A Darkly Beating Heart

October 10, 2016
Seattle teen Reiko is “mastering a path of hatred” in order to exact revenge for the betrayal, abuse, and humiliation she has suffered at the hands of those closest to her. She travels to Japan before college to live with her uncle’s family in Tokyo, where she finds another target: her self-absorbed, fame-seeking cousin, Akiko. While unhappily photographing Akiko during a shoot in a small town, Reiko finds a stone that transports her from present-day Japan into the life of an Edo-period girl named Miyu. Though Reiko loves escaping into Miyu’s world at first, she eventually uncovers—and must foil—Miyu’s own plan for vengeance. Smith’s (Dreamstrider) detailed descriptions of Japanese culture and the time travel element are the highlights of this novel. Reiko and Miyu come across as angry caricatures; Smith slowly and cryptically teases out their traumatic pasts, making it difficult to empathize with either of them. Beyond the “why,” Smith also does little to elaborate on the “how” of Reiko’s plot, and the conclusion is too neatly and unrealistically resolved given Reiko’s previous mental state. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary.

Two worlds collide in this dark tale of time travel.After a relationship that ends catastrophically and some toxic family drama, Reiko, an American-born Japanese teen, is left feeling angry and hurt. To get away from it all, she travels to Japan. Here she works on "mastering the path of hatred." When work takes Reiko to Kuramagi (a fictional village), she knows she has found the perfect place to plot her revenge. In this historically preserved village, Reiko accidentally travels back to the 1800s, where she occupies the life of Miyu and finds herself entangled in a dangerous plot to overthrow the shogunate. In Miyu, Reiko finds many parallels to her own life, but the more she learns about the darkness within her host, the more she begins to lose control of her own reality and already fragile sanity. Reiko is a character with a lot below the surface. She's on meds and frequently resorts to cutting. She takes readers on the ride as she gets lost in her hatred--along with Miyu's--and begins to spiral into a sort of madness, at points becoming more a caricature than a character. The novel has many compelling moments, but the wrap-up is rushed. Grounded in Japanese culture and Edo period history, a breezy yet layered read. (Fantasy/thriller. 14-18) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016

Gr 10 Up-After an unthinkable disaster occurs, Reiko's parents send her to live with her relatives in Japan to help launch her cousin's budding career in the Japanese entertainment scene. The change from Seattle to Tokyo fuels Reiko's resentment toward her family, and she spends her waking moments plotting her revenge against her parents, her brother, and now her cousin and coworkers. The young woman is filled to the brim with ideas of destruction and violence. Are these hateful feelings finally evidence that she has always been a true monster, or has something else taken hold of her? Smith weaves a unique tale of Japan and the paranormal in this work of vengeance and teen angst. She excels at transporting the protagonist and readers to a believable feudal Japan-Smith has done her research about Japan during the Edo time period, and it is impressive to see glimpses of the past so eloquently represented in a work of fiction. The author does not shy away from the darkness of a deeply depressed individual, frankly mentioning thoughts and attempts of suicide, self-harm, and assault, and uses these thoughts to successfully sustain a dark mood throughout. The portrayal of a non-Japanese-speaking Japanese American teen's sense of isolation in Japan seems authentic, though it takes a backseat to the paranormal parts of the novel. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this twisted ride, despite its slow start and overly tidy ending. However, with highly descriptive scenes of violence, it is not for the fainthearted.-DeHanza Kwong, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC

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