Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I fell back into this world so quickly that it was like coming home. Sometimes it's so hard to remember what characters are doing and who they are when you've had a year between books, but Kagawa has a knack of reminding you everything without making it feel like an info-dump. You just get back into a beautiful setting with fantastic characters.

I loved seeing how much Yumeko grew in this book. It felt for a start like Kagawa was falling back into old patterns of having female characters being protected by the males because they have no fighting skills, but instead what we saw was Yumeko going through a journey of learning how illusion can be used to fight and do damage. She became a complete badass and I can't wait to see more of her fox magic, especially because it's such a unique form of fighting that isn't utilised much in books.

I just love to get lost in Kagawa's writing so much. I love this setting and these characters. I can't wait for the third book.

A fantastic sequel to an amazing series! Julie Kagawa's fantastic writing is so vivid and pulls you in! I adored seeing the characters develop and as a sequel I can't say much, but it was AMAZING! I highly recommend this series!

I was captivated yet again. With another journey and quest to see Yumeko and the group try to survive.
I'm unsure if I enjoyed this more than book one or not. In some ways I did. The action and danger had increased for this book so I was intrigued more. I'm left wanting more. The cliffhanger got me wondering where the story could go. I have a theory but with Kagawa anything is possible.
The characters are still enjoyable. Their personalities bounce off each other. Which makes me love their interactions even more.
I do think the lack of Yumeko and Tatsumi interactions made me enjoy this less. But I'm still enjoying their slow burn. I have no idea where their story could go. I just know where I would like.
The audiobook was relaxing. Soon as I start it im captivated. Time just flew by. Definitely an easy listen. I just found myself getting lost within the world and story.

I really couldn't get into this title. I did read a previous one but I decided to DNF this one quite early on, it's not a series I will be continuing this.

Overall I found the series longwinded and overly complicated when it really didn't need to be. It's a shame because I have red a few of Julie Kagawa's books and enjoyed them in the past

After really enjoying the first book, I was really excited for this next installment! However, for some reason, I just can't get into this book at all! I've tried multiple times, in audio, physical and digital format and I always end up stopping at the same point which is such a shame!

I received with thanks an ARC copy of Soul of the Sword from HQ Young Adult and Netgalley.

This is my review of Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa. This was published on 27th June 2019
This was a wonderful sequel to Shadow of the Fox. I have to admit I was not keen on other series by this author but this series has one me over. The world is creative and imaginative. The writing kept me engaged and I am looking forward to book 3. PS the covers for the series are stunning and some of the best that I have seen.

Would recommend if you love a Fantasy

This was an interesting fantasy but not quite what I expected. The characters were well developed and intriguing. I know some readers will love this. It would be useful to feature the content warnings.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book for review.
- I still enjoyed this book, but I didn’t like it as much as the first one
- As a “bad guy”, I didn’t think Hakaimono was that bad, he was just good at killing lots of people very quickly
- I didn’t think a lot happened for at least 50% of the book
- I enjoyed the developing relationships between the group that were thrown together out of necessity and were now becoming more, we got to learn a lot more about all the characters
- Yumeko’s naive nature wasn’t quite so endearing in this one as I found myself a little frustrated at times that she couldn’t understand/see everything the reader could
- I liked Yumeko’s magic and how it played into the final battle
- I will read the final book because I’m interested to see how it’ll resolve

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

One of the key things that stood out to be about Soul of the Sword is that it’s not as gripping as Julie Kagawa’s other books. I’ve read the Iron Fey series and the Talon series… and for some reason Soul of the Sword just wasn’t pulling me along the story in the same way. But, I will of course read Night of the Dragon to finish the series and see whether this was a second book syndrome issue.

Soul of the Sword includes a lot of world building, and expands this world from what we knew in Shadow of the Fox. However, a lot of this seemed to be dropped in randomly as whole paragraphs of text. These paragraphs included history of the world and the clans but also things like geography of this place. All of this is stuff I love to know about in fantasy, but it just wasn’t reading right. For example, we learn all about the Water Clan in a Hakaimono chapter where he’s travelling across country and “thinking” this… which felt out of place!

