"Come on. There is so much more out there than this.

"For a girl?"

"For anyone brave enough to look."

I didn't mesh with the writing style here. I found it dry and dull. Perhaps, it's because this is more plot-driven, but I had no connection to the cast. Too many details of Miuko's clumsiness and random other things that no one truly cared about.

There were some good points of commentary about gender roles and expectations of women in Miuko's time period as well as an introduction to a time loop. But the writing still couldn't capture my interest.

The characters were bland to me despite Miuko's whole character arc of allowing herself to be more than a simple servant girl-- even if it meant accepting the supernatural. Geiki was kind of just there to play the sidekick role, and I didn't believe in their friendship. Demon dude was sort of interesting, but no one in this story made me want to turn the next page.

For those reasons, I had a lackluster reading experience. Somehow, I think this story would work better in a different medium such as animation. Overall, too slow-paced and dry for me.

[this rating is not due to quality of writing but rather personal enjoyment] ( )

AURA IB Box 3 - 84
Hardcover ‏ ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0358469988 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0358469988
PZ7 .C44 2022 AURA

Rating: 3 Stars

I was really excited to get A Thousand Steps into Night because a Japanese-influenced fantasy novel? How could I say no? Unfortunately, I didn't love it as much as I hoped.

I enjoyed the overall plot, but I admit I was a little lost with the world-building and terminology. The book also felt very slow to me, luckily things got more interesting in the second half, so at least it didn't feel like a drag for the entire book. I did enjoy how the theme was carried throughout the novel- The setting of Awara is clearly patriarchic and misogynistic, so a big aspect explored in the novel was ways to free yourself from oppression and have the ability to be yourself. I enjoyed the mythological elements along with the use of time and the idea of multiple realities. The characters were interesting- I particularly liked Geiki. I feel like, for all the buildup, the climax seemed to end quickly with a rather short conclusion (compared to the length of the rest of the book).

But overall, A Thousand Steps into Night was a fantasy-filled read with demons, gods, shapeshifters, and many adventures. ( )

middlegrade/teen/adult fiction - yokai adventure journey with time-travel twists set in a Old Japan-inspired world filled with demons and magical spirit-creatures; main character is a young girl who gets banished from her town after she is cursed by a spirit - since she isn't allowed to do much as a female she will come to rely on the help of a new trickster spirit friend, and she does meet nonbinary and trans friends along the way as well.

As with Chee's We Are Not Free, this is a slower, longer story. I opted for a print copy this time because I tend to zone out with audio sometimes, and that turned out to be a good decision. There's not a lot of suspense (it does drag sometimes) and I never got too invested in the characters, but it's okay for a casual, read-a-little-at-a-time story (perhaps bedtime reading), and the ending is actually pretty decent. The author does have plenty of fans so it's fine, just not a book that I'll be thinking about or talking about much after I've done reading it. ( )

RGG: Unique Japanese-inspired fantasy setting. A journey of female empowerment in a misognistic society. Typical hero's quest format; drags a bit. Reading Interest: 13-YA.