Article contributed by Yakira Goldsberry
In the world of Awara, Miuko is just another ordinary girl, in an ordinary life—until she is cursed to transform into a demon. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit named Geiki, Miuko sets out on the thousand step way to find a way to break the curse, heading for the House of December. But along the way, she can’t help but wonder if being a demon is as bad as she thinks.
This book is amazing. The entire world of Awara is so intriguing, and I couldn’t help but get sucked into the descriptions of the demons, spirits, and ghosts, and priests. I would have loved to see more descriptions of the world itself, but all of the characters were so colourful and interesting that it made up for it. I also loved all of the history that Chee put into her world. I wanted to visit the Keivoweicha library myself and read everything on the world’s history!
Miuko is such a memorable main character. I loved her quirky ways of talking to inanimate objects and her loudness and clumsiness. I cheered her on every step of her journey as she accepted more of her ‘undesirable’ traits. In a way, I could relate to her, and how she longed to change to fit what society deemed appropriate, and how as the story progressed, she began to see the wrongness in that way of thinking. I liked the way Chee portrayed Miuko’s weaknesses as strengths at times and gave her a kind heart.
Of all the characters, Geiki is my favourite. I love his outgoing personality, witty speech, and ignorance of how humans work, which led to some very hilarious moments, especially the interactions between him and Miuko. He’s the kind of best friend that I think everyone wants, and he reminds me of the niffler from Fantastic Beasts. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I was way more invested in what happened to Geiki than I was in what happened to Miuko. But he’s such a magnetic character that seems to leap off the page and fill the story with life.
Chee’s ability to craft a creepy and horrible antagonist with a somewhat pitiable backstory is to be envied. Tujiyazai is one of the best villains I’ve read in Young Adult fiction. He truly is a horrible person, and I found no sympathy for him as the story progressed. I understood his motives, but at the same time I couldn’t pity him, especially after some of the things he did that I can’t say due to spoilers. But he was written well enough to be somewhat alluring in a morbid way, sort of acting as the devil whispering in Miuko’s ear.
While the pacing of the story is a little slow at first, things picked up quickly one-third of the way through, and things took a twist that I didn’t see coming. The story is very character-driven, following Miuko’s choices instead of feeling like a broader scope surrounding the plot. I can’t really say there’s much else that I remember of the story other than the characters, even the side ones that didn’t show up for very long, like the priests and ghosts and the little cat made of smoke. Other than that, the story did give me subtle Asian drama vibes at first, but tale quickly spun itself into something completely different as it went along.
Overall, I give A Thousand Steps into Night an 8/10 for an electrifying tale of fighting against patriarchal society and other expectations of what you should or shouldn’t be, filled with an amazing cast of three-dimensional characters!
A Thousand Steps into Night is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, Traci Chee, comes a Japanese-influenced fantasy brimming with demons, adventure, and plans gone awry.
In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter. But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again. But with her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she’ll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her… and perhaps never did.
