Whew, I need a meal and a nap after this book. SO MUCH was going on throughout the whole thing - battles, journeys, mind games and magic - that you couldn't even stop to take a breath. Just like in book one, the characters are amazing and the world-building is fantastic. I enjoyed book one more, though I think it's because it was more build-up and less frenetic action; I suspect I'll enjoy the third book more as well, since hopefully everything will come to it's no-doubt amazing conclusion. Bring it on!

I can't give a review for this book beacuse the copy I recieved was messed up. I was excited to read the book and love the cover. Will just have to check it out the published version. Hopefully ill get to soon

“All souls have a destiny. Some are simply brighter than others.”

In Soul of the Sword, we pick up right were we left off in Shadow of the Fox. Hakaimono has broken free from Kamigoroshi and has taken over Tatsumi’s body. Yumeko still has her piece of the scroll, and is still determined to make it to the Steel Feather temple and complete her task. But she’s just as determined to try and save Tatsumi, no matter how high the risk.

As high as the stakes seem, Yumeko still has help. Okame and Daisuke (who have a fantastic side story of their own) are by her side, as well as everyone else she’s met and won over along the way.

Hakaimono is determined to make everyone pay for trapping him in a sword, and has joined forces with the Master of Demons, who’s searching for the scroll to gain the wish from the Kami Dragon. As chaos ensues and the danger rises, can Yumeko keep both her promises – keep the scroll safe and save Tatsumi?

“As I said before, vengeance is easy. One can never be certain with an emotion as dangerous and unpredictable as love.”


While I wasn’t quite as in love with this installment as I was with the first one, it still was almost as fun. There are little mini quests along the way, which you KNOW is my jam. In fact, I even wish there were MORE quests. ALL THE QUESTS!

I also loved watching Yumeko come into her own as a Kitsune. While she’s been taught to deny this part of herself her entire life, it turns out that it’s the one thing that may be able to save them all. Watching her learn about her powers and come into her own was empowering, and she definitely seemed to grow up along the way.

Did I mention that I loved Okame and Daisuke’s side story? Because this was probably the turning point in the book for me. I was struggling a little bit in the beginning, I’ll admit – the pacing was a little slow, and I didn’t love it as much as the first one. But these two (I don’t want to say much because SPOILERS ARE RUDE) were the best part of this book for me, and such a welcome surprise!

“In the best stories, the heroes always give their lives, for honor, duty, sacrifice and the glory of the empire. Anything less and it is not much of a story at all.”


I did have one other complaint besides the pacing, and like I said, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll keep it pretty vague. Towards the end of the book, Yumeko makes a choice that is so out of character, and honestly it made me super annoyed – that alone is probably the reason for the <4 star rating.

Despite that, I really enjoyed this book, and at the end I couldn’t wait for the third book. I hope it comes out soon, because that cliffhanger is a little brutal. I hope you like this book as much as I do!

Wow! Soul of the Sword did not disappoint! I love the way Kagawa seamlessly integrates the world and brings it to life. It has such vibrant imagery. This book definitely escalated the tension of the first and brought it to a whole new level. Definitely recommend.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Soul of the Sword returns with all my favourite characters. Suki's ghost is still hanging around and Lady Satomi has been murdered. Less darkness to have to deal with.

We see Okame and Daisuke's mutual attraction deepen and blossom for one another. Yumeko has kept the piece of the dragon scroll safe and is still on her way to the Steel Feather Temple to deliver it as she journeys with her friends. Reika, the temple maiden and Master Jiro are travelling with Yumeko to protect her.
The demon Hakaimono has been set free from the sword Kamigoroshi and possessed Tatsumi the demon slayer. Yumeko wants desperately to save Tatsumi.

Lord Genno the master of demons is in search of a body so that he may come back to life in the land of Iwagoto. The 3 witches messed up a necromancy spell having only Genno 's head without a body. Hakaimono thinks it hilarious but makes no promises to join forces with Genno.

Lady Hanshou and Lord Seigetsu are another story. Lord Seigetsu appears more like a puppet master pulling the strings behind the entire story. It is interesting to know he has so much power. So far it looks like he is a force for good and not evil but he's still a mystery.

It is rare for a second book in a series to be just as good as the first. Ladies and gentlemen this is that book. All I can say is wow. Action, fantasy, love, going to defeat a demon. Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! Loved it! Can’t wait for the third book.

Loved, loved, loved this book - Julie is one of my all time favorite authors and this book was dynamite

As always, Kagawa has the ability to being fantasy worlds to life with characters that seems to leap off the pages. You immediately find yourself immersed in her worlds, into the stories and lives of the characters. It didn't take me long to find myself deep into this series, invested in the goals of the characters. Kagawa's writing feels akin to a Miyazaki film, lush and serene all in one.

Soul of the Sword is book two of Julie Kagawa's latest series. It follows the story of a young kitsune who is on a mission to save the world from a terrible dragon god that will be summoned and bring about the destruction of mankind. Overall this was a great follow up to the first book. It wrapped up a few of my questions while giving me enough to hang on until the next book releases. Great series, great book

This book directly picks up with our characters attempting to deliver the Demon Scroll to the Steel Feather Temple so I am not going to get into plot specific things.

