This book had all the things I usually love: an assassin, the story is set in Japan and a shadow world full of danger.
It could have been something I can really fall into and somehow I liked the writing style of the author but something never quite felt right and this is why it took me forever to rate this book.
The protagonist is very reserved and it takes a while to find out where the story was going. For some reason it's hard to find 'access' to characters and that's why I lost interest in the story a few times throughout the book even if I really wanted to like it so much. Overall I ended up indifferent to it because there never came up something that I absolutely liked or disliked. The three stars I'm giving is for the great idea and poetic writing style.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions and thoughts are just my personal pov on the story.

Stars: 3 out of 5

I have a hard time formulating my thoughts about this book. I liked it enough to stick around till the end, but it didn't leave a big enough impact to consider it a really good book. 

There is one aspect I really loved, and that's Tokyo as a whole and Shinjuku in particular. The author does a really good job describing the city, the atmosphere, the sights, the people who live in it. So much so that the city feels like its own entity and an integral part of the story. As an avid traveler who had been cooped up way to long because of Covid, I loved the chance to travel to a different place at least in my mind. And since I had visited Tokyo in 2018, some of the places described were familiar, like old friends.

Unfortunately, you need more than the atmosphere and a good description of the setting to make a good book. You also need a good story and engaging characters. In my opinion, this book is lacking in both those aspects. The story itself is not so bad. It's about finding a purpose in life and a place where you belong. About family, both found and inherited. However, it starts really slow and meanders around aimlessly for over half of the book, just like Sato does. In fact, it doesn't really pick up pace until about 60% into the book when the stuff with Kiki happens and Sato finally decides to do something apart from procrastinating.

And that is my second gripe with this book. Sato was just too passive a character to qualify for the role of a protagonist. As I mentioned, he spends over half the book just floating with the current, not engaged with the world at all, just observing it from the shadows. And I understand why the author wrote him this way and fully appreciate his transformation by the end of the book, but it really makes for a boring character to follow.

Also, since Sato doesn't particularly care about any members of his "found family" for half the book, I found it hard to care for them as well. The bonds haven't been established or properly showcased beforehand, so when bad things start to happen to them, there isn't this sense of urgency and outrage that I should be feeling. In fact, I empathized with the dog more than I did with any other characters in this book, so that says something.

All in all, this was an interesting story and a good glimpse into a different culture. It would have been better if Sato had been more involved with the world around him from the get go.

PS: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a while to process my thoughts on this one.

It is a noir crime thriller set in the Yakuza underworld of Tokyo, told from the point of view of Sato.
Most of the action takes place in the bustling grimy city but occasionally we venture into the serene calm of the boss’s villas and gardens. The writing is crisp and the descriptions highly evocative. The world building and characters are well developed.
As the story develops it picks up pace and a folk-tale fantasy element is introduced which helps bring the story to a logical if strange conclusion.

With the central character being a Yakuza assassin violence is not unexpected but there was a certain cold and brutal calm in how the sex and violence were portrayed that was a little unnerving.
And although I quite liked the main characters they ‘read‘ young to me and I had difficulty remembering they were meant to be in their 30s.
There is also a magical realistic element where Sato steps through a mirror into a world that I think was meant to express his inner self but it was never clear.

I was fascinated by the narrative but I am still not sure whether I actually liked it.
A well deserved 4 stars even if I have difficulty understanding exactly why.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

At times this story entrails the reader with its fantasy aspect. A mirror that leads to the underbelly of Shinjuku, where only those who can't reflect on its surface can travel to the many rooms it offers behind it. The main protagonist works for the Yakuza, he is a complex character, that at times feels like a broken vessel, following through the motions, questioning his surroundings and also himself. He's certain, somehow, of what the future holds. He's being waiting for a promotion inside the organization, one that arrives after he kills the man holding the position he desires. The many layered characters and story, make this is a must read for fans of Japanese thriller, fantasy genre. I'll be looking forward to read more books from the author.

3/5

Maybe this book wasn’t for me in the way I’d hoped for. Or it could possibility be that I wasn’t in the right place to enjoy the story. Either way the writing and plot are good, but I couldn’t get fully immersed into the book for some reason.

Thank your NetGalley for allowing me to read and submit an honest reverie.

Beautifully written and artfully crafted, featuring interesting characters. For a 266 page arc, i thought it took too long to get to the meat of the story.

Ryu Takeshi had me at assasin and Tokyo! This book's description sounded like it was right up my alley so I was super excited to read it. I love Ryu's poetic way of writing and the way he builds vivid images in your mind with his words. He did a fantastic job of portraying the forgotten and dark streets of Tokyo where darker beings reside, People who no longer seem tethered to the real world and are trying to find their way. The story itself was very intriguing but at times I felt like there was too much description and I got lost in the vividness of the story but not really understanding what the protagonist was after, or where the story was going. I wasn't able to fall in love or really bond with the characters which I felt disappointed about. I did enjoy the element of foreshadowing certain events in the story's timeline but reading this book took me some time as I couldn't fully get into it. I really wanted to love this but I found myself kind of indifferent to it. Not a fan but I don't completely dislike it!

Thankyou to Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel and for allowing me to share my unfiltered thoughts!

The summary of this book sounded great: Tokyo at night, yakuza, an assassin main character, and some fantasy; just the kinds of things that pique my interest.
The problem is, there is too much in this book. I got a feel for Tokyo because the atmosphere is conveyed well, and I liked how Sato is so disconnected from everything around him. (Rescued off the streets by a yakuza boss, raised to be an assassin, Sato struggles to make with connections to others. So his near constant flat affect felt believable.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I liked in this overstuffed book. I felt no connection to the characters, kept wondering when things would be properly revealed (and I guessed right about Sato and some other things pretty early into the book).
I wanted to like this book, but had trouble keeping focused on the action, and thought the story could have been trimmed without losing what the author wanted to do with the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Purple Crow Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

A worldbuilding masterclass that developed the manner of contemporary crime thriller that plumbs the depth of nightlife in Tokyo. There are elements of Big Hero 6 that looked at the changes of our reality.

