Smoke in the Sun (Flame in the Mist)

Set in ancient Japan this story is filled with magic and brave samurai, and strong women I found this a compelling read and well researched. It is about a corrupt emperor and the palace intrigues that overturn his evil. Others mentioned it was hard to follow the plot,. I disagree. It is complex and set in another culture but I found it easy and fascinating.

I enjoyed this book. I love the characters and the complex, interesting storyline. Only two complaints keeping this from being a five star. When characters are having a conversation, I find it very distracting to have an entire page or more of Mariko's inner thoughts before she speaks again. I'm imagining the other character staring at her, like are you okay, why aren't you responding. I get this is supposed to be all happening instantaneously, but it comes across disjointed. Second, I really like dual POV but this is quadruple POV or more. I hate keeping track of all that. What are Mariko and Okami doing? You can't have too many chapters without going back to them. I think, if there is another book, it will focus on Kenshin and Yumi. This book was set up for this.

Now that I'm done crying, I can officially mark this book as read and another all time fave. The first book was fierce, adventurous, hopeful. This one was pure yearning, at times desolation, and so cathartic.

Smoke in the Sun picks up (assumingly, since I read Flame in the Mist way too long ago) where we left off in Flame in the Mist. Okami has been imprisoned and Mariko is at the mercy of her brother, Roku, the emperor, and Raiden, her once betrothed. Things are pretty chaotic and complicated to say the least.I remember struggling a lot with Flame in the Mist. I read it as an ARC with no glossary or other guide to help along my reading. Of course even with a guide this time, every time I went to look up a italicized word, it wasn't there and I soon stopped looking up anything because it was a waste of reading time. So I guess you could say the cultural shock was a reading impediment for me.There's also the multiple points of view to contend with as well, and since it's third person, I felt like this made it harder to grasp who was talking. And the other thing I struggled with on that note was all the names! Oh, my goodness I forgot how many characters were in this one! There were so many names and then there were the names that those people went by, so multiple names on top of multiple names! It was definitely confusing. I would've done better with a character guide like some books do where they group the names into families or clans or whatnot to help you keep track of everyone. Had I that...I think I would've done better at following along. Since my reading habits changed, I read in spurts so while I may vaguely remember a character on day 1 of reading, but day 3 I might completely forget who he or she is! A character guide is definitely something I would've done better with than a glossary! Lol.So onto the story now that I hashed out my points on how I struggled with this one. I felt like I was able to follow the story along best when I was in Mariko or Okami's point of view. Everyone else just left me confused and wondering who they were and who they were talking with. But the goal for Mariko and Okami was always clear; rescue the other one. Okami is taken prisoner by Roku and Raiden and Mariko's fate relied heavily on her acting skills. She must play the victim and fall back into her earlier role that she fought so hard to leave behind in Flame in the Mist.While I struggled heavily with this one, I will say that I always enjoyed Mariko and Okami's relationship. It was such a sweet, tentative kind of romance. They were definitely the reason why I kept forging through this one!The ending felt a bit rushed to me when all was said and done. And then of course, there was the fact that I still wasn't 100% sure of what had happened to lead things into the chaotic mess that was running amok around the kingdom. Lots of things were happening and I can't be clear on the cause. I had my suspicions in the end and I am pretty sure it was mostly right, but yeah. This book totally messed with my mind...and not necessarily in a good way. I impress again that more than anything I would've been happier with a character guide! It was hard to remember which character point of views I was reading that were from heroes or enemies or somewhere in between. You almost didn't know who to root for if you weren't in Mariko or Okami's point of view.I will say that I was happy with how it ended despite multiple states of confusion throughout this book. While I did struggle with this one, it in way deters me from ever reading Renee's books again as I adored her first duology and I am pretty positive I am going to love her vampire one as well when that releases next month. So don't let me addled mind and slightly unhappy review deter you from giving this re-imagined Mulan retelling a try if it sparks an interest for you!Overall Rating 3/5 stars

Read this book on a trip home from the beach and I read it for the four hours back. I read the first one a year ago and finally got around to reading this one. Great story line and wonderfully worded. It is a bit difficult to keep up with all the characters names at times though... But all in all a great read.

Through all series, Renée Ahdieh always manages to dazzle with her beautifully crafted worlds and imagery and the story surrounding Mariko is no exception. Always leading with strong female characters, she shifts from action sequences to love scenes at a pace that is entertaining and captivating. I really enjoyed sinking into the story again after being introduced to its characters and this magical world in Flame in the Mist. Highly recommended read!

Good to read

Loved it as much as Flame in the Mist! This book is the kind you want to read slow and sink into every word. That's how it's been with every book by Ahdieh and this one is the same. It's different from the first by including stories of other characters, but I loved it as it added depth to the characters and the story. From beautiful prose to an intriguing plot, this book kept me spellbound! I love the story of Mariko and the journey she goes on in both books, but Ahdieh's writing had me also caring about all of the other characters just as much. The insights from Mariko were so honest and in line with what a lot of people at her age think and feel! I can't wait to read Ahdieh's next book!