Red Winter

“Actions change our course, influence our futures, but intentions define us, empower us. Without intent, we are nothing.”

I like reading about Japanese Mythology, they're not as prominent as Greek mythology, but for me they're are equally interesting, so it's no surprise that when this book was recommended to me I took the bai and read it. At first, I was a bit hesitant because I didn't want to dislike it. I was afraid that it would be one of those YA love stories and thankfully it's not. Sure, it leans more towards for teens but if you watch shoujo anime and love/enjoyed Inuyasha you will like this book. Emi's not one of those female leads who are infuriatingly a damsel in distress and she's not deadly powerful, fighting female lead show more either, she's somewhere in between. She has the power but doesn't have that deadly fighting skill. She's a sheltered Miko, raised for the sole purpose of becoming a kamigakari. The other two characters are interesting on their own, Shiro, an amnesiac Kitsune and Yumei The Tengu.

Book 1's a good introduction to the series, I like how the author gradually introduces you to their world, there's no cramming of info in several pages, it feels evenly spaced. In the end, you understand what the dilemma is, what needs to be done and who are the key characters. I highly suggest this book to anyone who likes YA, shoujo manga or anime and Japanese mythology

Some things were more important than her life, but that didn’t mean her life didn’t matter at all. And before she left this world for good, she would help her kami save it.

Also, this book has amazing art inside it by Brittany Jackson, I wish there was an index on where these images were located because I forgot to bookmark some of them (I'm reading from a Kindle) show less

***This book was reviewed via Netgalley***

Marie’s Red Winter tells the engaging story of Emi, a girl training as the kamigakari of Amaterasu. She’s been following this path for the past ten years and it is all coming to fruition. She is just two months shy of truly becoming the avatar of Amaterasu.

This path has been fraught with danger. Amaterasu has not had a kamigakari in a hundred years. Her priests will do anything and everything to ensure Emi is successful. Following a yokai attack three years previous, Emi has been moved from shrine to shrine every few months. Her final shrine home is in the deep mountains, close to where the final ceremony is to take place. Here she is reunited with Katsuo, whom she had last seen on that show more fateful day of the yokai attack. Katsuo is a sohei, a warrior priest, and one of two assigned to protect the kamigakari.

Despite the rapidly approaching ceremony date, Emi knows nothing about what to expect from it. When she comes into possession of a kannushi manual, she learns that everything she thought she knew about what being kamigakari means is false. For the past ten years she has sacrificed everything in order to train for this role. All of the things a young girl would expect to have done, Emi has missed out on. Sleepovers, junk food binges, kissing a boy, just to name a few. The demands of her training even cost Emi her family.

Emi's inner turmoil at learning the truth prompts a rash of reckless behaviour that lands her outside of the shrine grounds without either of her sohei guards. She meets a kitsune, and an oni, after getting lost in the woods. Though both are yokai, one becomes an erstwhile friend while the other would like nothing more than to call her lunch. By saving the life of the one, Emi earns a favour. What she asks for has the power to change everything.

Oh, I fell in love with this from the first word! This was my first experience with the author's works, but now I have big plans to go check her other books out. Marie weaves a wonderful story. I couldn't put this book down. I love books that focus on Asian mythology of any flavour, but Japanese mythology is a big favourite, especially since much of this recalled Inuyasha, an anime I also adore. To a lesser extent it reminded me of Saiyuki, another favourite anime. In addition to some rather brilliant writing by Marie, there are also some stunning illustrations by Brittany Jackson scattered throughout.

🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻Highly recommended, especially if you like books such as Colleen Houck's Tiger’s Curse series, Christina Farley’s Gilded series, and, of course, Inuyasha! show less

Red Winter was a fantastic start to the series! First, I was surprised by the BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS included. Seriously, they were gorgeous. And I loved all the mythology and world building. I wasn't sure if I would like Emi at first, but I loved her character growth. The reader watches Emi start to become her own person instead of seeing herself only as a vessel for a kami.

Also, I loved Shiro!!! He was my favorite character throughout the series. I enjoyed watching his character growth and learning more about him. Romance was not at all front and center in this first book... which I like because I've always preferred slow burn.

Emi has been the chosen of her goddess, Amaterasu, since she was eight. Upon the solstice of Emi's eighteenth year, Amaterasu will descend from the heavens and join with Emi's body, allowing Amaterasu to walk on earth again. But not everyone is happy with the idea of allowing a goddess to walk again and they'll do everything to prevent it.

I really enjoyed this. The world building was interesting and I liked Emi a lot. The plot was well paced and kept me intrigued and I liked the other characters. I loved Shiro and mostly liked Yumei. Shiro reminded me of Ash from Julie Kagawa's The Iron Fey. Very standoffish at times and hard to get a read on.

The romance between Shiro and Emi was good - lots of flirting and fluttery feelings. But it show more didn't overwhelm the plot - Emi was still focused on her duty and the problems at hand. I can't wait to read the next books.

A strong start to a new fantasy romance series. 4 stars. show less

*Rating 4.5 stars*
When I saw Red Winter available for review I signed up for it right away, because Japanese Mythology and diverse characters (yay for diversity)! I haven’t read Annette Marie’s previous novels, but I’m a huge fan of fantasy/mythology so I had to give this one a try. I have only come across a couple Asian Mythology based books so I was really excited to read Red Winter. I can happily say that it lived up to my expectations, despite a few bumps in the road in the beginning! Also, there’s artwork that goes along with the story and it’s gorgeous! I love it when books feature drawings in them. I wish it had more!

