Considering how the first book made me feel, I felt like it was all worth it in the end. We go on another adventure in this book and meet new mythological beings and their stories, which is one of my favorite parts of this duology. I did think the end was a bit... anticlimactic, especially with how much Ren was worried, but I enjoyed it overall. A good read

The Empress of Time is the second and final book in the series that started with The Keeper of the Night. In the series we follow Ren a half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami as she struggles with power and her coping with the fact that she isn't accepted in either the British or Japanese society due to her being a mix of both. I adored the first book in the series but I struggled with this second book. It was both darker and slower paced to me. I also struggled to connect with Ren and found her character to be very unlikeable in this book.

I loved the narrator, Rebecca Yeo, and I feel that without her captivating narration I would not have finished this book. Her accents, pacing and the easy differentiation between characters kept me engrossed in the story. I had read the paper copy of the first book and I am going to go back to listen to the narrated version because I really enjoyed Yeo's narration.

Ren comes into her own in this second book of The Keeper of Night series. She’s a half British reaper and a half Japanese Shinigami, who has become the Goddess of Death.
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I enjoyed this book even more than the first one. There was more depth and the characters were wonderfully complex. The audiobook specifically gave the characters so much personality.
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This dark fantasy was compelling and intriguing with wonderful world building. There were some parts that were a tad bit slow, just like the first book, but it picked up in the end. I really loved the immersion of the Japanese gods and folklore.

I really loved this one. I read the first book in the duology, so I was excited to see the end of Ren's story and this did not disappoint. The writing is exciting, detailed, and well done. The narration is attention-grabbing and really feels to capture Ren's voice. I really loved this one.

Not only was this audio fantastic and the narration absolutely perfect for Ren but it really had me immersed in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion to Ren's story but if Kylie Lee Baker wanted to revisit this world through a different characters POV I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up. I loved that this book stayed true to the dark and gruesome aspects of book 1 and Ren is a true morally gray character who does not need to change who she is for the story to progress. There is character development but she stays truly who she is.

I wasn't sure how the ending would go because as an immortal character I can't imagine Ren being paired up with a new love interest and it being happily ever after. I definitely recommend this gritty dark fantasy.

I can never say enough good things about this book.

After losing her brother and betrothed, Ren has gone through many years of heartache. This book starts with the pain and throughout the book, Ren gains her happiness back. Ren is pulled out of her life of pain and sorrow when her childhood rival decides to exact revenge. She must protect the life she has created for herself while going on a dangerous new adventure. She learns so much about herself and the stuff she is made of.

This book has darkness, hope, amazing character development, Japanese mythology, unexpected relationships, character arcs, and closure. There were so many loose ends at the end of the first book and this one allowed me to feel a little closure.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the opportunity to listen to this book.

I enjoyed diving back into the underworld for this second installment in Kylie Lee Baker’s duology. I really really loved the first book, and this one brought the series to a worthy and satisfying conclusion. Somehow I was less invested in the central quest plot-line this time around, but I did feel the story picked up in the second half and I still consider this a worthwhile read.
The worldbuilding in this duology is especially fun (dark, morbid, but fun) and I believe relatively unique among YA fantasy at the moment. I'm not an expert in Japanese or Chinese folk/literary/film traditions by any means so this is my extremely personal response based on recent reads/views… but to me, the vibes felt like a delightful combination of Death Note + Daughter of the Moon Goddess. 😂
I listened to an audiobook arc of this title courtesy of Libro.fm and NetGalley. The narrator, Rebecca Yeo, was perfect for this story and gave an overall excellent performance.

I was excited to continue the adventure with Ren. It was interesting to lurch into the story and join ren as a confident-sometimes irrational- Goddess of Death that was now ruling Japan's underworld. I will say in this second book Ren was not my favorite character, person--I may have shouted at her a few times but I could not help wanting her to succeed. I did struggle a little with the slow pacing but I get that the author was building a world and preparing us for the climax of the story. All in all I LOVED this effort from Kylie Lee baker!

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Death is her dynasty.

Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But Reapers have recently been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll only help Ren if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand.

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her in the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.

Dark, angry, and full of villainy, Empress of Time starts 10 years after Ren’s worst mistake, one she had been paying for every day to try to rectify. When an old enemy and an old friend each appear before her, Ren must do what it takes to save Japan, even if it might come at the cost of her own heart.

Ren is wonderfully bitter and vicious in this one and I adored her. While she’s choosing women’s wrongs, she’s also showing her vulnerability and compassion in the small ways. I really enjoyed her relationships in this book, including the smidge of romance with Tsukuyomi. He's comedy gold.

My only minor tiff is that I believe that the narrator is Chinese or Korean so some of her Japanese pronunciation is off? I could be wrong, but I noticed that she pronounced Tamamo-no-mae (Mae as in "Mah-eh") as Tamamo-no-MAY, which threw me off. I still really enjoyed her narration, especially with how she delivered Ren's bitterness.

This was a really nice ending for the duology and I was left satisfied. Can’t wait to read what Kylie has next!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “The Empress of Time” by Kylie Lee Baker. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

The first book in this duology was one of my favorite reads last year so I was excited to get back into this world! I do still think the first could be read as a standalone but I was curious to see where the story went.

As with the first book, there is a lot of violence and gore. It makes sense for the story but it’s worth noting.

