Blog Tour: Night of the Dragon – Julie Kagawa

The Bibliophagist Blog Tour, book review, Young Adult/Adult Book Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Blog Tour: Night of the Dragon – Julie Kagawa

I hope you are all doing well! Today I am really excited to bring to you a review in an Inkyard Press blog tour! I knew that I had to sign up as soon as I saw this book up for review. I’ve read the other two books and I’ll admit…I might be a bit addicted to it. Well, before we get carried on…let’s see this book, shall we?

 

Find my review of the first novel, Shadow of the Fox, here.

 

Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox, #3)

 

Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox #3)

Author: Julie Kagawa

Published: March 31st, 2020

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Book Length: 368 Pages

Genre: Fantasy (YA)

Buy the book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository (Use my referral ID: TheBibliophagist)

Kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko has given up the final piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers in order to save everyone she loves from imminent death. Now she and her ragtag band of companions must journey to the wild sea cliffs of Iwagoto in a desperate last-chance effort to stop the Master of Demons from calling upon the Great Kami dragon and making the wish that will plunge the empire into destruction and darkness.
Shadow clan assassin Kage Tatsumi has regained control of his body and agreed to a true deal with the devil — the demon inside him, Hakaimono. They will share his body and work with Yumeko and their companions to stop a madman and separate Hakaimono from Tatsumi and the cursed sword that had trapped the demon for nearly a millennium.
But even with their combined skills and powers, this most unlikely team of heroes knows the forces of evil may be impossible to overcome. And there is another player in the battle for the scroll, a player who has been watching, waiting for the right moment to pull strings that no one even realized existed… until now.
Master storyteller Julie Kagawa concludes the enthralling journey into the heart of the fantastical Empire of Iwagoto in the third book of the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. As darkness rises and chaos reigns, a fierce kitsune and her shadowy protector will face down the greatest evil of all. A captivating fantasy for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Sarah J. Maas and Marie Lu.

 

Alright…if you know me, you know exactly why I picked up the first book. Kitsune!! I have a love of both foxes and Asain culture. Naturally, I love stories of nine-tailed foxes. This trilogy is amazing and I am sad to see it end but so grateful for the adventures I’ve had. Now, let’s talk about that cover. As with both previous covers…I’m in shock at how beautiful it is. I was drawn into it right away. Let’s face it, it also has a dragon so it was already calling to me before I cracked open the cover.

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Julie Kagawa

 

 

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine, she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time (okay, at least the illustrations did), but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a
real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all-time low. She lives with her husband, an obnoxious cat, an Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and a hyper-active Papillion.

 

 

 

Review

 

 

This series is full of action and this book does not disappoint. The reader is thrown directly into another battle as they open the book, they are now trying to save the world before a certain date. There should have been a sense of urgency there but I did not feel it as strongly as I did in the previous two stories. Though the quick pace is maintained in this book as I’ve been accustomed to in Kagawa’s previous two. I did enjoy the overall plot arc for the story. As I’ve fallen so in love with this world, it was bittersweet closing the book and knowing that the story is finally over.

Once again…I just love the characters. I think what really makes this novel, and the entire series, successful are the interactions between characters. I did find that in this final novel there were very few scenes from the perspective of Haikimono. Though, that could be due to the fact that…well I can’t spoil it for those who may not have read the entire series yet.
I still am in love with Tatsumi and Yumeko. They are too cute and I love the romance we see. The best parts are from Yumeko’s perspective, seeing how she reacts to him. Though this is not a character-driven book, I feel their interactions add a layer of emotional complexity that would have otherwise been missing.
Though most of the world had already been laid out for us in previous books, we continue to see much more in this one. My favorite part was that we were introduced to a large variety of yokai. The very idea of yokai made my heart happy but this book really expanded on that and it was so worth it!

There were many times in the story I thought I’d have to grab the tissues. I’ve grown so close to these characters, I’m so invested in their stories. All I can say is the ending came together well and I was pleased. I suppose I’ll simply have to reread the series and live in the world I’ve grown to love so much for just a while longer. I keep imagining what life would be like if yokai truly lived among us. Interesting…that is, to say the least. Kagawa has a beautiful writing style, allowing the reader to visualize everything rather than reading about it. Her characters are all incredibly well developed and you find yourself invested in their lives before you even know where it’s going.
If you enjoy a good fantasy book that pulls you in and is filled to the brim with action…go ahead and pick up the first book in this series.
Well…what do you think? Have you read this series? Post your reviews down below. I’d love to read and comment on them. Have you read any other novels of Kagawa’s?
If you haven’t read her work, would you?

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.