Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda, Valynne E. Maetani

Seven Deadly Shadows

by Courtney Alameda and Valynne E. Maetani

This thrilling YA retelling of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai features a girl tasked with saving the world from eternal darkness. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows and Marie Lu.

Seventeen-year-old Kira Fujikawa has never had it easy. She’s bullied by the popular girls in school. Her parents ignore her. And she’s also plagued with a secret: She can see yokai, the ghosts and demons that haunt the streets of Kyoto.

But things accelerate from bad to worse when she learns that Shuten-doji, the demon king, will rise at the next blood moon to hunt down an ancient relic and bring the world to a catastrophic end.

Not exactly skilled at fighting anything, much less the dead, Kira enlists the aid of seven powerful death gods to help her slay Shuten-doji. They include Shiro, a kitsune with boy-band looks who is more flirtatious than helpful, and O-bei, a regal demon courtier with reasons of her own for getting involved.

As the confrontation with Shuten-doji draws nearer, the fate of Japan hangs in the balance. Can Kira save humankind? Or will the demon king succeed in bringing eternal darkness upon the world?

Reviewed by bookishzelda on

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I loved Seven Deadly Shadows. It’s everything I could want in a standalone. Fast paced, action filled and of course Japanese culture.

I love Japanese mythology and this story combines some of my favorite components. Shrines and Kitsune demons. The story read like a manga/anime, even with them sometimes joking about it. The authors did a great job of really bringing it to life and when I read the authors note about how they traveled around Japan. You can really tell that from the story.

I loved Kira. She is a tough cookie and I love her dedication to her shrine and family legacy. Also how her relationship with her grandfather keeps her going when things are rough. She also does not give up, no matter how bad a situation looks.

I loved the story. I’m always a fan of a quest that brings an unlikely group of characters together. Plus it was very fast paced and I could not put it down. Something was always happening and never lingering too long one event or another. Even though there is romance, it didn’t take over the story. It stayed in the background for the most part and I really liked that this was Kira’s journey.

It was a great ending for a standalone. Leaving the possibility that there could be more books but there doesn’t need to be. There are some things that I want to know so if they are decided to do a companion novel I would love to see that. Maybe Kira’s little sister?


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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 3 February, 2020: Finished reading
  • 3 February, 2020: Reviewed