Despite the poor way of including world building – I did enjoy that we got to know these things! I’m the kind of reader that loves to know all the little things about a world, that sometimes aren’t talked about much. So this was good for me, although may not be for all readers.

What I enjoyed most about the book was that Yumeko grew as a character as she’s starting leaning into her powers. In the first book she was constantly hiding her true self, whereas she’s more confident that she must be herself in order to get the job done. Because of this I found Soul of the Sword to be a bit more magical than Shadow of the Fox.

On the other hand, our other main character Tatsumi didn’t really do anything this time round. Unfortunately his body has been taken over, so understandable! But we did get a little bit of thought process and mental growth as he realises what he really wants. Which was really well written, as these POVs often weren’t moving the story forward, but was still interesting.

There was a bit of a gay sub-plot although it really wasn’t focused on a lot. I found this both good and bad. Good because I firmly believe romantic sub-plots that add nothing to the story should be thrown in the bin (I have been vocal about this before!). Bad because it was there but for most of the book I was very much in a “I’m guessing this is gay??” mindset about it, as it’s not overly explicit.

Positives of Soul of the Sword
Character depth
More magical
Negatives of Soul of the Sword
World building writing
Second book syndrome

Having found the first book a bit lacklustre in terms of depth and character, I wasn't really looking forward to continuing with the series, and unfortunately my fears were confirmed. This continues to be a strange mix - it has great folklore and a fun adventure plot, but I just really struggled to be invested in any of the characters. If you're willing to take this at face value as a manga-style episodic journey, then you should have a really good time, but for me, I just wanted more complexity and emotional payoff.

Last year, thanks to netgalley, I read Shadow of the Fox, the first book in this series. Now this year, I am delighted to have the same opportunity to read the sequel, Soul of The Sword.

This book carries on from the first where we met a kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko. When her temple burned to the ground, she found one of the pieces of a powerful scroll known to awaken the dragon, Kami, who will grant one wish to whoever holds the full scroll. Regrettably, in the last book, then demon Hakaimono that was trapped inside a cursed sword was awakened and has escaped. The demon, took with him, one of the people who she cares for most, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Hakaimono has joined forces with the master of demons to find the other pieces of the scroll to overthrow the empire. Yumeko must stop them from doing so or chaos will ensue.

If you loved the first book, you will definitely enjoy the second much more. It expands upon the Japanese lore whilst also bringing it’s own twists and turns to the fantastical. Though the writing in this book is still amazing. It feels like some of it is lacklustre. What I mean by this is, a lot of the storyline is setting up for the third and final book in the trilogy and as such falls to the second book syndrome majority of the time but not all.

In addition to this, at the time that I read this book, I had a lot going on in my life. And as such, this may be has clouded my view on this book. Overall I did enjoy it though so I would still give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an odd one for me, I came in to the series on book 2 of an obvious trilogy (at least) so although the story was easy to jump into I did struggle with the terminology and differentiating the characters as I did not have that background with them to know who was who. Which did make it a bit more of a struggle to keep going.

The other problem was that this was definitely a middle book, and by that I mean that not an immense amount happened in it until the very end (last 10%) it felt a little like a filler book.

Having said that, I did enjoy the world and finding out more about the characters. I thought the camaraderie between the characters was heartfelt and earned. I also enjoyed the growing love interest throughout.

I would give this a solid 3.5 stars because although I came in part way through it did hold my attention for the most part. From reviews of book 1 it is much more of an action adventure however so if that's what you are looking for definitely start there!

