I don't know how to feel about this book. I haven't read anything by this author previously, but I was really excited to get into it, particularly after I learnt that there was Japanese legend and lore involved, I was even more intrigued! The world-building and pacing of the story was great, but I would have wanted less filler chapters. Most of the time it felt like nothing was really going on, and things were just happening to the main characters, with no core development. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I would have liked to!

My thanks to HQ Young Adult and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel.

I have read and enjoyed a number of Julie Kagawa’s YA fantasies and was especially drawn to this one for its setting in a mythical feudal Japan and that one of its main characters is part Kitsune - a fox spirit. I have only read a little Asian fantasy and was keen to explore more of this rich mythology.

Yumeko, a half-kitsune, has been raised by monks yet her quiet life comes to an abrupt end when the temple is attacked by demons. She is charged with the task of carrying an important scroll to safety. She soon gains travelling companions and along the way they are beset by many trials.

Her first companion, Tatsumi, is quite handily a demon-slayer and he provides another narrative viewpoint throughout. I found their relationship interesting and more complex than expected.

This is the first in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy and I felt it was a strong beginning and am keen to find out how their journey continues. It’s a powerful and enchanting world filled with yokai of various natures alongside the humans characters. I applaud Kagawa for her world building.

I was glad my Kindle allowed me to use its dictionary function for the Japanese terms unknown to me. I would hope the final versions, especially print edition, would contain a glossary.

I would give a warning for the level of violence in the novel. It was quite graphic in places though was in keeping with the story and did not feel gratuitous.

Though marketed as Teen/YA I did feel its appeal was not limited to these age groups and was very caught up in its story and characters. I can hardly wait for the next in the series, Soul of the Sword, due in June 2019.

I received a free e-ARC of Shadow of the Fox by Julia Kagawa from NetGalley in return for review consideration; receipt of a free copy has not affected my opinion or the contents of this review. The Shadow of the Fox is a YA fantasy novel, due to be published by HQ Young Adult, an imprint of HQ, in the UK on 1st November 2018.

Having recently read a couple of YA fantasies recently which I ended up not enjoying too much, I was a little hesitant about picking up Shadow of the Fox. But I ended up enjoying it so much, and I finished the book so keen to find out what happens in the next one!

From the very start of the book, I found myself immediately drawn to both characters, and to the whole land of Iwagoto. From Yumeko's life in the temple, we learn about the yokai, about her powers as a kitsune, and about the roles the monks play in keeping their world in balance. Tatsumi brings a much darker perspective, raised in the Shadow Clan and now one of their strongest weapons. We go back and forth between the two, interspersed with chapters set in the palace which give us tantalising hints of the wider conflict at play. I think there's a great balance between the discrete plot of this book, and the overall plot of the trilogy, and as the story progresses, our protagonists have smaller obstacles and challenges to overcome which break up the journey that they're on.

I liked getting both sides of the story, from both Yumeko and Tatsumi. I think it also helped to emphasise the enormous differences between the two characters, their upbringings, and how they interacted with other characters. It also brought an element of humour to the story, as they misunderstand each other or are otherwise bemused by the actions of their companions. Kagawa is great with her secondary characters as well, making each of them unique and well-described, with their own motives and agency which happen to bring them into Yumeko and Tatsumi's story, and you can imagine them going off on their own again after they've played their parts.

Above all, the worldbuilding here is just brilliant. Building on Japanese folklore, I found that Kagawa did a brilliant job of introducing words and concepts that might not be familiar to those who don't have limited or no knowledge of the culture, but without there being too much exposition. I felt like I was learning and gathering knowledge as I worked my way through the book, as well as enjoying a brilliant story.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, but I found it a hugely enjoyable read, and one which is both a great story in itself, and a great start to what I'm sure will be a wonderful trilogy. If you're in the market for a new YA fantasy, Shadow of the Fox will give you great characters, high stakes adventure, and the promise of much more to come.

I’ve read one Julia Kagawa book in the past, Legion, which was the start of a long train of me reading books in a series in the wrong order. I was, therefore, very excited to start this series from the beginning and OH BOY is it a great start. As I say, this book has a lot of elements that I absolutely adore.

Hidden magic? It’s got it. By coincidence, I recently read Empress of all Seasons which also draws inspiration from the idea of Yōkai, supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore. Shamefully, I knew very little about the Yōkai before reading both of these books but I’m certainly interested to find out more. In Shadow of the Fox, the main character Yumeko is one such Yōkai, as she is half Kitsune. One thing I enjoy in fantasy is when characters have to hide their own magic, especially when they have to hide it while on some kind of quest. In this case, it’s especially well done as at no point do you feel like Yumeko’s life would just be easier if she confessed her magical nature (I’m looking at you, BBC Merlin). Instead, the subterfuge feels very natural and makes sense within the story and it builds.

This is in part because Yumeko isn’t reduced to just being magical. She is a rounded character who happens to have magic. There are a number of well-written characters in this story and Yumeko’s varied character is a great example of how to create a character who is multifaceted.

