Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa

Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox, #2)

by Julie Kagawa

'My new favourite series'
Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy and Spirit Hunters series

Return to Julie Kagawa's beautiful and perilous land of shapeshifters, samurai and demons as Japanese mythology and magic swirl together in the New York Times bestselling author's brand new adventure.

THE TIME OF THE WISH APPROACHES...

Yumeko the shapeshifter had one task: take her piece of the ancient and powerful scroll to the Steel Feather temple and prevent the summoning of the great Kami Dragon. But she has a new enemy now. The demon Hakaimono, has escaped and possessed the samurai she thought would protect her, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan.

Hakaimono has done the unthinkable and joined forces with Genno, the Master of Demons, to break his curse and set himself free. But Genno wishes to overthrow the empire and cover the land in darkness. To do that he needs only one thing, the scroll Yumeko is hiding. As the paths of Yumeko and the possessed Tatsumi cross again the entire empire will be thrown into chaos.

AND CHAOS WILL DARKEN AN EMPIRE. Readers love Julie Kagawa's Soul of the Sword!

'Julie's writing is pure magic'

'It's breathtaking!'

'This book was simply put epic!'

'left me on the edge of my seat'

'like watching an epic anime'

'I cannot wait for the next book'

'i love all the Japanese folklore and mythology intertwined within the plot'

'I couldn't resist this book'

'exciting and atmospheric'

'that ending!'

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Shadow of the Fox series

Book #1: Shadow of the Fox
Book #2: Soul of the Sword
Book #3: Night of the Dragon

Reviewed by nightingalereads on

4 of 5 stars

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3.75 - 4 stars

I knew from the start that this trilogy would emotionally ruin me. I'm completely in love with the characters - especially Yumeko and Tatsumi. While I didn't enjoy Soul of the Sword as much as the first book, I'm still 100% obsessed with this series. Yumeko is such a refreshing protagonist, and Tatsumi broke my heart as we get more glimpses at his Shadow Clan upbringing. I will say, I missed Tatsumi's narrative in this sequel. We do get some chapters with his perspective, but not nearly as many as we did in Shadow of the Fox. The tension between the two protagonists was one of my favorite aspects in the previous book, as both were hiding dangerous secrets and conflicted feelings, and I found that thread a bit lacking in this one.

The side characters continue to stand on their own, and there's very much a group dynamic between the protagonists and Daisuke, Okame, and Reika. Their friendship feels unique and defies the typical character tropes I anticipated playing out.

Biggest complaint: I found the pacing of Soul of the Sword less solid than the previous book. The story went down an unexpected path, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as many moments had me on my toes. But some scenes dragged a bit near the beginning and felt a little rushed at the end.

Despite the pacing issues, I'm confident this will wind up my favorite Julie Kagawa series. The wait for the third book already feels torturous!

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  • 24 June, 2019: Reviewed