I was really intrigued with this book but I could not finish it as the writing was too difficult for me to read.

An Asian-American urban fantasy in the October Daye mold, Ebony Gate is a promising start to what will hopefully be a long-running series. Emiko Soong has retired from her bloody days as the Blade of her clan of wealthy, magical dragon descendants, living a quiet if paranoid life in San Francisco as an art appraiser. A family debt to a death spirit pulls her back into the magical world, hunting for a way to seal a gate to the land of the dead before the death spirit is forced to use Emiko's soul to patch the damage. The hidden world is richly drawn and compelling, the politics are intricate but not belabored, and the story zips along. Some cliches of the genre dull the gleam slightly - the beautiful men Emiko just can't stand but has constantly restated sexual chemistry with, the magical call to become the Sentinel (or magical guardian) of San Francisco that Emiko rejects until she accepts - but overall it is an enjoyable ride. Perfect for urban fantasy fans eager for something new, or for people trying to scratch that Toby itch before the next installments.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

John Wick meets monster-slaying? Freaking yes please! Unfortunately, this didn't work for me and it was a DNF around 20%.

The concept is obviously fantastic and I can't really speak to the overall story development, but the writing was not at all what I'd expect from such an anticipated release. Right off the bat, there's a ton of info dumps and things are told to the reader that easily could've been shown. The writing was repetitive, awkward, and honestly read like an early draft as opposed to a finished product.

Ebony Gate is a great start to an urban fantasy series, filled with action, high stakes and magic.

Emiko Soong is retired from being the Butcher of Beijing and living a quiet life assessing antiques in San Francisco. When a death god calls in a favour, she finds herself drawn back into a fight between clans.

I liked Emiko, she’s a reluctant hero with a strained relationship with her family. I thought her journey to accepting her own power and adjusting her expectations of herself to be a very relatable one. I’m really interested to see more of Emiko’s history with her family and what secrets they have been hiding from her.

It will be really interesting to see where this story goes and how the repercussions of Ebony Gate’s plot affects the clans worldwide. I had some issues with the pace. (the ending was very drawn out) but I would still recommend this for fans of action based urban fantasy. I can tell book two will up the ante! There’s a lot that has been set up and I’m excited to see where it goes!

Tor Publishing had me with, “Ebony Gate is a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown.” The Beijing Butcher walked away from the family and commitments to reinvent herself as a merchant in San Francisco, but the monsters still need hunting, syndicate families still vye for power, and a blood debt is owed to a death god.

It was everything I hoped it would be: an immersive, cinematic, thrill ride perfect for escapist thrill seeking readers. The beginning of a trilogy, I am here for the whole thing. Can’t wait to read the next installment.

Fans of the Green Bone Saga and readers who favor the elemental style powers in Avatar: the Last AirBender will adore this book out July 11 2023 in the United States.

Thanks for the preview opportunity Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley

As soon as I saw the book described as ‘a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown’ I knew I had to check it out. And when the opening chapter started with a decapitated Yeti I knew wasn’t going to be disappointed. All Emiko, also know as the Butcher of Beijing, wanted was to put violence in the rearview mirror and live a quiet peaceful life. But as Mick Jagger is found of saying, ‘you can’t always get what you want’, and that is definitely the case for Emiko as a family debt forces her back into action. I loved the world building, the complex magic systems, and the rich use of Chinese/Japanese myth/lore. The story is excellent and the action fast and furious. This is one the most refreshing urban fantasies I’ve read in quite a while, and I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. I’d like to thank Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Ebony Gate.

Really good urban fantasy. I love the MC and the plot. So much going on and such great characters. I had a blast with it.

For decades San Francisco remained peaceful under the established truce but now the city is shifting and it’s hard to know which side, if any, to trust.

Tasked with upholding her familial blood debt, Emiko has two days to find the Ebony Gate and its anchor before her life is forfeited.

While fighting against the life she left behind as The Butcher of Beijing, Emiko has to learn to rely on new allies, old familial connections, and navigate Clan politics, something she is adamantly avoiding.

