Night of the Dragon (Shadow of the Fox, #3)

Kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko has given up the final piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers in order to save everyone she loves from imminent death. Now she and her ragtag band of companions must journey to the wild sea cliffs of Iwagoto in a desperate last-chance effort to stop the Master of Demons from calling upon the Great Kami dragon and making the wish that will plunge the empire into destruction and darkness.

Shadow clan assassin Kage Tatsumi has regained control of his body and agreed to a true deal with the devil — the demon inside him, Hakaimono. They will share his body and work with Yumeko and their companions to stop a madman and separate Hakaimono from Tatsumi and the cursed sword that had trapped the demon for nearly a millennium.

But even with their combined skills and powers, this most unlikely team of heroes knows the forces of evil may be impossible to overcome. And there is another player in the battle for the scroll, a player who has been watching, waiting for the right moment to pull strings that no one even realized existed… until now.

Master storyteller Julie Kagawa concludes the enthralling journey into the heart of the fantastical Empire of Iwagoto in the third book of the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. As darkness rises and chaos reigns, a fierce kitsune and her shadowy protector will face down the greatest evil of all. A captivating fantasy for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Sarah J. Maas and Marie Lu.

Rating:

I’m not gonna lie, I totally put off reading this a little bit, because if you read the thing, then the series officially ends. If you don’t read it, then the series never ends. See? Brilliant way to game the system. Ultimately, I had to give in, though, because I needed to know. I’m nosy like that.

Night of the Dragon is a no-holds barred conclusion of a series that will take you on an emotional roller coaster, reveal all the plot twists, and keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.

As far as concluding the series goes, I have such mixed feelings about it! There were definitely moments that felt super cheesy to me and kind of corny in a way that just isn’t my thing. Overall, though, I had so much fun with this series, and I’m really sad to see it end, even if the ending is a satisfactory one.

This book opens with a bang, and once it gets started, a high level of action and emotions carries the reader through the rest of the book.

There’s no slow start, no real easing in. The characters are on a deadline by this book, and it shows. This was a pretty quick read, because it grabbed me by the collar right away and just threw me down the path with these characters, and I loved it. Exactly what you might hope for with a third book … except maybe a little less bruises along the way. Sheesh. Could’ve been a little gentler. *brushes off clothes from being dragged along*

I went into this book forewarned that it was going to be emotional, and I thought I was ready, but guys … it got me anyway. =/ I so wasn’t prepared.

I held out until almost the end, so I feel like I should get credit for that, but ugh, this book is a constant barrage of your emotions. If you’re a crier (which I’m not, and I still did!), keep tissues close. You’ll need them.

If you know what’s good for you, you will fear for your favorite characters, and rightly so.

Because this is war, folks. War is dirty and ugly and there are always casualties, as the other books have proven. This is the culmination of everything, though, and the author has made it clear over the course of the other books that no one is sacred and war means sacrifices.

This book is the culmination of all the character arcs, and gosh, it was so great getting to see them all come into themselves and decide who they want to be! Yumeko’s arc, in particular, is just so well done.

I’ve spent how many years now fretting over these characters?! I’ve certainly learned to love them. So it was nice seeing their arcs finally come to a peak. I absolutely loved Yumeko in this book. To watch her grow and find strength in her companions was just everything I wanted for this book, and she goes from a passive bystander in book one to freaking owning this one, and it was just everything I came here for.

As far as the mythology and world is concerned, everything that was set up in the first two books comes to a head in this one, and getting to see all the demons and mythological beasts was really neat.

There were always surprises. Just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse, of course it does. What kind of conclusion would it be otherwise?

There are some freaking harrowing creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore, and I knew that going in, and I wasn’t disappointed. Kagawa does a great job in not only describing them but making clear just how horrible it would be to stand face-to-face with these things. I shudder every time I think of it.

The tone and atmosphere of this book is just *chef’s kiss*. It’s tense and harrowing and absolutely suspenseful.

Some of the gripes that I had about the first two books (especially Suki) finally came full circle, and okay, yeah, it makes sense why she was there. The whole series is essentially one long ploy, which eventually comes to fruition in this book, and it made the whole thing more than worth it. Everything tied together splendidly, and I enjoyed all the new revelations this book revealed!

Sweet romance isn’t really my thing, but if it’s your thing, this book has you covered.

I mean, there’s a reason Hakaimono and Okame are my favorite characters. If there’s not at least the threat of homicide, the romance isn’t for me, thank you.

In this book, the romance between Yumeko and Tatsume is soooo sickly sweet that I’m pretty sure I have a few new cavities.

Not that I can confirm this because, pffft, it’s not time for me to go back to the dentist yet and I am for sure not rushing that mess. In the end, it was a little too sweet for me, even though I expected it, given how the previous books set it up. So I can’t say I was a huge fan of this or the way it ended, but as I said, romance isn’t really my thing. I think that people who do like romance will love the outcome for this couple, though. I’m definitely not afraid to admit that there were some really powerful lines and scenes between them that even got my shriveled blackened heart. Oof.

The Big Bad™ fell flat for me, given how long it’s taken to get to this moment and how much effort they’ve put into things.

I just had absolutely no sense of him. I knew what he wanted, sure, but it felt like there was no real nuance or depth to him. He was evil Just Because™, which is my least favorite type of villain. I mean, I love villains, so it was kind of disappointing that I didn’t feel a good sense of his character or motivations.

There are deus ex machinas and cliches galore in this book.

On the one hand, it leads to some really sweet moments, which I can see people loving. On the other … I was hoping for something a little more, because there were scenes that were so predictable and convenient that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Especially when this happened during the big, ultimate climax, which is the point that I least want to run into eye-roll-worthy plot devices.

Some of these were absolutely emotional ploys that I think readers will enjoy just for the emotion of it. But it ended up being more of a miss for me, personally.

Book Playlist

I know I don’t normally do playlists, but this series finale was so epic that I couldn’t not do a playlist.

This book had so many freaking ups and downs and epic scenes that I tried to reflect that in the playlist, but gosh it was hard. So many feels to be able to jam into nine songs! Hope I did some justice to the book, though. 🙂