The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath.
So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace.
The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.
So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace.
The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.
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REVIEW!!!
I fell in love with Renee's writing with The Wrath and the Dawn and have read almost everything she's written (I've got 2 left to read). But anyways back to this book.
So I'm not going to lie to you...this book started out kind of slowly and was a little confusing so I did struggle with it at first. This book has undertones of the Mulan story which is what made me pick it up, I love retellings and Mulan is one of my favorites.
Mariko is on her way to marry a man she's never met in order to elevate her families status. But on her way her caravan is attacked and she is the only survivor. She sets out thinking she knows who attacked her caravan but soon realizes they are not the ones who attacked them. She soon becomes a part of the group of rouges she thought attacked her and makes friends with them. The issue, most of them think she is a boy, the one who knows isn't who he says he is and the one she falls for isn't who he says he is. Along the way she finds out more about her family and lifestyle than she'd planned on and become somebody she never planned to be. But can she figure out who attacked her caravan? Will everybody's secrets come out in the end? What could possibly go wrong?
So I love Renee's writing style and she is on my list of buy without reading the blurbs. I own all of her books except the next one in this series actually. Like I mentioned previously this book started out slow but about half way through it picked up and I flew through it. Due to this weird pacing it wasn't my favorite book but not awful either. I loved the characters and I am still very intrigued to find out what happens with these characters! The characters definitely kept me on my toes and Renee kept me guessing as to how things would play out. I am hoping to get book 2 soon so that I can finish my collection and this duology! I would recommend the book.
4 secret stars
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