Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > A Thousand Steps into Night

I was really looking forward to this title, it being one of a handful of fantasy novels being released this spring centered on folk tales and/or mythology from the Far East. And I really could’ve loved it… if it weren’t for the narrative POV and expensive use of footnotes.

The narrative POV was unusual for a fantasy novel, and while some people seem to have enjoyed it despite that point, I simply couldn’t get used to it and it destroyed a great deal of the enjoyment I’d otherwise get from the novel. It was distracting to the extreme and made the book harder for me to read.

I have an opinion on footnotes in fiction: they shouldn’t be there. If they have to be there, they should be minimal. This book, though? There are so many footnotes, and they completely slow the pace of the story every time I had to stop and read them. I don’t like the flow of my reading to be interrupted constantly. If I want to read footnotes I’ll turn to one of my many nonfiction books.

That makes two huge strikes against the general vibe and enjoyment of the book, and since they were both so omnipresent in the novel I couldn’t vibe with the book, get into the flow of the story, or enjoy the narrative. It’s a shame, really, because otherwise I think I could’ve really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Clarion and NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review. As per my personal policy, this review will not be posted to social media due to the 3 Star rating.