Tori Eldridge

This was a well paced suspenseful read that had me on the edge of my seat. Lily was an amazing character with a good sense of a humour and she was a total badass. I loved the idea of her working to become a female ninja in order to be a protector of women. It was a unique concept and one which I felt the author covered well. The descriptions of the martial arts was really interesting and I loved all the cultural elements that were included. The secondary characters were good too although I didn't really care much about Daniel. On the other hand Tran! I hope he makes an appearance in the next book. I really liked the way he and Lily were kindred spirits of a sort, even if their motives are as different as can be. I can't wait to read the second book. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.… (más)

Another great entry in the Lily Wong series! Lily and her mother travel to Hong Kong for a board meeting in her maternal grandfather's company, and discover things amiss. Lily's "secret identity" as a ninja who protects battered women has begun to erode when her father discovered her activities in the previous book. Her mother suspects that there's more to Lily than the college drop-out persona, but doesn't want to confront Lily's hazardous life as she's still grieving her younger daughter.

Lily uncovers many secrets in The Ninja Betrayed and must confront her feelings about herself and her family. This book kept me hooked until the last page...and I'm already impatient for the next book!

Thanks to Polis Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.… (más)

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE NINJA BETRAYED ABOUT?
Hot on the heels of their trip to L.A., Lily's grandfather summons her mother to Hong Kong for a board meeting where it looks like her mother's future will be decided (and it doesn't look like a bright future). Lily comes along with her mother for emotional support and to spend some time with her grandparents. The fact that her love interest, Daniel Kwok, is in the city on business doesn't hurt either.

As things start to look grim for her mother, Lily's spider-sense goes off and she starts looking into things. She has to learn a little about international finance and corporate politics (dicey in the first place, but worse when family is added in) in order to make sense of things—and it gets more complicated when someone attacks her when she's at the home of a family friend.

Lily has to balance her under-the-radar investigation, dating, family obligations, and tourism (and a little extra-curricular fun, see below)—what could go wrong?

PROTESTS AND PERIL
Pro-democracy protests are common at the time of the visit—and Lily notices how the police are treating the protesters—at times goading them into a riot, or reacting more violently than a situation calls for (or a combination of the two). Her grandparents, and others of similar age/social standing, have a very different take on the protests than those who are closer to Lily's age.

Because romance and financial intrigue aren't enough to occupy her mind, Lily gets involved in a little more trouble. Her grandfather's driver, Mr. Tam strikes up a friendship with Lily—she helps him extract his daughter from a couple of heavy situations related to the protests.

Both Mr. Tam's relationship with Lily and her escapades near the protests are the most fun part of the novel—they're the closest this book gets to being an action movie. But it's more than that—there's something about these scenes where Lily is more herself, she's not trying to say and do the right things around her grandfather's business (or for her mother), she's not trying to figure out the right things to say and do with Daniel—it's the closest to her being the L.A. version of Lily—no airs, just trying to keep a young woman out of trouble.

THIS'LL EVEN WARM THE COCKLES OF YOUR HEART

I sank lower and snuggled my face against my mother’s heart, clutching her waist as she rocked me like a child. What childish woes used to bring me to such despair? A broken toy? A stubbed toe? An injured bird? Id had no idea about the true meaning of pain. Nor had my mother.

“I can’t lose you, Lily.”

“I know, Ma.”

The emotional stresses Lily and her mother are under—from family, her mother's professional circumstances, and the physical peril that Lily is in and has survived since their arrival in Hong Kong (some of which her mother is aware of for a change) brings them to a breaking point—and brings them closer than we've ever seen them. By a long way. Possibly closer than they've been since the death of her sister. Knowing her mother, possibly ever.

I'm assuming that once everyone is back in L.A., things will return to how they were before Hong Kong—or at least close to it. But this warming of the relationship (however temporary it may be) was really great to see and adds depth and nuance to both characters. I've really been intrigued by the Wong family dynamic throughout this series and this just made the whole thing better.

WHISKY TANGO FOXTROT?
There was a moment near the end (that's as specific as I'm going to get) where Eldrige literally caused me to yell, "WHAT?" at the book. I didn't drop the book, but I may have bobbled it a bit. It was something I absolutely didn't see coming, yet was completely believable.

And I've probably said too much about it. I could easily do at least another two paragraphs, though.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE NINJA BETRAYED?
This was almost a one-sitting read for me, and I was gripped throughout. Due to an appointment, I had to set it aside with only 30 pages left to go, and it took me about eight hours to get back to it—talk about torture.

This is Eldridge's best so far—in terms of action, suspense, emotional weight, complexity—and sheer entertainment value. Lily's brain is almost as important as her fighting skills this time—it was almost possible for Lily to save the day without having to exercise any of her martial arts. Almost—fans might want character growth and development, but we want to see Lily do her thing.

There's a lot of strong character growth and development, some new layers to the relationships in Lily's life—a worrying development with a character back in L.A.—and a heckuva secret is revealed. There's almost nothing to complain about here and a lot to relish.

I can't wait to see what happens next—the last chapter doesn't really end on a cliff-hanger, but it sure propels the reader toward the opening pages of the next Lily Wong adventure.

Go read this.… (más)

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE NINJA'S BLADE ABOUT?
I have abandoned this post five times since early August because of this section—I've written three that were too detailed (and therefore too long to read) and two that were too vague (and therefore too, well, vague to be any good). So, fine. I give up. Here's what's on Eldridge's website about it:

In THE NINJA’S BLADE, Lily Wong―a Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja―has more trouble than she was bargaining for when controlling grandparents arrive in Los Angeles from Hong Kong at the same time she goes undercover in the dangerous world of youth sex trafficking. As she hunts for a kidnapped prostitution victim, a missing high school girl, and a sociopathic trafficker, the surviving members of a murderous street gang hunt for her.
Life would be easier if Lily knew who to trust. But when victims are villains, villains are victims, and even family is plotting against her, easy is not an option. All Lily can do is follow the trail wherever it leads: through a high school campus polarized by racial tension or the secret back rooms of a barber/tattoo/brothel or the soul-crushing stretch of Long Beach Boulevard known as The Blade.
She relies on her ninja skills to deceive and infiltrate, rescue and kill―whatever is necessary to free the girls from their literal and figurative slavery. If only those same skills could keep Lily’s conniving grandparents from hijacking her future.

WORDS MATTER
I could not stop thinking about Robert B. Parker's Ceremony/Taming a Seahorse/ Hundred-Dollar Baby and any number of similar books by him (and others) featuring P.I.s looking for particular prostitutes. Many of these I'd considered treating the women in question with sensitivity and respect. But I'm starting to think they could've done better.

Of course, whatever social workers the P.I.s encountered weren't the same people Lily encountered. Lily was told in no uncertain terms that it's not child/teen prostitution, but commercial sexual exploitation, and if she wanted to get anywhere with that agency, she'd adjust her language. Not only is it a language thing—but it reframes the activity. And the criminal culpability of those involved.

You can see its effect on Lily from that point on in the novel, if anything it probably made her more determined.

LILY'S PERSONAL LIFE
Ask Peter Parker, it's hard being a vigilante without your family finding out. The Ninja Daughter showed Lily's skill in keeping that from her family, but it wasn't easy. Add in trying to date—something Lily hasn't successfully done since the night her sister died—and you've yet another bit of trouble.

Lily finds herself liking Daniel, but can't make herself make time for him. Until her grandparents intervene, and suddenly, there's one more plate for Lily to keep spinning.

But the fact that her grandparents are involved in her life is the big thing—they've come to visit from Hong Kong to check up on their business. Lily's mother runs the LA/American branch of the family's corporation.

Their presence changes—at least temporarily—the dynamic between Lily and her mother. Instead of the fairly antagonistic relationship we saw last time, there's an alliance of sorts. Lily becomes as much of the supportive, obedient daughter as she can. Her mother's stress level is through the roof, feeling like every decision she makes and has made—personal and professional—is being weighed and found wanting. So Lily does what she can to take the pressure off—she spends time with them, allows them to meddle in her life (rather than her mom's), and so on.

I really appreciated this—mutual affection, familial bonds, and so on were present in The Ninja Daughter, but we got to see them in action here. It keeps Ma from being merely an obstacle to Lily's mission and turns her into a character (that is frequently an inadvertent obstacle to Lily's mission, sure—but that's different).

THE FALLOUT FROM THE NINJA DAUGHTER
Lily's character is defined by her reaction to the trauma and guilt over her sister's murder. But in The Ninja's Blade, she has a fresh batch of trauma to deal with. The events of The Ninja Daughter have done some significant damage to her psyche (to paint with a broad brush, Eldridge does a better, and more subtle job of depicting it—don't let my need for pithiness fool you).

She doubts herself, second-guesses her choices, makes costly errors, and this causes problems for her in the midst of battle (literal or figurative)—and for what Lily's trying to do, this could be fatal. It's also making things difficult for her outside of her work.

It's not like she can seek out a counselor or anything—it's not like she can tell a lot of people what caused the trauma. So it's up to Lily—with some help from Stan and Aleisha at the shelter—to work through this.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE NINJA'S BLADE?
Eldridge here takes what was a strong adventure series with heart and a social conscience and improves it here—adding psychological depth, more layers to the protagonist, developing the characters of those around her, and showing that there are real risks and consequences for the protagonist. This isn't a Reacher-like series, things that happen to Lily matter and will have a lasting impact on the character.

I really enjoyed this book—there's enough humor and action to make sure this stays entertaining, and the darkness and complexity of the world add weightiness to the novel so that it doesn't become a disposable thriller.

I strongly recommend this one to you and think it would serve alright as a jumping-on point, but I think you'd be better off jumping back to the prior novel. But starting with this one and then backtracking would work, too. Just do yourself a favor and pick these up.… (más)