Mariko is not Mulan. But they're both badass, alright?

"I believe the stars align so that souls can find one another. Whether they are meant to be souls in love or souls in life remains to be seen." - Renée Adhieh. 

I will not lie and say that a tentative title for this blog post wasn't "let me marry all of Adhieh's characters". I will not do that. I'll just simply suggest you go get yourself a copy of "Flame in the Mist" and find out why I don't even bother trying to deny my love for her fictional characters. They're so stunningly detailed and human, but at the same time: too good to be true. Which makes them THE perfect characters for this sort of stories. 
We, as readers, have been so saturated by weak female protagonists who are supposed to be empowering but end up becoming parodies of themselves, that sometimes starting a new book with a promising female main character can seem slightly daunting. Let me tell you: Mariko is not that. She never failed to make me believe she would've acted in the way she did, without being predictable or boring or, on the complete other side, non-cohesive by the way she sometimes disrupts the reader's expectations. So, I'd like saying: Renée Adhieh, thank you.


In terms of the writing, I was so very pleased when I started reading the book and found it to have such a poetical or musical or I-don't-even-know-what-kind-of-magic-it-was in its narration that just makes you want to continue reading even though the gist of the storyline does seem to make itself wait, probably due to the nature of the novel's belonging into a duology (which I am so incredibly anxious for its full release now -expected release date of "Smoke in the Sun" is May 1st 2018). 

Nevertheless, the narrative is absolutely addictive and every single character presents itself as an interesting puzzle to piece together as you read. But, as I mentioned earlier, not only the characters, but Adhieh's poetic style and beautiful storytelling made highlighting just one quote an almost-impossible task to undertake. However, because I don't want to spoil all of the beautiful teachings (there are so many things to learn from this book, truly) and quotes Ahdieh so wonderfully captures in the novel, I'll just say this: I love how efortlessly Yumi has become one of my all-time favourite feminist characters I've encountered so far. 

I would also like to bring attention into the seamless way in which the book introduces the reader to some very key elements of Japanese culture in such a respectful manner and demure. This fictionalisation of a Medieval Japan has completely swept me away and I adored the way in which cultural, social and historical factors were carefully knitted into the core of the storyline, lightly sprinkled with a touch of fantasy and mystery. So, if you're reading this and know of any other books in which this is done in a similar manner and you think I might like, please do comment down below so I can read it. thank you!

I could stay all day typing out my favourite quotes or talking about my love for Adhieh's characters and writing, but I rather encourage you to give this book a chance. I definitely enjoyed it and think others might do so too.

Stay tuned for more reviews coming soon.


I hope you have a wonderful day!



Chopsticks: @alojagatopreto
Kimono: vintage, from my mom's closet🙈 .