duology review | the keeper of night – kylie lee baker

Hello everyone! Today’s review will be for the books in THE KEEPER OF NIGHT duology by Kylie Lee Baker. The duology starred a half-British, half-Japanese girl who is trying to find her place in the world. She explores the world of the Japanese Shinigami as a British Reaper for the first time. I loved exploring the Japanese settings and lores, especially in a more grim and dark vibe.

Enjoy!

Navigate through this post with the titles below:
⚔️ #1: The Keeper of Night | 🪶 #2: The Empress of Time

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The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

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Series: The Keeper of Night #1
Expected publication: October 12th 2021 by Inkyard Press
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance
Representation: Half-Japanese MC, Japanese SCs

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Death is her destiny.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers. Accompanied by her younger brother, the only being on earth to care for her, Ren enters the Japanese underworld to serve the Goddess of Death… only to learn that here, too, she must prove herself worthy. Determined to earn respect, Ren accepts an impossible task—find and eliminate three dangerous Yokai demons—and learns how far she’ll go to claim her place at Death’s side.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound

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Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour for choosing me as one of the participants in the #TheKeeperofNight tour. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you’re interested in the other tour stops, check out the schedule!

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trigger and content warnings:

• death (on-page + discussed frequently), racism, sexism (brief), ableism, bullying, emotional neglect of a child, mentions of child abandonment, violence, murder, blood, gore. This book is primarily fantasy but does have some horror elements. And because I see this question come up a lot for upper YA books: sexual content is implied but there are no on-page sex scenes.

• taken from kylie lee baker’s goodreads

For centuries, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls for the British Reapers. Despite her contribution, she has never belonged and was truly accepted by them. An unforgivable mistake forced her to escape to Japan, where she hoped to become a part of the Shinigami, the country’s version of Reapers. Ren’s soft-hearted step-brother followed her out of Britain as well. He wasn’t cut out for the life of a Reaper and rather be tinkering with his gears. His unconditional support and love helped Ren through tough times. However, this trip created a rift between the siblings that seemed to constantly widen.

Each country collects souls differently. In Britain, every Reaper owns a clock that allows them to stop time. Each second that they use will be siphoned from their own lifespans by Ankou, their Death. Unlike the Reapers, Shinigami controls light. The way they extract the souls is pretty gruesome too. Before reading The Keeper of Night, I never knew how haunting and terrifying Japanese folklore regarding the realm of the dead and the Yokai are. We were first introduced to Jorogumo, a spider woman who likes the taste of man’s flesh. Each of the Yokai that Ren is tasked to kill is scarier than the next.

The first person Ren met when she ventured into the realm of the dead in Japan was an ex-Shinigami. While Neven was always suspicious of Hiro’s motives, Ren brushed off his concerns as being too cautious and sensitive. The dynamic between Ren and Hiro was fascinating to read about because Kylie Lee Baker is consistently dropping in hints alluding to how things might just go awry quickly. Indeed, this relationship went in a direction, though predictable, that was incredibly dark and twisty.

Ren’s desire to belong and be accepted motivates her to do things without questioning the motive behind the tasks. Her dynamic with her brother started off really sweet but cracks soon started showing. When Neven voiced his worries, Ren’s insecurities about her being biracial resurfaced. She assumed that Neven was trying to stop her from “truly belonging as a Shinigami.” Regardless, her character was compelling.

Kylie Lee Baker is a brilliant storyteller. The Japanese folklore in The Keeper of Night was gruesome and dark yet I couldn’t stop wanting to know more about the various bloodthirsty Yokai. One of my favorite aspects of the book is the lore of the Reapers and Shinigami. I need book two so desperately! The ending tore my heart out. I’m not even sure what will happen from now on.

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author information

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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Navigate through this post with the titles below:
⚔️ #1: The Keeper of Night | 🪶 #2: The Empress of Time

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The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker

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Series: The Keeper of Night #2
Published on October 4, 2022 by Inkyard Press
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance
Representation: Half-Japanese MC, Japanese SCs

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand.

Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet—Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand.

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, who shares an uncanny resemblance to his brother Hiro, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her into the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.

Goodreads

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trigger and content warnings:

• racism, blood and gore depiction, cannibalism, death of a mother mentioned, death of a fiance by stabbing recounted, death of a brother, murder, and torture

• taken from rachel, x’s goodreads

Picking up ten years after Ren killed Hiro for throwing Neven into the abyss, the half-British Reaper and half-Japanese Shinigami is the Goddess of Death in Japan. Trouble is brewing as British Reapers are spotted in Japan and Ren knows that Ivy, Britain’s own Goddess of Death, is on her way to kill Ren. Even though Ren is on the throne, her position is unstable because the Shinigami still view her as a foreigner due to her mixed blood. More than anything, though, she wants her brother back regardless of the cost.

I would finally cross into that land of drowning darkness and bring my brother home.

As Ren goes on her journey to make sure that Japan doesn’t fall into the hands of the vicious Death Goddess of Britain, she worked with the moon god Tsukuyomi, Hiro’s brother. In the beginning, I wasn’t too optimistic about this new development. It has been 10 years for Ren but Hiro’s betrayal was still fresh in my mind. However, after knowing Tsukuyomi, I could let my guard down a little bit around him. Ren probably felt the same because there were some romantic developments between her and Tsukuyomi. Although there’s a romance plot in The Empress of Time, Kylie Lee Baker didn’t make this too prominent and so, it didn’t overwhelm the greater plot. 

The duology mostly surrounded Ren’s internal conflict about being half Reaper and half Shinigami, and how others viewed her. She never truly felt like she belonged anywhere. It’s interesting to see how that played out when Reapers invaded Shinigami lands. For Ren as a character, I liked that she stuck by her beliefs and trusted her instincts. She knew what she had to do and would do whatever it takes to achieve her end goal. Ultimately, all she wanted was to save her brother and to save Japan.

Kylie Lee Baker wrapped up this duology nicely. The Empress of Time doesn’t shy away from betrayals, gore, and violence. While Ren is the merciless death goddess, she cares greatly about the people around her.