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Title | Flame in the Mist
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Author | Renee Ahdieh
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Cover Art | Francesca Resta
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Publisher | Penguin - 2017
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First Printing | Penguin - 2017
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Title | Okami
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Author | Renee Ahdieh
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | G.P. Putnam's Sons - 2018
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First Printing | G.P. Putnam's Sons - 2018
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Title | Yumi
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Author | Renee Ahdieh
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | G.P. Putnam's Sons - 2018
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First Printing | G.P. Putnam's Sons - 2018
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Title | Smoke in the Sun
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Author | Renee Ahdieh
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Cover Art | Sean Duan
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Publisher | Penguin Books - 2018
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First Printing | G.P. Putnam's Sons - 2018
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Category | Young Adult
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Mariko, Kenshin, Okami, Ranmaru, Yumi, Raiden, Roku
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Main Elements | Wizards, Demons
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Website | reneeahdieh.com
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 Flame in the Mist
There wasw only ever one expectation for Mariko, a prominent samurai's daughter: that she would marry. Her twin brother was the one trained in the way of the warrior while Mariko was left to nuture her love of science and invention in secret. But on her way to the imperial city, where she was to meet her betrothed for the very first time, her convoy is attacked and everything changes. The assassin's kill everyone - or so they think. Despite almost being burned alive, Mariko escapes.
Driven by vengeance, she flees the forest and seeks out her would-be assassins, the Black Clan, joining their ranks disguised as a peasant boy. She's determined to discover who ordered her death and why - and to make them pay. Little does she expect to find a place for herself among the Black Clan. A place where her talents and intellect are appreciated. Little does she expect to fall in love. And never did she expect to have to choose between them and everything she's ever known. But when the secrets of the imperial city, the Black Clan, and her family converge, choose is exactly what she must do.
Okami
At the close of Flame in the Mist, to end a bloodbath between the Black Clan and imperial soldiers, Okami allows himself to be taken prisoner by Prince Raiden, Mariko’s betrothed. For someone who doesn’t believe in heroes, it’s a surprising to trade his life for the lives of his friends and the one he loves. For he will surely be killed when he arrives in the Imperial City. But he decides if his life is the cost of love, it may not be too high a price after all.
Yumi
When Yumi receives word of the battle led against her brother and the Black Clan by Prince Raiden and the Dragon of Kai, and of Okami’s sacrifice, she resents the bars of her gilded cage all the more. She’s tired of being a sheltered bird, protected in the Hanami. What Yumi really wants is to strike a blow against all the forces that control her life. The time has come.
Smoke in the Sun
The highly anticipated sequel to New York Times bestselling Flame in the Mist.
Seventeen-year-old Mariko never expected to find a home with the Black Clan - she'd joined the notorious bandits thirsty for revenge. But as she establishes her place among the group of fighters and forms a bond with Okami, the group's enigmatic leader, Mariko discovers a peace she didn't know she was looking for.
That's shattered when her betrothed attacks the clan, capturing Okami. To ensure his survival, Mariko will do what she must - even marry the sovereigns brother, saying goodbye to a life with Okami forever.
With the wedding plans underway, Mariko plays the part of the dutiful bride-to-be, using her royal standing to peel back the layers of lies and deception of the imperial court. But each secret she unfurls gives way to another, ensnaring Mariko and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honour, their love, and the very safety of the empite.
There's something about the culture of feudal Japan that forces an author to write something beautiful, magical and poetic and this book is no different. Filled with honour and deception, love and hate, beauty and death, I was drawn into the tale immediately. There's magic, but it's subtle, just as it was in the beliefs of the people of the time.
Mariko is a strong female lead and I enjoyed her character immensely. No "special snowflake" here, in fact there isn't all that special about her other than her noble birthright (often more a hindrance than a benefit) and a tendency to fight the restrictions her culture places on the role of women. The Black Clan also consists of a group of interesting and complex group of Ronin, each with their own backgrounds and motivations. And even Mariko's brother, Kenshin the Dragon of Kai, a Samurai through and through, has to grow and test his deep-seated beliefs as he attempts to unravel the plot that led to the attempt on his sister's life.
There is a romance, but I wouldn't categorize this book as a romance. There's no insta-love, there's no "oh he's too good for me" (in fact maybe there's a lot of the opposite), two things that will kill a book for me and is so prevalent in YA literature these days.
Instead, there are mysteries, secrets and lies to unravel. Twists abound and I didn't see many of them coming either. Many answers are revealed by the end of the book, but others remain to be explained in future books and I can't wait to get my hands on the next installment and to find out what happens to Mariko, her brother, and the Black Clan.
November 2024
Took me a while to complete this duology! It was long enough that I had to re-read the first book, and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around. The two shorts stories filled in a few gaps from the point of view of other characters. And then there's the final book. I didn't like it as much as I did the first one because the setting changed. Mariko is long longer living in the woods with a band of renegades pretending to be a boy. She's now in the imperial palace, having to maneuver within the limitations imposed by her role as a woman of the court. This of course provides a whole different set of challenges, but it just wasn't as fun as the first book. Also the romance is already in place. What I did find most interesting was seeing the evolution of Prince Raiden and Mariko's brother Kenshin. In fact there's really only a couple two dimensional characters, Roku and his mother, all the other "villains" end up proving to be sympathetic and have the potential of growth into becoming heroes of their own stories. This tale concludes in the obvious way, but I thought how interesting it could have been if the obvious romantic pairings had to go a different way, because in the real world, sometimes that's how these things work out.
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