This story is really heavy on the world building, which makes sense considering it’s the first in the series. Readers will definitely have multiple chances to understand the clan history and magic system since it’s a bit complicated.

Overall, definitely worth the read and I’m excited for the second book!

Ebony Gate by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle is the first book from The Phoenix Hoard series. This story should have vibes of John Wick but do not worry - no dog dies here. Ebony Gate promises a dark bloody vibe, dragon magic, clan politics, and a full charge of action.

The main character, Emiko Soong, is a retired assassin. The Butcher of Beijing and the Blade. Emiko is strong, smart, badass, and without a magic talent. Emiko is the narrator of this book and her point of view is sometimes unreliable. This book has more than 400 pages and I can not tell you almost anything about her past or personality. She feels kind of flat. All the characters are just purpose-built. I didn't care about them and didn't have any empathy for them.

The story is set in a very short time and everyone is pressured by a deadline but I didn't feel it. Emiko was not stressed, she acted and talked as if she has whole weeks to finish the Talon. Another weird thing (for me) was that the magic system didn't have rules. Or I didn't know about them as a reader. What they can do? What types of talent there were and which one was the strongest? Emiko did not possess any magic talent but somehow she could beat them all. Okay, she was the Blade, but what made her so special? I was told she was special but I can not see that. Authors told us many things but many times they forgot about the art of showing and explaining.

The plot was great. I liked the world of duty and clans. I loved that mythology, but it was so vaguely explained that at the end of the book I still had the same questions as at the beginning. What are the rules of magic? Why is Emiko the Butcher? Why she had broken the sword? I could go on and on.

The story was written by two talented authors but they left so many plot holes and unexplained questions that they made the extraordinary story only a good story.

Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

I was so excited for this story and, while there were parts that I adored: the culture, the epic fight scenes and the overall mystery, it just didn't properly hit the spot for me and I think that boils down to both a lack of and an abundance of development.

Emiko is someone who has disgraced her clan after breaking her sword and loosing the position of the blade. Known as The Butcher of Beijing she know lives a life of relative quiet working for the clans who run the city. But when a shinigami, a death god, calls in a Talon her mother had given him, Emiko finds herself trying to recover the Ebony Gate, the only thing holding back the spirits from the underworld from taking over San Francisco. Retired she may be, but Emiko isn't one to back down from a fight, especially when her souls on the line, but she quickly finds out this mystery runs deeper than she ever thought and if she is to survive, she will need to ask for help from the unlikeliest of places.

Now you might be asking me, Becky, how can a book be both over and under developed. Well... it's not something I've ever encountered before, but was massively prevalent in this book. I suppose it could bottle down to over repetitiveness rather than over development, but I felt like Emiko was someone who we learnt a lot about, and yet by the end of the book I still had so many unanswered questions, which would be fine, but these were parts of the book that were mentioned once, in a small way and just never picked up on again, but seemed really pivotal to her character and the furthering of the story. And on the flip side, we must have been told why Emiko disgraced her clan and broke her blade about 20-30 times throughout the story, way more than was needed, and after the first mention it did nothing but fill page space. Emiko herself was a great character though, she did struggle with her identity a little, never quite able to give up the facade of the Butcher, no matter how much she disliked the moniker. But she was someone incredibly rooted in her culture, and home in San Francisco and someone who would do whatever it took to protect them.

The world building was incredibly intense in parts, and I did struggle for a while to get my head about the different magics, aura's etc. The authors did a fantastic job of weaving in Asian folklore and I really enjoyed the idea of a hidden magical side to San Francisco. In fact the culture and magic almost gave me Green Bone saga vibes with the different clans, their hierarchies and magical abilities. But it just desperately needed more development and there were times when I just felt the authors gave us almost an overload of information without actually telling us anything of use.

The writing style was pretty simplistic, which isn't a bad thing at all. The authors ability to to describe fight scenes as well as the magical abilities in use was spectacular, and these were some of my favourite parts of the book. The things that let it down were the repetitiveness (mentioned above) as well as what I can only describe as filler words/paragraphs that added nothing to the story and did nothing but take me out of it whenever I came across one. This wasn't a short book, it absolutely did not need any kind of filler passages and actually would have been a more enjoyable read without them. There was also the potential for a love triangle in book two that I'm seriously hoping doesn't happen because it is definitely not going to be one of the exceptions.

Despite all the above, because I feel like this review has come off mega negative, I did enjoy the story. The characters were brilliantly rendered and it's definitely a world and magic that I would like to learn more about. As well as that, despite some pacing issues in the first part of the book, the story significantly picks up pace and I'm hoping that a lot of the questions I asked in this book will be answered in the next. I think this might be a series you have to be willing to stick with to get your development and questions answered, and I will be keeping my eye out for book two.

*3.5 rounded up*
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Ebony Gate" by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle has been touted as a fantasy "John Wick" style story and I am finally not disappointed by a comparison! I typically get so disappointed by books that are compared to movies, shows, and/or other books in their descriptions but this one did not disappoint. This is also a rare book in which the described female main character badass is actually a badass and not some flat, two-dimensional caricature. Emiko, the Butcher, is so damn cool and as a character I really liked her. She's a great and competent, but realistic character for us to follow. That said, I did have some issues with this.

I found the magic system just a bit confusing but I did appreciate how much the story and magic drew from all of these East Asian cultures. But I did find myself having to really remember the different terminology and hierarchies that was associated with Emiko's family and their world. I do think it's quite a lot of information dump that is spread throughout the novel and it was likely done that way to avoid being too expository within the first couple of chapters but I wish there was some kind of chart or list of terms. Ironically, I did want less information and set-up about Emiko's daily life before the events of the book take off. I mean, there's A LOT of info-dumping about the minutia of Emiko's day that I felt didn't really serve the narrative as a whole so it just kind of felt pointless even though I can see the reasoning behind including all of it. It just didn't make for a super tight and cohesive narrative and reading experience.

Overall though, this is such a fantastic first book. I think Vee and Bebelle did an amazing job introducing readers to this wildly cool world of magic and Emiko is a compelling main character that you can't help but root for. This is such a cinematic book and I can't wait for the second book and finally meeting Emiko's mom (!).

Feminist power and badass swordplay, enough said. I loved the plot, but the writing style was a bit basic for my taste when it comes to fantasy. I needed MORE and I was constantly grasping for something deeper that never delivered. Jury is still out on whether I will continue with the series, but I enjoyed this well enough!

This was a good story sandwiched between a slow start and drawn out ending.

Ebony Gate follows Emiko Soong, the retired Butcher of Beijing and daughter of one of the eight dragon clans, as she sets out to fulfill a blood debt called in by a shinigami.

The magic system in this book was fascinating, rich and layered but far from confusing. I really enjoyed the way different Asian cultures and folklore were incorporated to paint this whole hidden society in modern San Francisco.

The setup of Emiko’s past gripped me, but I would trim so much from the beginning. The exposition of her daily activities that went into unnecessary detail, the introduction to characters we never see again… it slowed it all down to an awkward pace I don’t really expect right out the gate.

Regarding pace, Emiko had a short deadline that kept the story contained to a couple days. I was expecting the action to move at breakneck speed but it just felt like time was slowing down at the MC’s convenience and by the end it seemed like minutes were being tacked on for the sake of the plot.

I liked Emiko. She was a strong character, with an intriguing past and interesting possibilities. However, the hints about her talent were getting a little too heavy handed for her to keep glossing over them. I didn’t like being that much ahead of the MC as a reader, especially in a first person narration.

I also liked Fiona and wasn’t a fan of the little jabs at her from Emiko. They felt unwarranted most of the time, and like trying to make her less likeable for the sake of making Kamon a romantic possibility.

