A review by simplysope
The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

4.0

Honestly I see why people took issue with this book. I won’t lie, I throughly enjoyed it for what is was - a story about a girl who doesn’t fit in anywhere and what she’s willing to do to belong.

The Japanese mythology is deep and beautiful and artfully described.

People refer to Ren as morally grey but I think that’s lazy. She’s desperate, not grey. If you know what it’s like to not belong, you won’t be shocked at what she does to find her belonging. Whether that belonging includes murder or ruthlessness.

I knew Hiro was untrustworthy but I actually found myself shocked at the depth of his wickedness? Honestly I think Ren’s desperation acted as a shield, bc why can’t the reader see him clearly either? Even though her brother Neven never trusted Hiro, it was clear that he also didn’t understand his sister or her plight.

All she wanted was to belong and instead of internalizing that, he focused on what she did to achieve such belonging. Foolish. That’s how Neven ended up where he did, lol.

If you enjoy stories for what they are - a journey with characters that are imperfect bc that’s what we are? I think you’ll enjoy it, but I won’t fault you if you hate it like some of the low ratings it received.