But the product of that hidden magic is another one of my favourite aspects of this book, Yumeko can’t just magic her way out of every situation, she has to talk her way out and think her way out. I love creative problem solving, particularly in quest-based fantasy and this book does not disappoint.

The romance? I adored it. There’s something so profoundly classic about two characters gradually falling for each other as they make their way through a series of dangers. Some might say it is predictable, I say it’s more that it’s comforting in a way? I thought that the dramatic irony of knowing what Yumeko is hiding made it even more powerful. I also appreciated that the romance took its time. This is around a 400-page book, so middling in length, and the romance feels perfectly placed within the story to not feel too fast, but also it doesn’t feel crammed in at the end.

This is also helped by the fact that this book is dual POV, so you get both sides of the story, as it were. I thought that both characters were voiced well and I actually enjoyed both stories equally, which almost never happens.

I thought that the setting was done well. It’s not a book heavy in worldbuilding in the same way as some epic fantasy books are, it’s more that you learn elements of the world as and when you need to. In a story being told largely from the perspective of a character who grew up in an isolated temple, it’s not surprising that you learn this way, and I think it helps to keep the pace of the book up.

I don’t rate many books with five stars, at least I haven’t done this year, because often for me five stars is more of a gut feeling. It’s that feeling of being unable to put the book down, of letting the bath water go cold. It’s where you finish a book and you want to talk about it for the next few days, even to people who haven’t read it yet. This was absolutely one of those books.

My rating: 5/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is the first book in a YA fantasy series set in a Japanese inspired world. I thought it was a solid introduction to this new series, but I definitely had a few issues with it. Although the setting is unique, the character and story are quite formulaic in terms of the YA fantasy genre. The plot lacked a little cohesion - the middle just felt like filler. While I liked the characters, they lacked development. Despite all this, I did enjoy this book. If you love YA fantasy then I would recommend checking this out.

Shadow of the Fox is mammoth Japanese fantasy adventure. 

The story is a road trip with a mixture of action and drama wrapped in magical mystical Japanese world. Every place they visit is as vivid as the last. 



Julie Kagawa has created a great band of characters all very different but work amazing together. 



The book is told in three character POV which are;

Suki peasant girl who is a servant for the Emperor favourite concubine. The concubine just happens to be an evil witch. We only have a couple of chapters from her POV. I hoping to see more of her in the next book. 



Yumeko is half human half Kitsune brought up in a Temple. loved how kind she is, how her mischief can be used for good. She is a great fictional heroine.



Kage is a Samurai that is bearer of a Demon sword. He is a weapon for the shadow clan, he could be a character that you don't like, but Yumeko brings out another side of him which make him a compelling character to read. 



Additionally one my favourite character was Okame he is a Ronin, a Samurai with no honour. He brings some laughs to the book and great one liners, and a master of sarcasm.

"Okame snorted. "Looks like you've been challenged, Kage-san. Better you than me, though I like I said, I don't have to worry about honour and fair fights. I suppose you'll be accepting the duel, then. Wouldn't want to risk dishonour to... I guess everything, really. Yourself, your clan, your Children, your livestock, the road your traveling, the sandals on your feet, the rice ball in you pack" 


The only problem I has knowing if the POV was Yumeko or Kage, it will be a oh moment when I realised who POV it was. 



The next book in the series is Soul of the Sword and its on my 2019 TBR list. 



My rating for Shadow of the Fox is 4 out of 5

Thank you to Netgalley, Julie Kagawa and HQ Young Adult for my ARC of Shadow of the Fox.
I want to say first of all that this was a fascinating novel. Rich in Japanese mythology and religion I learnt a lot and gained a new fascination, especially with Kitsune!

Yumeko is half human, half kitsune (a type of magical fox), all her life she has lived at the temple of Silent Winds and been raised by the monks there. But one terrible night the temple is sacked and destroyed and Yumeko is dispatched on a mysterious journey to a secret temple with a great treasure in her keeping. Accompanying her is the Kage Demonslayer, a fearsome samurai with a dark secret of his own.

Firstly, as mentioned, the world building in this book was sooo good! I loved learning about the different demons, ghosts, ghouls and gods among others who populate the religion and the mythology in this setting. It was rich, detailed and peppered with little missions and tasks which Yumeko's small gang encountered. I really loved that.

There is a love story here which based on other reviews I expected to be quite prominent, but it really wasn't. It's very much a small part of the story of a whole and is never really developed, there's a connection between two of the characters but it's very innocent, never acted on and I feel it's purpose was (without giving spoilers) not the typical boy-meets-girl but more used as a technique to cause an event which happens near the end of the book.

The novel was full of humour, particularly from Yumeko who's lack of understanding of the 'protocols' of the outside world really made me giggle at times. The other characters too were rich and engaging, their banter was fantastic and the exasperation they caused the Kage Demonslayer just made it all the more amusing. Even the villains were fantastically well written and easy to despise. I really can't wait to read the next book in this series!

This book was a highly anticipated read for me – I was so looking forward to getting my hands on it. Now, having finished it, I’m more inclined to lob it out of the nearest window.

