ARC READ 🩵✨

A million thank you’s to the author and publisher for letting me have the opportunity to read this book ahead of release.

3.7 Stars ⭐️ For this being the prequel (thanks for dropping that tidbit in the discord), I am pleasantly impressed! I usually steer clear of books that are like “omg this is like this other piece of media!!!” But this actually does a pretty good job at differentiating itself from Zelda. You only really get aspects of the story if you’re played the game and you recognize some of the same themes.

What I think stood out to me the most about this book is that we have a deaf main character. Throughout the story, we learn to communicate with her and how her voice plays a role in the decisions being made, even if she doesn’t actually speak. I thought it was a really unique experience and gave some nodes to the fact that link in the game doesn’t speak (I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but I loved it). Thank you to the author for writing out the signs as well. I think that was a nice touch.

All-in-all, I think this was a great and short read!! I loved the action scenes in this and the overall plot/characters. I think one thing I would love to see more is an expanded world building, which I’m sure we will get in the rest of the series.

I recommend this for anyone needing a lighter story read or just loves Zelda!! The romantic subplot in this is adorable and will leave you kicking your feet wanting more. 🩵

I would give this a zero if I could. That was HANDS DOWN the worst book I’ve ever had to suffer through. Will put full thoughts after book club.

Kylie Lee Baker is now an auto buy author for me. This book was absolutely breathtaking. Brilliant from start to finish. This reminded me of the feeling when I first watched my favorite anime Demon Slayer. This haunting tale is likely to stay with me forever.

We meet our two main characters, Sen and Lee, in two different times before colliding with each other in a house hidden behind the ferns. While it becomes clear that both are unreliable characters, this story does a fantastic job at making you question their motives and root for them at the same time.

Sen, a samurai in 1877, was raised in the old ways by her father. She struggles with pleasing him while wanting to explore and control her own life.

Lee, a man in 2026 that has been hollow after the loss of his mother, travels back to Japan to live with his father.

The two develop a dependency on each other to find the truth about their respective lives. Their equal descents into madness and the Japanese folklore that is intertwined make this book so much more compelling.

Needless to say, I couldn’t put this down. I highly highly highly recommend you pick this up and read it immediately.