I went into this book with really high expectations, but I feel that they weren't quite met.

In the first half of the book, we are introduced to some of the key characters, but nothing happens plot wise. The book suffers from over detailing as well, which made the start drag on longer than it needed to.

The story did start to pick up near the end, but it felt like it was too little too late.

For the most part, the characters were likeable but often times felt very childish. They're supposed to be in the 30s and 40s but felt more like teenagers.

Overall, I had expected more from this, and even the ending wasn't enough to raise my opinion of the book.

Since this tale takes place in Tokyo - within parts of the Yakuza - you can expect a lot of Japanese culture. It speaks highly of Rye's talent that he's able to capture the reader effortlessy within this world, in a way that even a westerner like me can find his way. Well done!

There are a lot of movies about Yakuza and Ninja and their likes out there, and I must admit to being partial to those sometimes. Even when they contain some supernatural elements (Ninja Assassin, anyone?) - so this book is right up my alley! If you like these themes and philosophical observations, you can't go wrong with Shadow Shinjuku.

Just like Tokyo is a mixture of the modern and the classical, Sato will experience things that defy a clear categorization. And so this tale blends Yakuza life with philosophy and the supernatural. The resulting blend does, in itself, again deny every categorization. It's a novel, sure. But what kind of novel exactly?

Certainly it's a good one. And the tapestry of tales from the past, the philosophy about life - in general, and specifically about life in Tokyo's underworld - do well to hide the fact that there isn't much going on at present. Not much action, I mean - and the one instance of violence you're going to encounter in the first half feels so remote, so distanced. It's more art then violence.

As things tend to be for simpletons the world around - I'm talking about us, guys -, everything starts to change when we meet that one girl. (It's not limited to romantic relationships though, it could be a relationship of some other kind; just für the record.) In this case, that girl is the daughter of Sato's boss. And Sato learns he is but meant to be the bodyguard of his boss, as he thought - instead, he's going to be guarding her.

»We crave normality in our lives, but we ridicule it at the same time and strive to be different from everybody else. It's confusing. Jesus must've been confused. I'm confused.«
-- Ren

What starts out as a Yakuza crime novel quickly turns into a journey, not only throughout Tokyo at night, but to a man's soul - or even his abyss, if you would like. And there are many more abysses along the way. And slowly, while Sato tries to keep control of what's happening around him, his life starts to unravel instead. And he finds that there are more people like him out there, people he sometimes think of as denizens of shadow Shinjuku. (Shinjuku is a district of Tokyo.)

There is one interpretation I'm going to share with you, because I was dwelling heavy about it. In Sato's world, some people (including him, Ren and others) are kind of removed from the world; maybe by unlocking something dark deep within them. They are not able to see their mirror images, but can instead use some mirrors as portals to other places. Combine that with Sato's love für the night, and I was thinking about some kind of vampirism. (Without blood drinking, but as some kind of symbology.) Then I thought about the meaning of mirrors in Japan, and according to a site I found:

- In Japanese culture, mirrors are one of the strongest symbols of power and are revered as sacred objects that represent the gods. -


That's curious, but it fits the narrative - those people have awakened something inside them that broke their bond to the divine, unhinging them from our world removing them from the eyes of the gods - which vibes with the pop culture idea of Cain as the first vampire, who was removed from God's Eye by way of his mark. Of course, that's just my interpretation. Food for thought. And like a vampire craves blood, these people have their cravings, too. Don't we all?

»We need stuff, hell, we <em>crave</em> stuff to manage our fears somehow, our weaknesses, our fragility. And it's true for all of us.«
-- Kobayashi

*****

In the end, this tale is a spiritual journey. There are beautiful words, almost poem like, blended with philosophical ideas and counterbalanced with the ugly and mundane. If this would be a movie, it would be art cinema, and it worked be worth the ticket. And add it is with true art: You have to experience it for yourself. I recommend you do.

I've been finding more and more books that are outside my usual niche. This is one of the books I tried out, in this effort to try new genres and authors. I'm still ruminating, even now, on Shadow Shinjuku. The world, the characters, all the detail that the author put into everything. There were a few times where things dragged for me, because there was just so many details to take in. I don't know if I would want the writing to be cut down, but for me it could take me out of things sometimes. But overall, the story was fantastical and it'll be interesting to see what Ryu Takeshi does next.

I can easily see this becoming a Hollywood movie, but I would also be very nervous about this becoming a Hollywood movie and not making it justice. I really enjoyed the escenary it described, I could see it very vividly. I think the main character, it's depth and development through out the story was very interesting and I like how it touches on the subject on how to define good and bad and puts on the table the idea of it depending on point of view. The magical, mystical elements of the story were very intriguing and it kept your attention untill the very last sentence. Really looking forward to read more about this world since I already downloaded Abalone and reading more about the author in general.

Shadow Shinjuku was a book it took me a little while to get into. For the first third I wasn't sure what to make of it, but then the story really took off and I became more deeply involved with the characters and the action. I've gone with 'fantasy' as the genre in my note above; however, it's hard to decide how to class this story as it's a blend of gangster drama with elements of fantasy/magical realism woven through. It was once the fantastical elements started to come to the fore that the book engaged me, as, from that point onwards, I was interested to see how events would play out. Shadow Shinjuku certainly offers something a little different and it's worth persevering through the opening sections to get to the main thrust of the story. I would read more from this author in the future, and this book gets 3.5 stars from me, which I will round up to a four.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.