' book, the story itself pretty straightforward, but it's the way that story is told--and by whom--that makes it land so perfectly. The two POV characters are both immaculate protagonists, marvellously characterised with so much depth and humanity. I loved watching them unknowingly circle each other as the plot progressed, and the payoff when their paths finally intersected was all the better for having spent so long with them individually and apart. The supporting cast was also brilliant; I particularly loved the dynamics between the three fox characters. From a technical perspective, the book is also a real pleasure to read: the prose is elegant and clean, the thematic material cleverly and satisfyingly handled, the pacing spot on for what the author is trying to achieve.

Overall, this was a gorgeous historical fantasy that makes me very keen to check out Choo's other work. It's rich, layered, smart and a deeply *feeling* novel; I wish there was more genre fiction just like this.

Many thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review!

I really enjoyed this tale of Snow/Ah San the fox wife, which seamlessly weaves history and myth along with folk tales into a beautiful (often brutal) story.

Snow is seeking the man who killed her child for its white fur. Her desire for revenge brings her into contact with many humans who fall under her spell but also wish to possess her. As she tries to find the photographer who paid the hunter who killed her child she becomes embroiled in another plot involving her estranged husband, Kuro and a would-be suitor, Shiro. The three find themselves travelling to Japan with three young men who are bent on revolution.

There are two strands to this novel as while Snow seeks revenge, a private detective named Bao has been employed to find Snow who escaped from imprisonment by a man wanting to marry her. But Bao has his own secrets including an early encounter with foxes and a lost love.

Yangzse Choo manages to pull off a modern fairytale so beautifully that I'd happily believe in fox gods after reading The Fox Wife. Snow, Kuro and Shiro are utterly captivating characters and Bao's lost love is one of those strands of plot that has you keeping your fingers crossed for a happy ending.

I'd have happily read another hundred pages of this and the inclusion of fox myth and legend along with old folk tales from both China and Japan are something I am particularly fascinated by.

I'd definitely recommend this beautiful book. So thankyou to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the advance review copy.

I’ve always felt a strong pull towards China and South Korea (but this doesn’t mean I am ruling out the other countries on the continent) and I’ve always been fascinated by the local myths. It is thus no surprise I got excited about The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo the moment I laid my eyes on it. To be honest, I nervously added it to my wishlist last year and when I saw the email from Netgalley and Quercus Books that I was granted an advanced copy to check out, I was over the moon! So, really, big thank you to them for allowing to read this beauty in advance!

But let’s not drag this on and just begin with the review!

It’s always the covers and titles that grab our attention first, and this is exactly what happened to me too. First, there were the colors which were chosen wisely—I mean, did you see how nicely the whites, reds and blues were laid out on the canvas? The frozen lands, the water, and the hazy woods nicely shift attention to the lonely figure dragging her feet through the cold steppe.

Then, we have a big title which stands out and describes the main character and introduces the reader to her duality: she’s a married woman and a fox. This time it’s not a powerful nine tailed fox, but a more common white feline who can easily disguise herself behind the snow bushes.

The Characters and Plot

The story takes place at the beginning of the 20th century China and even crosses over to Japan, as Snow, the fox wife, is chasing after a notorious photographer. Unlike the usual mortal, Snow is quick to get attention thanks to ger flawless looks and uncanny vibe. But this is, naturally, the case for most foxes, as the reader discovers right from the start.

The book opens with an old tale about the fox spirits who transform into beautiful women and go around seducing and bewitching unaware men. They are perceived as evil beasts and thus hunted down. However, there’s a reverse story too: foxes may also be guardians who bring luck to a good spirited person. In fact, they are very similar to humans; depending on their behavior, they can fall under the same categories: evil, manipulative, good, helpful, warm, cold, sly or dull.

And just like humans, they also have their own rules.

This is where things diverge. We meet Snow who, despite going on a quest for revenge, tries not to interfere with human lives too much, to keep away and feed herself using other sources, to focus on helping those around her, and use her magical abilities only when needed. Then, we have fancy Shirakawa (or Shiro), a male oozing charm and never shying away from getting what he wants even if it is at the expense of others. Not gonna lie, despite being a baddie, this guy got me tangled around his finger. So tangled that I actually ended up drawing him!

Thanks to the two foxes, but mostly because of Shiro, an old man by the name of Bao gets entangled in a mysterious death. Once a woman is found frozen in a back alley, close to a famous restaurant, Bao is hired to uncover her identity.

This is where things get interesting: the old man has always been fascinated by the fox gods and once he takes on the case, the mysterious occurrences and uncanny stories from the people he interviews brings him closer to fulfilling his childhood dream of meeting such a mythical creature.

While Bao is on the lookout for the young woman’s name and origin, Snow gets reconnected with people from her past, including Kurosaki. Amidst her rage, sadness and peculiar mistakes, she herself gets entangled with a famous Chinese medicine shop lady who deals with a strange family curse.

Thoughts

Although rather straightforward and to the point, the story is still captivating. Yangsze Choo manages to grab the reader’s attention quickly as she explores the ordinary world of the humans and the mysteries behind the fox spirits, all while crafting their interlacing fates with ease. There is never a dull moment as we travel from snowy Manchuria to the Japanese shore and witness bits and pieces of the last years of the Qing dynasty, the fear and tribulations of the young rebels as they are blackmailed by a brutal force.

As I well noted in my journal, this is truly a story for the fox lovers out there; a fun tale told from a dual perspective: a first person point of view of a fox lady and a third person standpoint for a human detective. The most important part is also that one can easily read the story with no prior knowledge of the culture or the two countries where the action is set. The author makes everything easy to understand and puts history into the back seat mostly. After all, this is a fantasy, first and foremost.

Although the plot is simple (take revenge and find the murderer), there is actually a lot going on in this book, from the mystery behind the medicine shop family, to the shadowless people obsession, and the people bewitched by the cunning foxes. There are obviously things I loved, like the writing style, imagery, atmosphere and the way everyone was connected in the end, however, I wish there was a bit more focus on what was going on in China at the time and how that impacted our main cast.

Unfortunately, the resolution of the main conflict was also a bit anti-climatic for me, but at the same time, credible. With danger lurking at their doorstep, it is fully understandable why the characters flee and resolve to accepting that one death just like so, rather than staying behind and risking being discovered by the police forces.

One other wish I had was for the mystery behind the medicine shop family curse to be explored further, but judging by the way the story ended, I am hoping for the author to write a continuation, be it a second volume or just a short spin-off. I definitely believe this can be explored further and told in a, let’s say, roughly 100 pages.

For the fans of romance, please keep in mind this comes second, as the interactions between the characters mostly lay in the small touches, reminiscing about the past, and longing gazes. It’s not something necessarily in your face, especially with Kurosaki, but it’s definitely there, subtly.

Ah, and before I forget to add yet another positive, I loved, loved Snow’s progressive view on the male dominated society and the way she loathed it. It made her even more relatable and allowed me, as a woman, to connect with her better. I also liked that she was prepared to fight on her own and stay strong for those around her, when needed, despite her emotional struggles.

Overall, there’s a distinctively unique voice, with very nice descriptions and poetic writing which is sure to captivate any reader interested to explore a different aspect of the fox spirits. So, if you want to go a little further into exploring a different culture, or just on the lookout for another Asian folklore inspired book, I would definitely recommend giving this one a chance. I know at the end of the day, I had fun with this one, and I would definitely like to add a physical copy to my collection (by the way, there were quite a few quotes and phrases to adnotate!).