Title: The Keeper of Night

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Hey hey, it’s MJ, 

            Well, this book was a lot, and I mean that in a good way. It for sure took me a while to get into because the beginning just felt more slow build to me even though it was really fast paced. If you don’t like spoilers, I will see you with the next post because like I do for the rest of my BoTM reviews I am not going to keep the spoilers out. 

            This is my 5^th book so far this year, I know I said that in October and that just proves that I cannot count. Somedays I am really good at things and then other days I am just not. Sorry, I am human. 

            I gave this book a 4.3/5 because I don’t like to give just a whole number rating, I am one of those people but GoodReads makes me rate them one just the standard start system and Book of The Month gives you three options, love, like, and dislike. I liked this one. 

            This week has been a lot for me because it took me from Monday to Saturday to read it, normally I can burn through a book in a few days, but with how my week was it was just not feasible, I didn’t even want to read that was the amount of stress that I was under. As I am writing this, we only have one week until Thanksgiving Break and while I love the kiddos and the adults I work with, that week off cannot come fast enough. I just need a break.

            So, here’s the gist of the story, Ren, is half Shinigami and half Reaper she is bullied because she’s different, she does something to someone and has to flee England for Japan where she wants to find belonging. She is given an assignment by the Goddess of Death to kill three Yokai (these are the spirits in Japanese folklore. (I took like six years of Japanese in high school and into college, I need to get back into it.)) who are taking more than their fair share of souls. So, the story is Ren’s journey with her brother and the mysterious Hiro to do the bidding of the Goddess of Death.

            There are a lot of twists and turns, which was for sure expected and they for sure kept me turning page after page because I read the last 10 chapters in one day and that’s a little bit less than half of the book and here we are. 

            The ending though was what really got me, it was very much “that escalated quickly” and I was sitting there with my hand over my mouth over and over again because I didn’t think it could get any crazier and then it did, repeatedly. 

            I don’t want to give away the ending but there is a second book, this is a duology apparently according to the note at the end of the book so you know that I will eventually get the second one when it comes out next year because it left it at a cliffhanger and now, I want to read the next one, I want to know how everything concludes. 

            The ending itself was shock after shock and I felt like there is going to be so much that happens in the second half of this series and I am ready for it. 

            The imagery in this is amazing and it’s so well written, the emotions felt very real throughout the entire novel from the highest highs to the lowest lows. I would for sure recommend this because let’s be honest, I recommend most books that I read because I read a lot. I know a lot of people who don’t read what I do and that’s totally cool, there is plenty that I don’t read, but we can all agree that books are great and everyone should probably read more. 

            If you want to know what else I have read this year from Book of The Month, you totally can, just click on the month: July, August, September, and October. There is one more month in this year and I am excited to see what the options are for December; I am hoping for a fun holiday book. 

            Well until my next post I hope that everyone is staying safe, happy, and healthy and I will be back later in the week with another post!

            -MJ