Men are conditioned to take. Women are conditioned to give, Mari’s mother once told her. Long ago, our clan decided to stop giving and start taking.


I am the only person who decides if I am beautiful or not if I am worthy or unworthy.

From the quote above you can tell that this book is about women empowerment. Mari lives in a village on top of a mountain. Unlike the rest of the inhabitants of the village, she is not preternaturally beautiful so her mother trained her to be something else, something more.

I this books is for readers who like to read about strong female characters. I appreciate how Mari was written and how she realized that only she can determine her worth. There's a love triangle which others might be turned off by since it's such a YA trope but at least Mari knows whom she loves and makes it clear and if you like slow-burning love, you won't find it here too. Taro, whom I thought had so much potential, instantly fell in love but in his defense, I seemed like their line was destined to fall head over heels since their very first ancestor. The last thing that bugged me a bit was how we go to the ending. I mean, I like how the story ended but it felt rush like it skipped some chapters of stories. In the end, I did enjoy the book and looking up various kinds of Yokai on the internet to see what they look like.


This is true freedom, to love oneself enough not to care what others think