Without getting spoilery, I enjoyed the story. I was excited to get back to this world and it didn’t disappoint. I kind of wish the new love interest had been a different person entirely with his own unique appearance rather than looking exactly like another character. It took me a bit to root for the relationship. I feel like I would have liked him more if he’d gotten to be more of his own person.

It was nice to get to see the characters from the first book. I found this to be a satisfying conclusion and would recommend both books. The narrator did a great job too.

I will be eagerly looking forward to whatever this author writes next!

4/5 stars

This was a fantastic book that combined devotion, culture, found family, and found belonging with mythology, magic, and a hint of hurt/comfort.

Thank you dreamscape and Netgalley for the audiobook arc. When I requested the book I wasn’t aware that the book was a sequel. But nonetheless, I was still interested in the book. What drew me in was the main character -- the goddess of death. I really enjoyed the lore about the different gods and other creatures introduced in the book. I think that was the best aspect of the book. Throughout the story, I felt somewhat annoyed with the main character. The violence and gore were written well, very descriptive, and added to the death goddess role. But the main character's authority was always undermined and up for question constantly. The book was action-packed, and I particularly liked the fighting toward the end. And the plot twist near the end was great. I think readers that really read between the lines will get the plot twist earlier in the story, but it caught me off guard. Although I give this book 3 stars, I am still interested in reading the first book. I think I will enjoy that one more than this one. I think it has opened up a small interest to read more about Japanese mythology. It’s very interesting. Also, the narrator was great I loved the voices she made, and their voice was so soothing. My review will be posted on Goodreads on 11/1/22.
as of 11/8/22, this review was posted on amazon:

Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But Reapers have recently been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll only help Ren if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand.

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her in the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.

Review
"This fast-moving, fantastical sequel is full of darkness, gore, anger, and fear, tempered by glimpses of love and forgiveness... Baker’s descriptions and immersive worldbuilding are beautifully detailed and enchanting." —Kirkus Reviews

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Picking up a decade after where THE KEEPER OF NIGHT left off, THE EMPRESS OF TIME starts with Ren (now the Goddess of Death), still searching for her brother Neven, while also preparing for Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, who is coming to Japan to seek out her revenge against Ren.

Overall I enjoyed the plot and band of characters from THE KEEPER OF NIGHT better, but THE EMPRESS OF TIME is a satisfying conclusion to this duology that does give character development and expands upon the events that happened in the first book.

This is a good series to hand to someone who is interested in reading more about Japanese mythology without a romantic arc being the focal point of the plot. The Keeper of Night series is much more about siblings and finding a place to belong than it is about Ren falling in love (there's some of that, but romantic love does not drive the plot).

Rebecca Yeo does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️ 3.5/5
I liked the first book, but I think I liked this one more. I preferred this journey of redemption that Wren went through and how much more layered her brother became. I also liked the new characters we met. But I enjoyed this theme of familiar love.
The only thing I didn’t understand was why Ivy was traveling halfway across the world to seek revenge, a decade later. Yes, I know time is weird because they live so long, but you would think she semi move past it since Wren is no longer in her life. Following that, I didn’t get why Wren still tried to fight Ivy on her own, to save Japan, but fully knowing that if she loses, her power and kingdom is transferred to Ivy. That seemed like to big of a risk without a good reason, besides maybe her pride
Overall, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed the narrator’s performance.
Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for providing the ARC audiobook for my honest review.

This is book two in The Keeper of the Night duology. There will be some spoilers to book one.
Ren is now Goddess of the Dead in Japan’s underworld but the other Shinigami are finding it difficult to follow her lead. We pick up 10 years after book 1 and Ren is still continuing to search for her beloved brother. There is also a threat to her and Japan as her old British Reaper nemesis wants to destroy her.

I love how absolutely dark, and even gory at times, this duology gets. The first book brought in a bit of horror folklore which was fun to listen to. This book gets into the nitty gritty of Ren’s internal battles. While I love a good internal struggle, this one seemed to go on rather long. Ren does have a lot of trauma but it took the entire book for her to really embrace herself and the pace to get there was very slow. After the end of the first book, I expected a change in personality from Ren, and at times that darkness really shined, but I expected more darkness and less self-sabotage. Aside from this, I did quite enjoy the overall conclusion to this duology. Once Ren does get herself together, things really fall in place well.

The Empress of Time is a solid sequel to the first book, The Keeper of Night. My biggest critique is that this story follows a lot of the same formula present in the first book- which is not necessarily bad, its just more of the same of what I enjoyed in the first book. We have a similar quest plot in order to receive a favor from a god figure, a similar presentation of Japanese mythological creatures, and a very similar romance arc. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers who are interested in morally grey characters, mythological and god characters, and a fantasy world that draws heavy inspiration from Japanese mythology.

This was a little rough for me going in without having read the first book, but I didn't hold that against it when rating.
I love the fantasy so immersed in Japanese culture, and the experiences of being a foreigner in Japan. I also love how dark this book is, and how the author covered violence. And the plot twist was very well done.
The only problem is I didn't find the main character particularly loveable.

There is something incredibly refreshing about this book. The main character is not a hero, she is not fighting for what’s right. She is selfish and morally black and I love her. Despite her many flaws I found myself routing for her constantly. There was one plot hole that still bothers me, but I can forgive the author!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion!

Absolutely loved this conclusion to this amazing duology! The darkness, the gore, the characters, I loved it all. I can’t wait to read more from this author!