All in all, this was very fun and I enjoyed it a lot more than I usually do urban fantasy. I’m excited to continue the series, meet Emiko’s mom(!!!) and uncover more of this vibrant world.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was an ENIGMA! I loved every moment of it. If you want a high Asian fantasy with complex characters and a unique magic system this is the series for you! The first installment of this series follows the POV of Emiko Soong. Emiko is a walking paradox, she is a no bullshit bad ass who is prickly but yet deeply emotional. Once the Blade of her clan, one of the eight most powerful clans, she fled her old live to start over in San Francisco. After a year of order and calmness, Emiko is called on to payback a favor to the Death God himself in place of her mother and brother. On this journey, she is made to confront old wounds and find out who she truly is and her mother has been hiding from her all along.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING! So incredibly well written. Emiko had me in a chokehold and I love how prickly she is but yet she cares so much.
This book has:
-found family
-bad ass FMC
-unique magic system
-dragon lore
-unrequited love
-himbo kings aka Freddy

I highly recommend this book so much and I cannot wait for book two! This took me for a wild ride and was brilliant written. Asian fantasy is always my fave but this one has really captured my heart. The characters come alive on the page and you can truly feel them especially with Emiko’s description of everyone. I cannot wait to see where they go with this and to read the rest of Emiko’s journey.

This was such an interesting concept. We had magic with different layers and strengths; Asian inspired creatures; and a rich, underground culture. The plot moved at a quick pace with lots of action and plenty of mystery to keep me turning the page. My only complaint is with the characters. They seemed a little flat. There were times when Emiko showed a personality with her humor, but often times I just craved to know her as a person.
Other than that, it was a fun, action-packed read!

I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

I'm a sucker for chinese cdramas. So if I see anything with a sense of it being cdrama esque I grab it. I want to bring attention to non-Chinese readers. So I thought the summary captured that essence.

Now after reading it, I'm sad to say ... it was pretty stale. There was a sense of detatchment with the main character. It was all explicitly spelled out but I felt no real umph or drive to the story. It had a dull opening and I made it 25% through before closing it.

For a modern day fantasy, I expected better? Maybe others with not so high expectations will enjoy it.

Female John Wick except with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown? HELL YEAH. Emiko Soong is part of one of the eight premier magical families of the world, but unlike many others she isn’t that gifted with magic but rather blades. She became the Blade of the Soong Clan, or rather... she is known as the Butcher of Beijing before she moved to San Francisco. But Emiko is done with that life, she left her clan and broke her blade in an attempt to retire and finally get away from the killing... but when a Talon ( think of it like a blood oath marker that essentially is a debt- once called upon must be answered), is activated and she goes to answer it to save her younger brother who is the heir to the clan from having to deal with it... things are about to get bloody. To her shock Emiko discovers that her mother has given a Talon to a shinigami, a god of death.... and now Emiko finds herself being tasked with finding the Ebony Gate... a doorway that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi Underworld and if she can’t retrieve it she will have to forfeit her soul as the anchor instead. Finding this door is going to be harder than ever and it means that Emiko has to go back to her past career as the Blade and not only try and make new allies but uncover the new enemies who are after the door as well. With her blades, her pet lion, and a ticking clock, Emiko will have to slash her way to uncovering the truth behind why her mother owes a Talon to a Shinigami and what Emiko wants to do with her future. This is the first book in a series and WHAT A RIDE!!! It was non stop action, adventure, and I absolutely adored Emiko so much and BAO!!! (he deserves all the scratches and treats). I am so excited to see what the next two books bring and where Emiko’s relationship with certain individuals in this book goes, you get to see her open herself up to others and friendship in this book and it was wonderful. The quest was a fun one and the world setting was so interesting!! Definitely give this one a go if you like action fantasy with a bit of a twist and a contemporary setting!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I’ll be honest, I had no idea this was a modern day, urban fantasy novel until the moment I started reading it! I mean, it does mention San Francisco right there in the summary, so I really have no excuse. I think I just focused on the first paragraph and the overall feel of the cover art style. But I was definitely pleased when I did get it all straight in my head! I’m always on the look out for a good urban fantasy series, and this one definitely had a lot of unique ideas being presented right off that set it out to a good start.

While this book wasn’t the perfect fit I was hoping for, there was a lot to like, starting with the aspects that make it unique from other urban fantasy and paranormal novels. For one thing, I really enjoyed the use of San Francisco and China Town as the main location for the story. The location felt fresh and vibrant, and I loved how Chinese culture was woven throughout this aspect of the story. I particularly enjoyed how the various magical families had their own territories and would compete for power and wealth. This book has been marketed as a “female John Wick” story, and you could definitely see how this comparison could be made with this secretive, often violent, society operating within the borders of what we think is regular life.

There were also a lot of interesting magical elements to be found. In particular, the gates themselves and how access and use of them are managed. I also liked the choice to have Emiko herself not being a magic user, instead having to rely on her fighting abilities to make her way through this world. This was especially interesting for her having come from a supremely powerful magical family, and how this lack of magic has defined her life and choices. However, this did lead to times where I found myself becoming more interested in Emiko’s mother’s story than Emiko’s own.

And that speaks a bit to where the story started to come apart for me. Emiko is a pretty straight-forward urban fantasy heroine. I’m not sure quite why this is, but there is a bit of a standard to be found in urban fantasy and paranormal fiction where the leading character isn’t necessarily super complex with loads of depth or personality. And the same can be said about Emiko. Was she the worst? No. But was she particularly compelling on her own? Also, no. Much of the book is spent with her fixating on her own lack of magical abilities and her resistance to falling back into a life of killing (a resistance that is obviously futile as is seen within the first few chapters even). I kept hoping we would get a bit more from her, and it just didn’t come.

But my main struggle came with the style of writing itself. It’s a very straight-forward, “telling” sort of writing. In many ways, again, it does fit with the style of writing often found in urban fantasy/paranormal fiction. But here, I really did find some of it wanting. There was a very repetitive use of language and sentence structure that immediately hit me. Within the first few pages, there was a paragraph where the word “thug” was used to describe a group of people three times. On my kindle, this one word was literally stacked upon itself in three lines. Not only is this an unforgivable lack in creative vocabulary, but it speaks to the overly straight-forward approach to style and substance that the same word needed to be used three times in such quick succession to describe a scene and its action. From there, it really was hard to not be continuously distracted by the weak points of the writing itself. There were filler words dropped in everywhere, and an overall lack of any unique style or expression. Readers who really enjoy urban fantasy and paranormal fiction may be less bothered by this than I am, however, as there is a standard set in this subgenre for a fairly straight forward, “telling” sort of writing.

While I did struggle with this book, I am intrigued by the overall concept and world. Emiko also seems like a great character that can grow a lot in future books, even if all we got here was the very basic foundation for who she is. I will likely continue this series, just to see where it’s all going, and hopefully some of the writing wrinkles will smooth over in future books, as well.

Rating 7: A vibrant new urban fantasy world, if only held back by some weaknesses in the writing and a lack of overall depth to the main character.

(Link will go live July 19)

Thank you to Tor and Netgalley for the eARC!

Unfortunately, this was a "its not you, its me situation." I don't read much YA at all, but I thought maybe YA urban fantasy would be more my speed. It is not. I have learned that now. I DNF'd this at 30%. I just don't see myself having any strong feelings for it if I were to finish it. Its not a bad book, I just don't think its for me.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, it fell flat for me and I had to DNF. While I did like the little details in the book (house deco, her favorite pants, etc.) the plot moved at a snail's pace which made me feel like I was just wasting my time reading filler paragraph after paragraph.

I did think the ability to jump between places was very cool! I loved the world-building of the clans, hierarchy, and legends (similar to Jade City, if I had to pick a book). The idea of our MC being the Butcher is such a refreshing concept. I like it when our MC is already immersed in the universe. But the plot dragged and we'd get halfway through the book before realizing a day only passed. The majority of the characters (including the MC) were dull and had no dimension to them. And although the romance/love interest was extremely subplot, they have nooo chemistry.