ALA Booklist (Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

For Reiko, rage is the only feeling. An explosive relationship with her troubled older brother and a disastrous breakup with a girl she met at art camp has made Reiko fixated on vengeance, desperate to hurt both herself and the people around her. When her parents send her to Japan to work with her publicity-hungry cousin, Reiko's wrath reaches the boiling point, until a trip to a historical village sends her mysteriously catapulting through time and into the life of Miyu, a nineteenth-century girl who holds even more dark secrets than Reiko herself. Reiko slips back and forth in time, eager to lose herself in Miyu's world and losing her grip on her own as she becomes entangled in generations of hate. Reiko is not always the easiest character to root for, but her dark spiral is undeniably compelling, as is the interesting step back into the Edo period of Japan. Tense and eerie, this leaves lingering questions about how ghosts of the past can influence sins of the present.

Kirkus Reviews

Two worlds collide in this dark tale of time travel.After a relationship that ends catastrophically and some toxic family drama, Reiko, an American-born Japanese teen, is left feeling angry and hurt. To get away from it all, she travels to Japan. Here she works on "mastering the path of hatred." When work takes Reiko to Kuramagi (a fictional village), she knows she has found the perfect place to plot her revenge. In this historically preserved village, Reiko accidentally travels back to the 1800s, where she occupies the life of Miyu and finds herself entangled in a dangerous plot to overthrow the shogunate. In Miyu, Reiko finds many parallels to her own life, but the more she learns about the darkness within her host, the more she begins to lose control of her own reality and already fragile sanity. Reiko is a character with a lot below the surface. She's on meds and frequently resorts to cutting. She takes readers on the ride as she gets lost in her hatred-along with Miyu's-and begins to spiral into a sort of madness, at points becoming more a caricature than a character. The novel has many compelling moments, but the wrap-up is rushed. Grounded in Japanese culture and Edo period history, a breezy yet layered read. (Fantasy/thriller. 14-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Seattle teen Reiko is -mastering a path of hatred- in order to exact revenge for the betrayal, abuse, and humiliation she has suffered at the hands of those closest to her. She travels to Japan before college to live with her uncle-s family in Tokyo, where she finds another target: her self-absorbed, fame-seeking cousin, Akiko. While unhappily photographing Akiko during a shoot in a small town, Reiko finds a stone that transports her from present-day Japan into the life of an Edo-period girl named Miyu. Though Reiko loves escaping into Miyu-s world at first, she eventually uncovers-and must foil-Miyu-s own plan for vengeance. Smith-s (Dreamstrider) detailed descriptions of Japanese culture and the time travel element are the highlights of this novel. Reiko and Miyu come across as angry caricatures; Smith slowly and cryptically teases out their traumatic pasts, making it difficult to empathize with either of them. Beyond the -why,- Smith also does little to elaborate on the -how- of Reiko-s plot, and the conclusion is too neatly and unrealistically resolved given Reiko-s previous mental state. Ages 12-up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (Oct.)

School Library Journal (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Gr 10 Up-After an unthinkable disaster occurs, Reiko's parents send her to live with her relatives in Japan to help launch her cousin's budding career in the Japanese entertainment scene. The change from Seattle to Tokyo fuels Reiko's resentment toward her family, and she spends her waking moments plotting her revenge against her parents, her brother, and now her cousin and coworkers. The young woman is filled to the brim with ideas of destruction and violence. Are these hateful feelings finally evidence that she has always been a true monster, or has something else taken hold of her? Smith weaves a unique tale of Japan and the paranormal in this work of vengeance and teen angst. She excels at transporting the protagonist and readers to a believable feudal JapanSmith has done her research about Japan during the Edo time period, and it is impressive to see glimpses of the past so eloquently represented in a work of fiction. The author does not shy away from the darkness of a deeply depressed individual, frankly mentioning thoughts and attempts of suicide, self-harm, and assault, and uses these thoughts to successfully sustain a dark mood throughout. The portrayal of a non-Japanese-speaking Japanese American teen's sense of isolation in Japan seems authentic, though it takes a backseat to the paranormal parts of the novel. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this twisted ride, despite its slow start and overly tidy ending. However, with highly descriptive scenes of violence, it is not for the fainthearted. DeHanza Kwong, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC

Voice of Youth Advocates

Part time-traveling historical novel, part contemporary story of a teenage girl struggling with her demons, this book takes the reader on a twisted ride through the tormented psyche of Reiko, and her alter-ego, Miyu. Reiko, an American-born Japanese teen, lives in Seattle but is sent to live in Japan after she has an emotional breakdown resulting from a bad breakup with her ex-girlfriend. While in Japan, Reiko wanders off in a tiny village and finds an ancient shrine and a stone that magically transports her back in time to 1862, where she inhabits the body of Miyu, another young woman suffering with inner turmoil and hatred. Reiko begins moving back and forth between dimensions, unsure whose life she truly wants to live, until she reaches a revelation during her experiences and makes a choice that changes the direction of her life.Readers who gravitate toward flawed characters and books like those by Ellen Hopkins will be the main audience for this book. Reiko is a very dark character bent on revenge and consumed by hatred; some readers may have trouble sympathizing with her. Her story is compelling however, especially Miyu's half of the tale. For most of the book, the reader does not know why Reiko and Miyu behave the way they do, but once the truths are explained, their actions make sense. While both are filled with violence and angst, at least one of them is able to find the light by the end. There is some swearing during Reiko's half of the book, and one love scene during Miyu's, but neither are graphic. Reiko is on medication for her emotional issues, and she cuts herself, issues that may be important to let readers know about in advance.Kate Neff.