Review of Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Stormdancer is was one of those, "Read it and you'll love it," type of books as long as you avoid its major flaw: research. Nothing in the story itself felt amiss, except for the need to have the characters speak in bursts of Japanese for the sake of novelty. Especially when that Japanese is not only wrong, but ill placed. Assuming that it was supposed to draw me in, it induced the opposite effect, pushing me away from the story--which was not only interesting, but melded with characters, demons, and a setting that is to be remembered. It's a plot I've heard all to much growing up. There's an evil tyrant that needs to be overthrown. The character goes against the norm of their culture and there's the slightest bit of magic involved. And with some luck, our hero, or in this case heroine, will somehow pull through it all.  Simple right? It's when it is mixed with a religious fervor of a clan of engineers and a class of warriors clasped in steampunk armor and chainsaw swords that I find myself caught up in its flow. Not to mention that Kristoff's writing just feels nice to read. Battles don't try to force me into the scene or scare me away with how grotesque they may get. Rather, they feel beautiful to read and often reread in order to capture the momentum of the scene. They read beautifully and I was never disappointed. The one thing I did think on was sex and romance and how easily the book flowed into the subject. I'm highly critical of any romance of all the books I read. You know you get a sour taste in your mouth when our two heroes--who hate each other or are fighting against cultural norms--somehow end up together. You see it a mile away and hope that it doesn't take up too much time away from the plot. Instead, it played more like a diversion from how harsh the world is. That you should find something to make your life more bearable was what I felt to be one of the main points of the plot. I do sort of wish that Hiro, the green eyed samurai, was given more depth, but as I write this review, maybe the lack of depth was what Kristoff was aiming for, specifically for this character. You'll find out what I mean by finishing the book. While I don't want to give too much away, I can't tell if I loved the main cast or the world and situations they were born into. The guild with their steampunk machinery combined with the mantra of the lotus must bloom is still fresh in my mind. The tattoos (I'm a big lover of tattoos) that link with the four clans and their stations were something to behold. From what I can assume, all clans have a mantra of sorts with Kitsune's "looks after its own" being one of them. I'd love to hear the other three in the future books in time. But out of all this, Buruu's interactions with Yukiko are a great read. Not just because of the back and forth that will make you laugh, or in my case trying in vain to stifle yours while in the bookstore, but because of how they both change due to the mental link they share. Also, he's just cool. A thunder tiger is not something you can think of without being thrilled soon after. As you can tell, I loved this book. Regrettably, I can't give it the five star rating I want to give it. At least I can't at the moment. Yes, it does come back to the gratuitous and wrong Japanese, I was lured away from it. Granted, I do feel somewhat wrong for telling someone to ignore the Japanese when spoken, but the story was great and should not be missed. I'll definitely be checking out the next book soon and if he's changed his language around a bit, I may go back and give this book the rating I want to give it.