Review: Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff

 A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.
A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.
A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.
The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

 *This review was written by my amazing boyfriend Kolten whom I recommended this series to and this just goes to show that boys will enjoy this book just as much as girls*

Kinslayer written by Jay Kristoff, is one of the best books I have ever read. The intricate world of The Lotus War has me enthralled in the characters and the story, as well as being a sequel to Storm Dancer – again, one of the best books I have ever read – I have been completely engaged with the series.

One of the things I liked most about the writing of Kinslayer was that the storylines were so intertwined that each character displayed in a chapter had a key role towards the end of the book – even though a lot of the times it seemed, at points, that they were in their own little world – and some even had a backstory that surprised me so much that I had to reread it just to make sure what I thought I deducted out of it was right!

Betrayal, secrecy, devising, bravery, commitment, self-identity, are some of the most prominent themes I have found throughout Kinslayer and those themes as well as some others are all you need to make a book like this work.

Now, I saved what I liked best about this book for last: IT HAS A GIANT EAGLE MIXED WITH A WHITE TIGER!!!! Seriously?!?!? What’s there not to like about that! Mix in an alternate reality of a steam-punk Japan, some crazed monks that can’t die, throw in a bad-ass Heroine that rides the giant eagle-tiger creature (a Thunder Tiger for those who haven’t read the book), quite a numerous amount of exoskeleton-suited samurai’s with awesome chain-saw katana weapons, a resistance equipped with the stereotypical ninja’s arsenal, a uneasy political system hanging by a thread, and to top it off: MORE MYSTICAL CREATURES!!!!

I truly did love the writing style of Jay Kristoff, and the story he wrote will stay with me as one of my all-time favorites for as long as I can remember it. The elements of this story are what I want to see in a book every once in a while as well as he mastered combining the elements.

Source: Publisher

Release Date: September 17th, 2013