The Keeper of Night Review written by the Ent on October 21st, 2021. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: The Keeper of Night
Author: Kylie Lee Baker
Genre: Fantasy, Myth
Length: 400 pages
Age suggested: 13 and up
Release Date: October 12th, 2021
Warnings: Plot revolves around Reapers who are responsible for killing people and bringing them to the next life (dying), Many deaths and murders, Social isolation, Mild sensuality (For more details, view the Is The Keeper of Night Appropriate section below).
Quick Summary of The Keeper of Night
Ren is a girl living in London. Her father was a Reaper and her mother was a Shinigami. This has left her with two identities, but unfortunately has also left her no place called home. Whe she is run out of London, Ren and her brother decide to travel to Japan in order to do two things. 1) try to find her mother and 2) try to find a place that will truly accept her.
The Keeper of Night Review: (Contains Light Spoilers)
-Is The Keeper of Night appropriate?–
The Keeper of Night is a Dark Fantasy book. The plot follows to different species that are involved in soul collecting. There is much discussion about death and several scenes where Ren and other characters do kill (by soul collecting and by murder). Also, near the end of the book, a main character is seemingly killed (not shown or described, just implied).
Another big topic of the book is social isolation. Ren is Half-Reaper and Half Shinigami and this is a metaphor for being British-Japanese. This should not prevent anyone from reading the book, but if the reader has had similar feelings of social isolation, it will be important to discuss throughout the book (the conclusion isn’t positive in this book). Lastly, there is a mild sensual scene where it is shown that two characters slept in the same bed overnight. Nothing is explicitly shown (just mild kisses), but it could be implied that they slept together.
–Why Read The Keeper of Night-
The Keeper of Night provides a vivid world of death and fantasy. Kylie Lee Baker does an amazing job at building this world that perfectly intersects with our world while also taking place on another plane of existence. This is all complimented by several characters who have a great amount of depth and complexity. The three main players (Ren, Hiral, and Neven) of the story continuously add intrigue and depth up until the very end.
Ren’s path to belonging is so fascinating as it becomes clearer that she will do anything to belong. This is shown as her actions, though seemingly justified, slowly get darker and darker until it seemingly becomes too late. The overall journey is generally straightforward and easy to follow while also providing surprising moments through character interactions and big reveals.
-Quote-
I just want to be something, not half of something…maybe here they’ll treat me like I’m whole
The Keeper of Night Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Social Isolation, Belonging, Longing for Home, Corruption
- How does the fact that Ren is mixed species affect her? How does this differ from her brother, who is completely Reaper?
- Which would you rather be: Reaper or Shinigami?
- Who was your favorite character and why?
- What ultimately comes from Ren’s desire for belonging? How could this have been prevented?
- What do you think will be the main storyline of the upcoming sequel?
Thanks for reading The Keeper of Night Review. Before you go, check out these other posts:
–Kimber and Orion by L.K. Hingey
–Ghost Wood Song Review
Down The Hobbit Hole Blog and this The Keeper of Night Review use affiliate links. We only link products we think you’ll like and you are never charged extra for them. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. We also use cookies to gather analytics and present advertisements. This allows us to keep writing discussion questions and telling ridiculous dad jokes. Find our other reviews with discussion questions here. Our posts about faith here. And our posts about family stuff here.