I was so looking forward to The Book of Fallen Leaves, but it disappointed me. You can hear some great things about a book, but book are so subjective. The world was so intriguing, but the characters felt a little long winded. Keep reading this book review of The Book of Fallen Leaves for my full thoughts.
Summary
Sen Hoshiakari, the exiled son of a traitor, is determined to restore his decimated clan to their former power at any cost. But when his path collides with that of Rui, a lowborn woman who once saved his life, he discovers his family ambitions may have paid a darker price than he ever knew. And as Onryō—vengeful demons—rise throughout the land again, demanding retribution for their slaughtered souls, he’s torn between loyalty to the family he’s searched for his entire life and the love of his closest friend.
Only now, his reunited family and their allied forces will stop at nothing in a blossoming civil war against the empire they once served, and the more they kill, the worse the demons will become. To save their world, Sen and Rui must join this conflict and find a way to forge peace—even if it means being cursed by the very gods who once protected them.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Book of Fallen Leaves has such a fascinating concept. I love the idea of an exiled traitor and a woman who previously saved him. But the premise really tugs on the characters. Without strong characters, the middle kind of falls in like a cake. The Book of Fallen Leaves begins by asking us how long we can live with a legacy. However, The Book of Fallen Leaves has some time jumps which made it confusing especially because, at the beginning, we don’t have a good enough handle on who everyone is. And because of that, we have a difficult time distinguishing who everyone is.
The plentiful characters gives the readers a lot to hold on to, but it means that when you care about one more, it can feel like it drags. For me, that was the case. The Book of Fallen Leaves feels difficult to get into at the beginning, jut because of the sheer amount of characters and info we get. And even as I continued to read, and found my two favorites, the characters didn’t necessarily hook me enough. I always love when I can say, “oh that’s the character who loves socks”. So for me, The Book of Fallen Leaves just didn’t grab me like I wanted to and the characters didn’t pull me through the story.
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Find The Book of Fallen Leaves on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.