19-year-old Hinako doesn’t believe in gods. If they were real, they would have stopped her parent's murder. So when a boy at the convenience store claims to be the god of unanswered prayers, she laughs him off. But Aoi isn’t done with her. In fact, he follows her home and whisking her off to his shrine to convince her of his godliness.

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Hinako insists it’s all a dream, though, and attempts to flee. The second she sets foot outside the shrine, however, she’s attacked by the demons of the Spirit Realm she has dismissed her entire life. Desperate for help, she makes a deal with the very god she tried to run from. In exchange for saving her, she agrees to assist him in granting the people of Japan their deepest desires.

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Although Hinako’s out of immediate danger, she’s now bound to Aoi for life. Her only hope of returning to the Human Realm is to fully embrace the existence of the gods that failed her. Yet, the deeper she dives into the world of the spirits, the more she discovers what really happened all those years ago. Now Hinako must choose: hang on to the skepticism that’s kept her safe, or surrender herself to the spirits and uncover the truth behind her parents’ murder.

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This YA novel is perfect for fans of devious yokai and folklore like in Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa mixed with the enemies to lovers trope in The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

Between odd jobs and school exams, adopted 18-year-old Corrin barely has time to breathe. With her parents’ debt piling up, she has no other choice. The only thing keeping her going is the promise of fleeing her decaying home life for college. But her greedy parents rip away her only glimmer of hope when they sell her to the Spirit Realm.

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As if having her dreams shattered isn’t enough, Corrin is put on display at a market, where she is to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Just as she’s about to be sold as a bride, a jikininki--a ghoul that feeds on the dead--steps in to save her. Her unlikely savior asks for only one thing in return: Corrin’s service in his coffee shop, only to discovers the truth behind his kindness: the jikininki knew her birth parents.

Before long, the job that was supposed to save Corrin turns into a hellish nightmare. The yokai treat her like trash because she’s human and the fellow staff stop at nothing to make her feel insignificant. When the yokai are unsuccessful at bullying Corrin out of the Spirit Realm, however, their attacks turn from upsetting to murderous. But the longer Corrin stays, the closer she comes to uncovering the memories she’d thought she lost, revealing why the Spirit Realm feels like home.

 

That is, if the yokai don't kill her first.

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This YA novel is perfect for fans of the found family trope in Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya mixed with the unparalleled tension of Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida.