I received a digital copy of this book via the Author in return for my honest review.
That cover art, though!! Love it! I also like how the author preceded the novel by giving a rundown of who’s who and what the Japanese words mean that she incorporates.
I really enjoy this series and can’t wait to get the next installment. This second book opened up right where the last ended with Musubi making a deal with the devil in 700 AD that will affect them all more than a thousand years later. We follow him, Mikoma, and Katsu through the beginning and the events that will eventually lead up to why Mikoma was reborn into our present day Hope. We get into the hearts and minds of Musubi and Mikoma as they fall in something like love as they Mikoma learns how to protect herself while keeping her identity as The Healer a secret. There are many twists and turns and we watch in horror as Mikoma deals with the need to be loved and not even receiving anything close to it from her parents, who use her for her gifts to gain power for themselves. The difference in the culture during that day and Mikoma’s struggle to be the obedient quiet meek woman she is expected to be. We are left hanging onto Tie’s fears for their future and hope for what will come after Hope wakes up.
The fun part of reading these is trying to decide who has been reincarnated into whom between the past and the future.
Overall, Great job and a definite recommendation to anyone that enjoys a mythological YA read with a hint of history worked in!
Amanda's Book Nook 