I’m giving it a solid 4. I loved the quest aspect and the Japanese mythology. The story really picked up for me once they left London (which luckily, was early in the story). 

I was hoping to read a YA fantasy story where there is no love interest, and I kind of got that.

Ren finds Hiro attractive, and Neven seems to think that Ren is only listening to Hiro because she likes him. There’s that scene where they’re going to kill the last Yokai, and honestly, I’m still not sure if they were fighting or if it was an intimate moment. Ren admits not understanding human emotions and stuff, so maybe that was how she expressed she wanted him? I don’t know. But anyway, that’s really the extent of any romance. After Hiro kills Izanami, he asks Ren to marry him and initially she agrees. Ultimately Ren kills Hiro though. So yeah, the romance aspect is limited and I appreciated that.

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There were a few instances where the writing was repetitive. I would recognize certain phrases or sentiments that had been said previously and it took away from the reading experience a little. But overall the writing was actually really good. I look forward to the conclusion of the story so I’m going to read the second one soon.