Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Jude-broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness-has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Baker’s descriptions and immersive worldbuilding are beautifully detailed and enchanting.īlack is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy. The book immerses readers in Japanese culture and the captivating world of Shinto gods and goddesses and their complex relationships. Ren grapples with whom to trust, whom to kill, identity and trying to belong, and kindness versus weakness. This fast-moving, fantastical sequel is full of darkness, gore, anger, and fear, tempered by glimpses of love and forgiveness.

Without being able to rely on the Shinigami to back her, Ren seeks the help of gods who despise her in order to defend her throne and save Japan. When Tsukuyomi, god of the moon and Hiro’s brother, appears at her door to warn her of the presence of English Reapers in Japan, Ren discovers that Ivy Cromwell, who bullied her in the past, has become the British Goddess of Death and is arriving in a few days to hunt her down. Even her Shinigami whisper that she is not their legitimate leader because of her foreign roots. But since she killed Hiro, her fiance, and her brother was lost to the deep darkness, her life has seemed lonely and worthless.

It’s the early 1900s in Tokyo, and Ren-half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami-has now been Japan’s Death Goddess for a decade.

Ren Scarborough, Japan’s Goddess of Death, must safeguard her throne and her country from the Reapers of her past.

The keeper of night kylie lee baker