Just as in the first book, it reads like your watching an anime. It plays out still with episodic happenings making this book compulsively good. What is happening next? How will they get out of this? Suffice to say that if you like the first book of this series, this book doesn't disappoint. It does fall into a bit of a middle book syndrome in setting up a lot of the conflict for the first book, but it didn't make the book unreadable.

The sequel is never as good it’s almost a universal law but I must concede that this book did hold its own. I loved shadow of the fox and was thrilled to have to opportunity to read the sequel and I wouldn’t quite say o was disappointed or incredibly pleased. It wasn’t great, I won’t reread but I don’t think reading it the first time was a mistake. I did still enjoy it,

I want to thank Inkyard Press and NetGalley for sending me an e-book arc for an honest review!

As much as I loved this book I loved the first book better. This book was engaging, incredible and the world is amazing. Really love this series.

I was really captivated by the characters and the world. I can not wait for the third book, this trilogy is going to be great!

I loved this sequel to Shadow of the fox so much and I can't wait for the night book in the trilogy. The wait is gonna be so hard.

The writing style was very similar to the first book in this series. A lot of action, the band of heroes constantly trying to save the world from evil demons, and extremely fascinating world building.

The world building gets all the stars, and more, in my review. It's a refreshing break from the overabundance of western medieval focused fantasy. And I already had a fascination with feudal Japan. Combine that with Japanese myths - demons, kitsune, and myriad other beings, plus Japanese words and culture, and I'm getting a very fantastical experience.

With all that, I couldn't give this five stars. The characters were too flat. They're a group of bravo save the world heroes. The book occasionally touched on the side character's pasts, but only offered a slight glimpse before moving on to the next immediate danger. I didn't have a chance to connect with any character. We're always just running from one crisis to the next.

To make things worse, the first like 60% of the book was just multiple fights, the heroes trudging along on their journey, more fights, descriptions of evil demons and how this one demon is so much stronger than all of them put together... I put this book down multiple times in favor of others. Until the last bit, I had to slog through one boring fight after another.

There were a lot of repetitive fights and flat characters. But I liked the Japanese myths and magical world and the tricksy fox-girl character. It's far from my favorite book, but it was certainly interesting and very Japanese.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This sequel was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. I absolutely loved the way the characters were developed and how fast paced the plot was. The writing style was very engaging.

OH WOW this was such a great sequel! Julie did it again *not so shocked face* I literally love this series and would die for it

Title: Soul of the Sword
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: Shadow of the Fox
Book Number: Book 2
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 432
My Rating:
More Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Publisher
 

The Time of the Wish Approaches…
Yumeko the shapeshifter had one task: take her piece of the ancient and powerful scroll to the Steel Feather temple and prevent the summoning of the great Kami Dragon. But she has a new enemy now. The demon Hakaimono, has escaped and possessed the samurai she thought would protect her, Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan.

* received an advanced copy of this book via the publisher and NetGalley

In Soul of the Sword, the second book in the Shadow of the Fox series, Kagawa continues the atmospheric story of Yumeko and Kage Tatsumi with a new journey filled with adventure, action packed Asian-inspired fantasy.

Once again, Julie Kagawa has delivered an enchanting blend of high fantasy and Japanese cultural and historical elements. I especially enjoyed the mythological aspects, the way this book packs even more tales of creatures and demons of legend into the mix.

This book is the second in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy and is best read in order.
Yumeko has been successful in keeping her portion of the Dragon Scroll safe so far, but her friend Tatsumi has been taken over by the evil Hakaimono, who is bent on destruction and revenge. The diabolical Lord Genno is after all fragments of the Scroll, and he will stop at nothing to obtain it. Lady Hanshou and another mysterious man are also after the entire Scroll,

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the way Soul of the Sword turned out; it was everything I wanted in a sequel and more

Soul of the Sword was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint (but its predecessor is still my favorite!). It picks up right where it left off and pushes the overarching story forward – Kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko still has her part of the ancient scroll to protect and along with her friends, has to continue her journey towards the Steel Feather temple for protection in order to prevent the summoning of the great Kami Dragon. In only two books, Yumeko has already grown a lot from the playful trickster we first met in the monastery to a Kitsune truly coming into her own abilities. I loved watching that and seeing the friendships she made in the first book strengthen more. The stakes are even higher this time around, especially with the circumstances surrounding Tatsumi (trying to be vague here but man did I miss Tatsumi a lot!). I'm very much looking forward to finding out how this trilogy ends! Is it March 2020 yet?

I absolutely adored this book. I love the writing and pacing in this book. It reads very much like a fairy tale... in which there is a crazy amount of blood and gore. But the writing was so beautiful I often forgot about the fact that it was being used to describe monsters and decapitations.

The author's writing really brings these characters to life. They jump off the page and it is impossible not to love them.

I read this book over the course of several days- it took me longer than average to finish it. But that's mainly because the writing was so beautiful I wanted to savor it and I didn't want it to end.

I can't wait for Book 3!!!

Thank you for a copy of this! Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to read this. I do plan on reading it eventually, but I will be reading the finished copy instead of the ARC.

Thank-you so much again for providing me with an ARC!