3.5/5 Stars
Tldr; a rocky start, but a beautiful story as a whole

When I read the description of this book, and later saw the cover, I was overwhelmed with excitement. I love mythological retelling, and perhaps more, I love Spirited Away (I may or may not have convinced my elementary school friends to join my imaginary Spirit World “LARP” once upon a time.) This was a highly anticipated book for me.

However, it wasn’t quite what I had expected. The book begins in the action, which is often a good thing. However in this case, I think it prevents the reader from having an emotional investment in the story, at least right away.

The action in the first 50% of the book happens so quickly that it’s hard to settle into the atmosphere. Much of the exposition glosses over imagery and instead conveys a lot of things at face value. We’re told what Mina sees or feels, without taking a beat to see and feel her experiences. The same can be said of other characters in the book. And while I don’t believe one must ALWAYS show rather than tell, it’s sparsely deployed, and not always at moments that I felt carried the emotional weight of the story.

Similarly, some of the side characters are difficult to differentiate from one another because their introductions gloss over identifying details, or muddle them. It took me a while to picture Namgi and Kirin with how they were introduced. It’s not until later that I’m able to reconcile their introduction with their personalities/appearances.

The cast of characters is truly a joy, but I found myself craving more of them. More time and attention, to really bring them to life. (Though I will say there were several impactful characters and character moments that made me tear up.)

For the first half of the book, much of the action feels disjointed. Mina is running back and forth between settings abruptly, and it’s not always clear WHY the sequence of events occur the way they do. And a few scenes in particular seem like they’re meant to have a certain gravitas, but fell short because they were over as quickly as they began. I SO wanted more of the Fox Goddess scene, for example.

That being said, I adored the second half of this book. The pacing issues seem to work themselves out, and the characters come alive in the last half. Scenes begin to slow down and have greater impact, and loose ends start to come full circle. At this point, I couldn’t put the book down. I was able to predict a few things, but that actually isn’t an issue for me. I’m more upset when there’s no contextual evidence for the “twists.” Instead, Oh wove a beautiful narrative with threads the reader was meant to pick up and weave together as Mina herself did. I love when this happens, because I feel like im part of the story, on the edge of revelation with the character. Discovering the truth feels cathartic and exciting.

The ending, above all, left me feeling profoundly satisfied with how everything worked out. It was beautiful and masterfully woven.

I also couldn’t help but smile at many of the direct parallels and/or nods to Spirited Away (I even felt like two elements mirrored Princess Mononoke, personally). There were many of them, and I found them comforting, like returning to an old friend.

Despite feeling like the beginning of the book was a bit disjointed, I’m glad for this book and the story it told. I still enjoyed myself, and the last half of the book in particular will stick with me for a long time. If the plot interests you, I do still recommend checking this out!

CW/TW: blood, mild violence, mentions of infant death, talk of death in general (setting is the spirit world, a facet of the afterlife), depictions of despair/depression, expressions of grief