Received this as an ARC from the publisher but the review is my own.
This is a really lovely tale based on Japanese folk lore and tradition. The whole time I was reading this book I could not help but wish that Hayao Miyazaki would direct a film adaptation; it fairly screams to be on the big screen.
It surrounds a young girl named Saki who along with her younger brother, father, and mother have traveled to her grandmother's mountain village to attend a traditional celebration where reference for ancestors is shared among the living. Such preparations and rituals are of little interest to Saki who is focused on being able to communicate via cellphone with her friends in Tokyo. Being part of their group is all she can focus on so when she meets a similar group in the village she tries to fit in with them but this leads to actions which desecrate an ancestral shrine that the family has taken care of for as far back as the village has existed. Saki, in trying to prove herself cool has unwittingly called down upon herself a death curse and the only way she can possibly alter her future now is to attend the night parade where the spirits of the land journey to attend festivals of their own.
In her quest for redemption Saki will meet creatures she never dreamed existed and come face to face with the importance of her family's past and the knowledge that in her struggle to fit in with her friends in Tokyo she has missed the importance of her family's experiences and uniqueness. She must find the strength in herself to be genuine and stand tall on her own no matter what fears or enemies she needs to face in order to lift the curse.
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