I read A Flame in the Mist

This week’s novel is A Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh.  This was a 2017 Goodreads Choice Award  Nominee for YA Fantasy.

Mariko, the only daughter of a prominent samurai, is sent off to marry the emperor’s son.  On her way to the imperial palace, her caravan is attacked by the Black Clan, and she is the lone survivor.  She disguises herself as a boy and sets out to find the band that attacked her caravan, infiltrate them, then bring them to justice when they least expect it.  The problem is that the Black Clan aren’t the cold blooded murderers she expected.

I’m always impressed with Ahdieh’s sense of place.  The setting here is so rich and so deep.  The setting permeates the characters, their motivations and actions to the point when calling it a setting makes it feel cheap.  Maybe this is what setting is supposed to be.  It feels like you’re breathing in the air of feudal Japan as you read.  It’s impressive, and it’s impressive that she’s done this twice with two very different settings, since she also wrote The Wrath and the Dawn.

I also like the romance in this one.  They’re both on the same page, without speaking of it, that this is not going to work out in the long run (unless some earth shattering changes take place, which I’m kind of guessing they do in the sequel), but they’re going to have a good time anyhow.  I like how their relationship of publicly disagreeing with each other and getting on each other’s nerves doesn’t change when they start making out.  No one gets all doe-eyed, and I’m here for it.

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Next week: Well,That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist by Franchesca Ramsey.