Book Synopsis
Flame in the Mist takes place in feudal Japan. Hattori Mariko, daughter of a prominent samurai, is sent to the imperial empire to marry the second-born prince. Never mind that she did not choose, nor want, to marry. While traveling through the Jukai forest to meet her betrothed, the Black clan, notorious for their cruel and vicious acts against the empire, attacked her convoy. As the only survivor, she dresses as a boy to infiltrate the Black Clan and discover who sent them to kill her, and why. As her time in the Black Clan continues to pass, she begins to see the empire, and herself in another light. But everyone has something to hide, and the most dangerous are the people no one is looking at.
Review
Other reviewers sold Flame in the Mist to me as a Mulan retelling. Let’s get one thing straight: it’s not. Aside from the feudal Japan setting, and dressing as a boy, the similarities seem to sputter out. The book is much better once you get over the lies in which it was sold to you.
Makori’s POV was fun to read from, but I would not take her as a reliable narrator. She often misses important social cues that should be obvious. Instead, her inventive nature is the shining spotlight, even as she mistakes it for cleverness. She got tossed into a world she knows nothing about and does not know how to navigate in the slightest.
Okami, on the other hand, has been playing the game for years. He frequently shows that he understands how to play people to get them to do what he wants, but also cares for people that need it.
I enjoyed the side characters more than I did Makori. The author does an excellent job fleshing out each personality and delves just enough into their reasonings that you understand why characters are the way they are. Even if you don’t agree with their actions (looking at you Kenshin).
Romance is where this book shines. It has a little bit of instant love, but I watched them interact so often before they officially got together that I felt like the author could get away with it. I loved watching the (perhaps unintended) bisexual confusion, and the lovely tension that they both had. Watching these two characters, who have never once been understood, suddenly find someone that they connect with was an absolute joy to read. The spice, on the other hand, was next to nonexistent, very faded to black.
The pacing of the book makes the whole thing feel off. Through the first half of the book, it simply crawls from one scene to another. This gives you a good sense of worldbuilding and a backstory into how certain people ended up where they are. This also gives the feeling that you will never discover what the plot is. Which you don’t, until the last 100 or so pages.
Also, for readers who know very little about Japanese culture and feudal Japan, the book can get confusing at times. Especially when you don’t realize there’s a glossary on the back until the end. The author doesn’t shy away from using the correct verbiage, which is fantastic for getting into the culture of the book but may require more effort to understand what’s going on. This in no way means it’s a bad book, just may require some additional effort on the reader’s part.
The characters were interesting and the writing made it easy to get into the book, but the pace of the book was so slow it was hard to know what was relevant and what was just filler. The romance was fun, although Okami was the one who carried it. Overall, Flame in the Mist is a decent three-star read. The book is too slow, and aside from the romance, didn’t have much for its characters. This would be a great read for someone interested in feudal Japan or samurai culture due setting and historical accuracy of the period.