Plot: I don’t want to recap too much on the plot because I don’t want to spoil anything, but show more essentially Red Winter focuses on Emi, a kamigakari, or a human who hosts a godly spirit in her body. As expected of a Japanese mythology novel, there are a lot of Japanese terms featured. It was a little bit confusing and overwhelming in the beginning as everything was introduced to the reader all at once, but after about ¼ of the way through I got used to the flow of everything and became completely engrossed.
Admittedly, the plot isn’t the most original I’ve read. It follows the typical outline where the heroine believes being a host (or something of the sort) is wonderful, then they find out the truth, try to escape, and usually have some sort of deadline they’re fighting against. However, the Japanese mythology aspects added some novelty and kept the plot moving. The plot turned a lot more interesting once Emi banded together with Shiro and Yumei.

Characters: The characters were my favorite thing about Red Winter. The only thing I wished for was more character development, especially for Shiro and Yumei. They have such intriguing and mysterious backgrounds that weren’t delved into very much. However, they were mentioned in a way that set it up as a good foundation for the sequel, so I really hope we’ll get to know more about them. Emi does have some character growth, but she did have moments where she returned back to being a bit sheltered and biased.
My favorite characters were hands down Shiro and Yumei. I like how the reader was able to see the different sides of Shiro who was often snarky but also revealed his more emotional side. The hints about his past made me want to know more about him. Similarly, Yumei is also a very mysterious character. Not too much is said about his past, but there’s definitely a lot more to him so I hope there are more reveals about his character in the next book. I feel like both their characters have a large potential for development. Also, I loved the different creatures the Yokai could transform into.
The minor characters were simply that, minor characters. They were pretty cardboard cut-out to be honest, but they didn’t have much of a role in the plot overall so I wasn’t particularly bothered by their two-dimensionalism.

Romance: I don’t have much to say about the romance except for that I enjoyed it! Honestly, probably because I loved Shiro. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just leave at it was a cute romance. I’m pretty sure it gave me feels at one point. LOL

Overall, Red Winter was a really good mythology novel. Despite the slightly predictable beginning, the plot was definitely engrossing. I highly recommend this novel to any other fantasy and mythology lovers! I already can’t wait for the next novel! show less

I absolutely loved Marie’s Steel and Stone series and was incredibly excited to see that she has a new series starting. This book starts out pretty slow but it picked up a lot towards the second half and I ended up enjoying it.

I think part of what made the story slow at the beginning is that it is a bit of an info dump with all the Japanese mythology and terminology thrown at the reader. However, it does pick up pace quite a bit in the second half of the book and there is a lot more action.

I ended up enjoying the story quite a bit, I loved the action, and also loved the Japanese mythology that the story is based on.

As with the Stone and Steel series; Marie does an amazing job creating characters that are complex and easy to engage show more with. Additionally the action scenes are incredibly well written; I am not sure how Marie does it but the action scenes just absolutely grab you and have you on the edge of the seat. Marie also does a wonderful job creating a believable world that's nestled secretly next to our modern day world.

Overall this was a great start to a new fantasy series by Marie. I thought the start was a bit slow, but things really started to pick up in the second half. I am eager to read more about Emi and Shiro and figure out how they are going to balance the battle between the different ancient powers at work. I would recommend to those who enjoy urban fantasy and are interested in Japanese mythology. show less

Summary: This is a story about a Kamigakari of the wind goddess Ameterasu, her name is Emi. She has spent all her life preparing for the solstice, where Ameterasu will descend and Emi and her will share both body and mind. Traveling to the small shrine of Shirayuri, after a yokai (demons or spirits) attacked her and killed her best friend. There she met her old childhood friend Katsuo, defending her as a Sohei. (a warrior priest) She stays a few days only originally going to stay at the shrine for 4 months until the solstice. Katsuo once took her to the storehouse where Emi found a book about Kamigakari. In this book it said that instead of the kami(god) and the Kamigakari sharing a mind and body, the kami would take over the body, show more killing the kamigakari's mind. Emi scared and having wasted her life on preparing took off in a rebellious spur, going out into the stables and sitting on a horse, who darted out of the shrine grounds. She fell and after searching the forest encountered an oni (roughly an ogre) and in trying to save herself a kitsune(a fox yokai) saved her life. After that, she teamed up with the kitsune who was named Shiro. She wanted to find out the truth about Kamigakari so they went out with another companion, Yumei a tengu (a raven yokai) finding out the truth might not be the truth they wanted and Emi almost falling to another goddess, Izanami, (the goddess of earth and sometimes referred to as the goddess of the underworld). Leaving the books ending with her stuck in Tsuchi(a spiritual plane) recovering from her wounds from fighting Izanami, who was sent down the earth. Note: Izanami is not gone her Kamigakari who she was inhabiting from the heavens fell through the earth.

Opinion: Well I have to say this pleasantly surprised me! Seeing as it's a book about Asian mythology written by a Canadian, it's very fleshed out and as far as I know, the mythology is correct. This book, though slow to start, was very good! The main character, Emi, is a likable and Shiro, though annoying sometimes, is also very likable. The details are rich and the story is very compelling. The author writes fight scenes very well, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the fight scenes. The only reason I rated it 4 and 1/2 stars is mostly because I already knew from finishing the book that to write the summary would be very difficult. The first 3rd of the book is a lot of mythology which you would honestly need to read the book to know and understand easily. I really enjoyed this book and finished it in a day, I would definitely recommend it for people who like fantasy and a smidge of supernatural romance. show less