Having not read the first book, I can't comment on what most of the other reviews touched on, and as I didn't know this was the second in a series, I went in with no expectations.
And this was mostly a very enjoyable and well-written book. I have a few tiny niggles, but nothing that actually jarred me fully from the story. The characters were good, and the book has motivated me to go back and read the first, and await the third.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a review

</i>I received an ARC via Netgalley in return for an honest review.</i>

This is the sequel to Shadow of the Fox. Following the events of the last book, Yumeko and her band of wonderful misfits are faced with the continuing challenge of protecting the Dragon Scroll and, ultimately, saving their friend.

<b>Positives:</b>

+ As with the last book, I adored Julie Kagawa's writing. It is easy to read and keeps you immersed in the story.

+I adored the worldbuilding - in this book, we get more information about yokai and yurei and oni; are introduced to a lot more and I love their unique styles that are 100% rooted in their origins.

+ I enjoyed Yumeko's relationships with the other characters, her realization of feelings for Tatsumi. Her character growth was interesting in this book as she has come far from the innocent kitsune that she was before and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the next book.

++ also all the powerful kitsune-ness please

+ Tatsumi is super entertaining as always. His conflict with Hakaimono is incredibly strong in this book and the ending poses some new questions for the next book that I really would like to be answered now.

+ Dasuke and Okame's relationship made me super happy!!!!!!

<b>Negatives:</b>

- This book suffered from being the middle book. It felt like the plot was a lot slower than the last one and whilst entertaining, that did mean that a lot of the action (i.e. fighting, demons etc.) felt like it was relegated to the end of the book.

- Yumeko's decision at the end of the book had be like WTF?????

<b>Overall:</b>

Julie Kagawa has crushed my heart once more and I eagerly await the third book in this series to completely destroy me.

I really struggled to get into this. It felt like there was nothing happening, the story feels like filler - like a setup for the final book. And I'm sick of Yumenko's running commentary on what her insides are doing, we get details of how her blood is chilling and her stomach is churning, the girl needs to sort out her diet.

I still love the setting and the world - there's more on the empire and the places and people in it, and more of the monster world too which I found interesting. I could read about the different demons all day and I love how they're based on Japanese folklore.

I was hoping for more development of the members of Yumeko's gang too but it felt like that had been skipped over and they just ended up as space-filling caricatures. It spends longer with them but they're not filled out any more than they were by the end fo the first book. Reika could be such an interesting person, her personality and her skills remind me of Rei from Sailor Moon, but all she does is scowl at everyone and disapprove of everything anyone does. Okame and Daisuke have a relationship building but it felt forced into the story.

The fun side quests and the adventure feel of the first book were also sadly missed. The stakes were definitely upped at the end of the first book and there is more danger and a bigger fight to face but it didn't get dark enough to make up for the fun feel being ejected.

I also missed the interaction between Yumeko and Tatsumi. The other characters didn't have the same spark to make up for it and when Yumeko and Tatsumi meet up again at the end it highlights what a big gap their interactions left in the story.

The ending though I loved! No spoilers but it was exciting and unexpected and lived up to the build-up and set the scene perfectly for the next book.

The story is still interesting and even if this book didn't meet my expectations I still need to see where it goes and how it ends. I'm hopeful for the next book and I will be excited to get my hands on it.

I really enjoyed the second book in the series. It did take me a little while to get used to the characters again and the glossary of terms would be much for useful in the front of the book!

What I really enjoyed about the book was researching into Japanese honorific titles, loved learning about the culture in the book and via google searches. And I can say I am very thankful the Yumeko is no longer quite as naive!

Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book. I really enjoyed this book, I enjoyed the different P.O.Vs, I liked the plot and the characters and I liked how well it contained on from the first book,. I really recommend this to anyone who has read the first book even if they didn’t really like it that much. I gave this book 4 stars

I really enjoyed this second instalment and wish I hadn’t taken so long to read it. Once again I have been pulled into a world of samurai, yokai and oni and it’s like my kryptonite. I adore anything like that and this did not disappoint
My favourite part was Okame and Daiskue their character growth was beautiful.