"I am a girl surrounded by monsters and ghosts from an ancient world. Most days, they scare me less than people do."I'm a big fan of Courtney Alameda's writing, so I jumped at the chance to read and review an ARC of this retelling of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai despite not being familiar with the source material. This book cured my slump and I devoured it in two sittings. This is a fun and immersive read that I recommend with my whole heart.
The characters? Love them.
The magic system? Pretty badass.
The tension? Palpable.
The pacing? Lightning fast.
"Something screeches in the darkness. The sound drags itself across my skin, sharp enough to leave welts."This is a retelling that is very accessible to someone who isn't familiar with the source material (aka me). Fast-paced and engaging, the worldbuilding is richly and respectfully crafted. Shinto is a living faith and I appreciate that the authors took care to not depict rituals on page, as well as made a point to say that referring to Shinto or deities as "mythological" is inappropriate. I'm not an own-voices reader, but I could feel the care that the authors took to depict Shinto respectfully (which was reiterated in the author's notes).
I think I should read more urban fantasy because I'm a sucker for stories with a hidden reality just beyond our knowledge that only a few Chosen can see. Every book in the genre that I pick up, I love. This book included!
"Perhaps it is better not to be the hero. You must remember one thing about the heroes from the old stories - not all of them survive."I was so invested in this book because of the captivating plot, but also because I loved the characters. Our main character is Kira Fujikawa and her family has tended to the Fujikawa Shrine for nearly one thousand years. She is the only one in her immediate family who has the ability to see the otherworldly beings called yokai demons around; it seems the gift skipped from her grandfather directly to her. This has her at odds with her parents and family tradition, the latter of which she is intensely proud to be a part of.
"In manga the hero responsible for saving the world generally gets a free pass on real life . . . but I don't like in a manga world. The real world keeps moving forward, despite the danger it's in."My favorite aspect of Seven Deadly Shadows is that Kira has to prepare for a supernatural war alongside all of her other responsibilities. Much like Buffy had to juggle high school with Slaying, Kira has to learn the skills necessary to battle against great evil, recruit allies, go to school, and find time to sleep. And she is tired. Kira doesn't seem superhuman and become instantly good at battle, and she doesn't become a master after one mere month of training either. She's just a regular girl - Chosen insofar as having the ability to see the Yokai - rising to an insurmountable challenge and doing her best.
The band of champions that Kira recruits to fight alongside her gave me so many feels. I love groups of unlikely heroes. The more reluctant the "hero," the more I love them and their sarcasm. Every character felt fully-fledged and real to me, each with varying and conflicting objectives that lead to complicated and tenuous relationships.
"Something screeches in the darkness. The sound drags itself across my skin, sharp enough to leave welts."The writing is effortless and engaging. While I wouldn't remotely categorize this book with horror crossover, the atmosphere and horrific descriptions that I've come to associate with Alameda's books is spine-tingling and present. I was able to guess most of the main plot points but it didn't detract from my enjoyment because the story doesn't hinge on those developments as twists.
"Fear doesn't grip me immediately - it creeps into my soul like ice overtaking a pond, starting from the outside and working its way into the deepest, darkest parts of me."Overall, I absolutely adored Seven Deadly Shadows and devoured the book in two sittings. The rich worldbuilding draws you in slowly, building around you while you're focused on everything else. I definitely recommend this to fans of anime, as well as anyone who enjoys urban fantasy.
Content warnings: bullying, death, depictions of grief, loss of a loved one
eARC provided by the publisher, HarperCollins, and FFBC in exchange for my honest review as par of the blog tour. This does not affect the content of my review. Quotations are from an uncorrected proof and subject to change upon final publication.
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