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kaiyakaiyo's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
3.75 rounded up for GR!
it took me a bit to get into this book, but it’s extremely sweet, and very much gives Sophie Hatter vibes. miuko is funny, relatable, and realistically flawed; there were points where I facepalmed at her choices, and I liked that! I was also reminded of over the garden wall a bit? loved that too
I found that some of the “episodes” in muikos journey felt overlong or even unnecessary; the plot is very neatly made, but some of the threads felt like they didn’t need to be there. I also think that the made-up language was… cool at first, but ultimately became tiring and distracted me from the actual story. i really didn’t like how often the author defined a word in the text itself; most of them were easy to pick up via context clues, or didn’t matter enough to need explanation. i think this author had a lot of fun making this language, and it’s excellent, but it bogged down the writing for me. If the explanations had been saved for an authors note or even a silmarillion-esque set of tales to explain the in-universe etymology, I would’ve loved it! extra sentences in a paragraph just to explain the meaning of one word not so much.
all in all, a fun time!
it took me a bit to get into this book, but it’s extremely sweet, and very much gives Sophie Hatter vibes. miuko is funny, relatable, and realistically flawed; there were points where I facepalmed at her choices, and I liked that! I was also reminded of over the garden wall a bit? loved that too
I found that some of the “episodes” in muikos journey felt overlong or even unnecessary; the plot is very neatly made, but some of the threads felt like they didn’t need to be there. I also think that the made-up language was… cool at first, but ultimately became tiring and distracted me from the actual story. i really didn’t like how often the author defined a word in the text itself; most of them were easy to pick up via context clues, or didn’t matter enough to need explanation. i think this author had a lot of fun making this language, and it’s excellent, but it bogged down the writing for me. If the explanations had been saved for an authors note or even a silmarillion-esque set of tales to explain the in-universe etymology, I would’ve loved it! extra sentences in a paragraph just to explain the meaning of one word not so much.
all in all, a fun time!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
aelis_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
blkunicorn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
It was very slow and there were several points where I thought the book could have just wrapped up and ended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
ska1224's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
holds miuko holds geiki
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A beautifully crafted and whimsical YA fantasy that merges Japanese folklore with a thrilling, fairytale-esque adventure I didn’t want to end!
It follows Otori Miuko, a misfit in her small village where being loud, clumsy and a girl are not looked upon kindly. But after a run in with a demon, not only is she cursed (and slowly transforming into a demon whose touch can kill) Miuko has also been banished from her home. And if she ever wishes to return, she must embark on a journey to reverse the curse—whilst also attempting to foil the schemes of a demon prince, avoid demon hunters and plead her case to the gods.
I absolutely loved our fiercely determined (if a bit clumsy) protagonist, Miuko whose coming of age journey sees her overcome the (predominately demon shaped) challenges she has to face, learn to accept herself and embrace the differences that make her unique (and really quite powerful.)
The vast cast of characters,comprising of spirits, ghosts, gods and humans were all really intriguing (and I loved the unique tales and backstories we encounter) but I have to admit Geiki, the thieving bird spirit completely stole my heart with his antics.
The pacing was slightly slower than I anticipated but the rich world building more than made up it.
So, if you love Studio Ghibli or epic coming of age fantasy then I definitely recommend checking this out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury
spookily's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
cyan_altaria's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
A exciting tale of being true to yourself and defeating evil, all strongly rooted in Japanese mythology.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Minor: Death, Murder, and War
leahb88's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book reminded me so much of Look What You Made Me Do by TS because it the vibes of our protagonist coming into her own and learning how to be herself despite the world around her (plus the literal demon voice in her head with murderous thoughts). In general a fun-spirited book with a typical hero’s journey and crew of sidekicks. A cool twist with alternate timelines and ultimate lesson on the importance of friends and family. One thing I really enjoyed is the feminism undertones - badass female protagonist with no love interests at all!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A THOUSAND STEPS INTO NIGHT features a girl who begins turning into a demon, abruptly unmooring her from the misogynistic confines of her ordinary life.
I enjoyed Miuko's rapport with the bird spirit, their friendship provided a lot of levity in otherwise stressful moments. The various spirits and demons felt a bit numerous sometimes (especially when I have trouble keeping track of character names), but this felt very accommodating of my inability to keep track of them and I didn't get lost.
The worldbuilding is wonderful, Miuko sometimes pauses to explain something, but it's always right when it's needed. This is generally free of anything resembling infodumps, as the explanations are a natural part of Miuko processing what's happening around her. I enjoyed the audiobook immensely, the narrator did an excellent job and really helped the story flow.
One of my favorite things about this is how it's a story about identity, empowerment, and the difference between an aspect of identity being bad versus it being someone else's excuse to be exploitative or cruel. This is explicitly bound up in how the book approaches gender, but that general idea applies to other aspects as well. Miuko is a cis character (as best as I can tell) who explores her gender presentation a bit with various necessary disguises, and is driven at first to make things safer and better for girls. There's a recurring bit where someone asks what she is and when she says she's a girl they retort that (because she's slowly turning into a demon) she can't be a girl, she must be something else. Early on she thinks there used to be non-cis people but maybe not any more, and when she finds out that the people in power making being trans or third gender difficult socially didn't make them go away, she adjusts her goals to make sure her solution is better for everyone.
The plot flowed and circled back to previously encountered characters in a way that made it easy to follow. I love the kind of reveal midway through the book as to why the plot kicked off in the first place. I don't want to spoil it, but the second half explains why a bunch of things in the first half even happened, and it works very well. I love the ending, it fits the world and the characters and really lets things feel settled.
I enjoyed Miuko's rapport with the bird spirit, their friendship provided a lot of levity in otherwise stressful moments. The various spirits and demons felt a bit numerous sometimes (especially when I have trouble keeping track of character names), but this felt very accommodating of my inability to keep track of them and I didn't get lost.
The worldbuilding is wonderful, Miuko sometimes pauses to explain something, but it's always right when it's needed. This is generally free of anything resembling infodumps, as the explanations are a natural part of Miuko processing what's happening around her. I enjoyed the audiobook immensely, the narrator did an excellent job and really helped the story flow.
One of my favorite things about this is how it's a story about identity, empowerment, and the difference between an aspect of identity being bad versus it being someone else's excuse to be exploitative or cruel. This is explicitly bound up in how the book approaches gender, but that general idea applies to other aspects as well. Miuko is a cis character (as best as I can tell) who explores her gender presentation a bit with various necessary disguises, and is driven at first to make things safer and better for girls. There's a recurring bit where someone asks what she is and when she says she's a girl they retort that (because she's slowly turning into a demon) she can't be a girl, she must be something else. Early on she thinks there used to be non-cis people but maybe not any more, and when she finds out that the people in power making being trans or third gender difficult socially didn't make them go away, she adjusts her goals to make sure her solution is better for everyone.
The plot flowed and circled back to previously encountered characters in a way that made it easy to follow. I love the kind of reveal midway through the book as to why the plot kicked off in the first place. I don't want to spoil it, but the second half explains why a bunch of things in the first half even happened, and it works very well. I love the ending, it fits the world and the characters and really lets things feel settled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury