Shadow of the Fox

By: Julie Kagawa

Narrated by: Joy Osmanski, Emily Woo Zeller, Brian Nishii

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish - and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure - one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll...at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

New from the New York Times best-selling author of The Talon Saga and The Iron Fey. Fans of Sarah J. Maas, Julie C. Dao, Marie Lu, Cassandra Clare, and more best-selling YA fantasy will be captivated by book one of this enchanting new series.

“One of my all-time favorite fantasy novels! I'm in love with this book, its characters, its worldbuilding!” (Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy and Spirit Hunters series)

©2018 Julie Kagawa (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited.

Sugoi!

I love this story so much! I enjoy every second of it! The characters are amazing and enjoyable! The folklore is perfect and draws you in and gives you understanding to a whole different world!
The audiobook is perfect!! The narrators bring each and every character to life in such an amazing way! You can definitely feel what the characters are feeling and understand the story from their perspective!!
Definitely recommend!!

Very exciting book, I love Yumiko

This book is REALLY REALLY REALLY good!! It was absolutely a page turner! The way the relationships between the characters, how the characters evolved and changed; their connections to each other, and shhdagjyddh!!! I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next book.

Check this one out.

I typically don't read/listen to books of this genre, but I decided to give it a shot after seeing advertisements for it on YouTube. I must say, I was thoroughly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how much I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Even if you're not the type to read/listen to Harlequin books, I recommend giving this book a shot. You just might like what you read/hear.

Bland

I got maybe a third of the way through. There was just something about the book that felt overused. I heard the same characters before both from Kagawa and from other YA books. The characters and setting just wasn't enough to keep me interested, and I'm genuinely disappointed. I LOVE Kagawa's work.

I Need Book 2 NOW

I loved this book SO FREAKIN MUCH!!! It was like Lord of the Rings X The Dragon Prince X Naruto X Samurai Champloo. The ending was a surprise. I was predicting it to go a different way, but the way it went was so much better. The author did a great job with misdirecting! The pacing and build up was great! The side characters were entertaining. I am so excited for book 2 in this series!
The readers all did a great job too! My favorite was Brian Nishii. He really captured his character!

Great start to new fantasy series

Julie Kagawa has done it again. This new series gives the reader a great story that you cannot put down and a look in Japanese mythology. The ending on edge waiting for the next book.
#ChosenOne #Suspenseful #Magical #HalfFox #JapaneseKingdom #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Good story not great performance

The voices were fine. I really liked the one that was reading the 3rd person parts. She had a nice voice and was decent at distinguishing voices without them sounding horrible. The other two, it was a little difficult to take them seriously when reading for other character and they kinda flat in their reading. When they read for Okame, it sounded like they were directed to do their best Rick from Rick and Morty impression. I did appreciate Tatsumi’s reader’s pronunciation of Japanese words. It sounded natural but as for Yumeko’s reader it sounded like the American bastardiazation of Japanese words. Over a decent experience but I lowkey wish I’d just read it physically.

Fun characters; mysterious foes; Japanese flavor

Shadow of the Fox was a real delight to listen to. The world built in the book is a lot of fun to imagine, and the main characters struck a great balance with one another. Yumeko is adorable to imagine, and Okame, who we meet later on, is a favorite as well. The greater quest is clear, but the parties who are interested in the actions of the main characters (some potentially friends, some potentially foes, some potentially both at once) are mysterious and add intrigue to the story.

While remaining partly mysterious, the plot is not super complicated, making this a really approachable listen. There is some violence, gore and demonic evilness, but nearly no foul language and no tasteless/awkward sexual themes. I'd probably let my children listen to it in high school.

Pros:
The setting and characters combine to make a really fun world. The tension and release cycle is well-managed; the protagonists face interesting challenges, including an overarching challenge that clearly drives the plot, but with many soft pleasant interactions in-between. The plot does not feel forced and within this fantasy world, I did not often feel that the characters acted unbelievably, even though I might have in a less colorful setting.

Cons:
The author does have a bit of exposition-dump dialog in there; not enough to reduce the story rating, and in this world where certain people talk with flowery language as a matter of habit and culture, I was actually able to imagine those conversations taking place even though people do not typically speak that way in the real world. Also, this is the first time I thought the narration was merely adequate. Normally, I do not mind when multiple narrators narrate a book; in this case, though, I felt the inconsistent voices were a little distracting.

Overall, I recommend this book to listeners who enjoy colorful fantasy worlds, swords and sorcery, and Japanese-themed characters, lore, and challenges. I am looking forward to the next book in this series, especially after the intriguing ending.

Is there anything that Julie Kagawa can't do?

Julie Kagawa has done faeries, vampires, dragons and now Japanese mythology and she did not disappointment to bring yet another amazing, exciting and fun story to her list. I love Japan and Kagawa has done her research that made this even more awesome. It felt like reading an anime. The setting, the characters, the story, everything. It was so amazing. I loved it. The narrators were great too. Love them.

Wow. Just wow.

Where's the sequel? I WANTS IT, PRECIOUS!
Sorry - had a moment there.
Great use of Japanese mythology and of fairy tale traditions. Intriguing characters and plot. And some cultural explanations worked in deftly enough to enrich the world building and plot without being distracting.
Pardon me while I go looking for a sequel, or other works by this author.
Oh! And the voice actors did an outstanding job of bringing their characters to life, too.
Loved it!