Bookish Mewsings (featuring Book Beginnings & Friday 56): The Master Key & The Shadow of the Fox

Along with my mini reviews, I am linking to both Book Beginnings, a meme in which readers share the first sentence of a book they are reading, hosted by Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader and Friday 56 hosted by Freda of Freda's Voice, in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading.

The Master Key by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove

Pushkin Vertigo, 2017 (originally published in 1962

Crime Fiction; 193 pages

Book Beginning: 

On that day, the snow (unusual for April) which had fallen on the night before was still half an inch deep in the morning. But before midday the sun peeped through the clouds and a thaw set in. In no time at all, the streets once again danced in the sunshine of spring.   

Friday 56 [excerpt from 56% of e-book]: 

She continued her practice of writing one letter a day to her former students, but with less enthusiasm than before. On her way out to post them every morning, she would glace at the master key and secretly envy the receptionist within whose power it lay to enter every room in the block.

It was essential that she should get her hands on that key. 

My bookish mewsings:

Sometimes shorter novels fail to fill one’s appetite for a good story. That was not the case with The Master Key. Masako has a gift for taking seemingly random pieces of various stories, bringing them together, and creating an intriguing and satisfying tale. It is Postwar Tokyo. And, in a rather unusual move, city engineers are preparing to move, intact, the K Apartment House for Ladies. Readers are taken back in time throughout the novel, getting glimpses into the lives of the various women who live in the building, many of their stories connecting in unexpected ways, while always something dark seems to be hanging overhead. Every one of them has their own secrets, and it seems someone among them is uncovering them all, including the body of the baby who had been buried on the grounds seven years before. There was a strong sense of foreboding that hung over me as I read The Master Key, anticipating what I would discover next. I was thoroughly engaged in this dark and entertaining little novel.

The Shadow of the Fox (The Shadow of the Fox, #1) by Julie Kagawa

Harlequin Teen, 2018

Fantasy (YA); 416 pgs

Book Beginning:

It was raining the day Suki came to the Palace of the Sun, and it was raining the night she died. 

Friday 56 [excerpt from 56% of e-book]: 

"Tatsumi." Yumeko stepped forward, her eyes gazing worriedly at the side of my neck where the gaki had clawed it. I could feel blood from the torn flesh beginning to seep into my collar. My arm, too, was starting to drip blood on the wooden planks. "Before we do anything, we should take care of those. Do you have any medicine left?" 

My bookish mewsings: 

 Julie Kagawa is one of those authors I have been wanting to try for awhile now, and I am grateful to those who voted for it in my May TBR List Poll. Her home destroyed and the monks who raised her no more, Yumeko is on a quest to deliver a portion of a sacred scroll to a far off temple, whose exact whereabouts is unknown. She seeks help from Kage Tatsumi, a samurai of the Shadow Clan, whose strength and ability to slay demons will be invaluable to her along her journey. The only catch? He is on a mission to retrieve the very scroll she has, and she knows instinctively she cannot let it fall into his hands. She also hides another secret from the quiet and deadly Tatsumi. That she is half human, half kitsune.

Yumeko should seem too sweet for her own good, but, honestly, I fell for her character instantly. A bit mischievous and yet so kindhearted. She has a naivety about her, and yet she is extremely resourceful and has good instincts. I also really came to like Kage Tatsumi. He is trained to suppress his emotions and lives by a very strict code—part of which is probably for good reason. However, he finds it impossible not to want to protect Yumeko for more reasons than just the one that will lead him to the scroll (not realizing she actually has it). Along their journey, the two pick up other unexpected company. The villains in this novel made me shiver, particularly the main one. So much darkness and evil.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading The Shadow of the Fox. It has been awhile since I read a more traditional fantasy novel, and I especially loved that this one combined Japanese folklore and other Japanese elements into it. I hate that it ended with a cliffhanger, but I was not at all surprised. These types of books often do. I ordered the sequel right away. Then I’ll just have to wait forever for the third and final book in the trilogy to come out. I cannot wait to spend more time with Yumeko! We all need someone like her in our lives.

Do either of these books appeal to you? Or perhaps you have read them? If so, what did you think? 

---

© 2019, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.