It’s rare for me to be so negative towards a book – I typically can find a rainbow in any book storm. But there was so much that I didn’t like.

Let’s start with some plot problems. The story centres largely on Yumeko, a half-human, half-kitsune (half animal, in this case a fox) raised by monks within a temple. This temple guards a very important scroll, and everyone wants a piece of it. When the temple falls, Yumeko must take the scroll and find another temple to hide what she carries to stop any grubby demon hands getting it. I’m making this sound very much like Frodo smuggling the Ring but sadly it’s much less exciting than that.

Granted the first half moves fairly swiftly, building in lots of demons, lore and introducing Tatsumi, a samurai who is on a mission to find the scroll and who believes Yumeko will lead him to its location. How he doesn’t figure out within the first few seconds of meeting her that she’s hiding it I just do not know.

Anyway, that’s where the world-building and excitement ends. From the moment Tatsumi is introduced, with his glistening abs and incredible fighting skills and magical sword, Yumeko becomes a drooling mess in complete and utter awe of his deliciousness. And so Yumeko the newly formed naïve damsel in distress, cleverly makes a series of unwise decisions…no wait, it’s not an act to hide her true nature before you think that. She really is just useless and needs his help to get to the other temple, where she plans to stab him in the back (This is hard to believe she could follow through with given her fascination with how pretty he is).

I really didn’t like Yumeko. And the trouble is, I didn’t like the glorious Tatsumi much either. There were many problems with the way this story is told which caused the characters to become very flat. Most notably, they both have the same voice – I often found myself struggling to distinguish which perspective I was reading from in this dual narrative. If we’re going to have flat characters, can we at least have their names at the start of the chapters so we know who is talking?

Another issue I had with the storytelling was the overuse of names and formalities. Maybe this was the author’s solution to making the characters perspectives shine through, maybe it was a nod to Japanese culture, but it just seemed overly formal and quite juvenile. Equally, the different types of demons, magical swords or Yokai were never explained – their names were used, but the language was never explained and there was no glossary, so I often fell out of the story because I had no idea what a certain word or term meant and had to look it up.

On top of all that the plot is completely predictable, all the female characters (aside from the villain…make of that what you will) are really dependant on other people to protect them and all of the male characters have authority and incredible skill. Yumeko is half a fox – she could have had some crazy skills and yet we never really see her shine. She’s more of a pack mule, let’s be honest.
The first half of this story set in ancient Japan was really quite beautiful. But that’s the only positive I can pull from it. I wanted to love it and I’ve loved some of Kagawa’s previous work (Here’s looking at you, Puck). But this just didn’t work for me and I won’t be continuing with the series.

I feel sad writing this review. I absolutely loved Kagawa's The Immortal Rules trilogy and also enjoyed her The Iron King series, but after Talon and Shadow of The Fox, I think I have to admit that we're growing apart.

I'm not sure if Kagawa's style changed or if I did, but I do know that this book is a long, boring journey, fuelled by a weak plot that doesn't mask the fact everything is about the inevitable developing romance between Yumeko and Tatsumi. Though the setting and supernatural creatures are atypical of YA, the story and characters are formulaic.

We move between the two perspectives of Yumeko and Tatsumi. The beginning sees the destruction of the temple where half-kitsune Yumeko has lived her whole life. The dying request of the monk who raised her is that she deliver part of an important scroll to another temple, which also holds a part of the scroll.

Meanwhile, shadow clan samurai Kage Tatsumi receives a mission to retrieve the scroll himself. He and Yumeko make a pact-- he will offer her protection in exchange for her leading him to the other temple.

This all happens in the first few chapters and it will be almost 300 pages before the book gets back to the main plot of finding the scroll. In between, the two characters travel to the temple, having what feel like various mini adventures along the way. The characters from Japanese mythology are fascinating, but the story meanders, name-dropping creature after creature - such as oni or gaki - in order to prolong the weak plot.

And though the romance is left pretty tame in this book, the journey feels like nothing but a set-up for love angst. Because, of course, Tatsumi is injured and must remove his shirt so Yumeko can admire his muscles. I feel like I've read versions of the two of them hundreds of times: aloof warrior dude and a beautiful naive girl who requires protecting-- what could possibly happen?

Protecting the girl was becoming more and more difficult; not that I cared what she did, but she was beautiful and naive and, by his own admission, the ronin had no honor left to his name.


The ending does pick up and an explosion of action awaits (with some surprises added too), but I still felt like I read maybe 100 pages of plot progression and 300 pages of filler. And it seems like the big bad at the end leaves the main characters alive for no other reason than to necessitate a sequel.

I was so excited for this book, especially after enjoying the author's short story in A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, but it was a really disappointing start to the series. I will check out reviews of the sequel before continuing.

I was so hyped by this book, and was excited for more East Asian inspired fantasy to be out in the world, however I couldn't bring myself to finish at the moment.
DNF at 21%
The writing style I found was very off putting and annoying to read, as it felt too much like I was being shown everything, rather than told.
The first person narration also bothered me, as I would figure out halfway through a chapter that it wasn't being told by the character I thought it was.
Maybe I'll give it one more try another time.