The Night Tiger
By: Yangsze Choo
Grade: A
See this is one of those books that make me realize I could never be a book character because if I came into possession of a severed human finger I would toss it and run screaming not be like oh, mysterious! Let’s go digging!
Especially when you find out the last person that had it is dead. But that’s just me!
Unless the finger was Oscar Issacs but then he’s got more problems at that point than crazy fan girls so…
Book. Let’s concentrate on the book.
Ren’s dying master has asked him to find his finger and bury it with him in 49 days or he’s cursed to roam forever. (Which seems a lot of stress to put on a kid but okay.) Ji Lin meanwhile is a dance hall girl who should be in med school but it’s the 1930’s and China so everyone else just thinks she needs a husband. She finds said finger.
Our third POV is Ren’s newest “master” a foreign Doctor who has poor decision making skills to say the least but seems blessed by all his problems disappearing.
The Night Tiger has as really intriguing premise and a good start and then it felt a bit slow while it’s unfolding. We get the three main characters lives with a lot of strange happenings, family drama and a ton of fascinating folklore. Like a man-eating tiger possibly killing people.
It felt like a lot but I will say Choo is a beautiful writer and it’s not a time period or place that I have any knowledge of so for some people they may fly through this book from beginning to end. I appreciated the folklore and getting a chance to learn about it. I especially liked the information on the power of names and the whole 5 sibling idea that went down.
The other thing I will say is I wasn’t big on the unfolding romance at least not until the very end.
But the end and the reconciliation of all those threads did bring it together nicely and worked very well for me making the slower parts worth it.
So long story short:
Someone needs to take that damned brand away from Reese Witherspoon and stop marking up perfectly beautiful book covers.
Don’t keep body parts that don’t belong to you.
Give the dead what they want or need.
Totally give The Night Tiger a read.
Recommend: Yes.