Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Flame in the Mist is the new masterpiece by Renee Ahdieh and just like with The Wrath and the Dawn she smashed it. This book is marketed as a Mulan retelling set in feudal Japan but I'm telling you now that the plot and characters are completely different which is great because as much as I love Mulan, it means you're getting a story with a distinctly Japanese feel.



What I Liked

There are many things to like about this book so I'm going to start with the characters who are all pretty damn amazing. Flame in the Mist introduces Mariko, a seventeen-year-old girl who was going to be married off to the eldest son of the Emperor. Only when she's on her way there, her caravan is attacked and she is the only survivor. Finding out who attacked them, Mariko decided to disguise herself as a boy to get involved with her attackers so she can get her revenge. Once she joins them she meets Okami and that's where her romance begins. But even on her own Mariko is such an amazing and strong character. She's not a fighter though she tries to and for someone who was raised to sit and be pretty, she's incredibly smart and a great inventor. You see her creating the shuriken and smoke bombs and it's all really cool. Okami, on the other hand, is a little meaner than I usually like in my male characters but you understand why he behaves the way it does. Plus his attitude often adds to the humour. This humour is also partly what made their romantic relationship so great, there's a scene where she swings a lamp at her face and you can just imagine her oops face when she gets caught and I'm not gonna lie, that thought had me in giggles. The romance in this book is actually kind of a slow burn with a lot of arguments and humour but that's something that I really liked.

This book was obviously set in a fantasy world but it's one inspired by feudal Japan. This has made the settings incredibly beautiful and fantastical settings and I could lose myself in the world. The descriptions of the settings, of the characters and of the relationships are gorgeous and just so well-written. It makes the book so easy to read and lose yourself in and that alone makes this book a must-read. With the book being set in Japan, there are some features that you won't get in other fantasy books such as the geiko and maiko. I loved Yumi as a character and I loved the idea of using the geiko and maiko to spread messages and I was so happy that Mariko admired them and admitted that they're powerful-seeming women as they really would have been back then. 

Finally, I liked the cliffhanger and I look forward to reading the next book.


What I Didn't Like

I only had two issues with this book and one of those was that the final battle seemed a little quick. I know that in the heat of battle things can go quickly but because of the POV switches, it just seemed a little too fast at times.

My other issue was that considering this was a Japanese fantasy world, there wasn't enough yokai for my liking. That's just personal preference though and I hope there will be more next time as they can be really fascinating.


Other than that it's such a good book though and such an easy read. I really do recommend it to everyone.

5/5 stars