This next book is one that I picked up from the local library because I thought it sounded interesting. The Night Tiger is by Yangsze Choo and is based in Malaya, what is now Malaysia, in the 1930’s. It tells the story of Ren, a young boy of about ten who is trying desperately to fulfill the dying wish of his former master which was a promise to find his missing finger and return it to his grave within 49 days of his death in order to ensure his soul finds peace. At the same time it tells the story of Ji Lin, a young woman who works as both an apprentice dressmaker and as a dance hall instructor in order to help pay her mother’s mahjong debts. Intertwined with their stories are several other stories such as the story of William Acton, a relatively young English doctor working in Malaya who takes Ren in after the death of his former master. Their lives and stories start to come together as they each slowly become involved with the local mystery of a possible weretiger due to various deaths related to each of them. Naturally, they all end up drastically changed by the end as they work on untangling the series of mysterious events and their own possible role in what is happening.
I feel like I have to admit that I enjoyed this story way more than I thought I would. That is mostly because I wasn’t actually sure what to expect going in as the author was not one that I was familiar with. The story was incredible though as it seamlessly moved back and forth between each characters story and viewpoint as the mystery gradually deepened. There was a lot of elements in the story that I was also unfamiliar with but I assume that is due, at least in part, to my unfamiliarity with the culture that was being depicted. When I realized the book was about weretigers, at least in part, I was expecting the typical version most of us are familiar with, a human that can turn into a tiger at will. There were elements of that in the story but a greater part of that aspect of the story was actually based around the Malayan idea of tigers being able to turn into humans instead which was not what I was expecting. Tying into this there were other elements of the supernatural, primarily in the form of different interactions with people who were already dead and unintentionally partially entering into the spirit realm. Ji Lin repeatedly does this when she starts having dream conversations with a boy she later learns is Ren’s deceased twin. Ren later has conversations with his brother but also several other people who have recently died in various parts of the story. In fact, several times these conversations and interactions with what are essentially spirits provide valuable insight into what is going on allowing the characters to make important connections in order to stop the mysterious deaths. What I found the most intriguing though is the continued reference to the five virtues and how they play a role in people’s personality when used in their name. Ren, his brother, Ji Lin and her stepbrother each contain one of the five virtues as part of their name. From early on the story it is implied that in order to figure out what is going on they must find the person with the fifth virtue in their name. I will say that the final reveal of who this is referring to was rather surprising and I greatly enjoyed the suspense of trying to figure it out. It earns four out of five stars from me.
Ultimately, this book was great and one that I am serious considering reading again in the future. It is the kind of book that I think would hold appeal for those who enjoy books with supernatural elements or books that contain a good mystery as this book holds elements of both. In fact, it does a great job of blending those elements together to create a really great book. In terms of age range, the book is aimed primarily at adults and for the most part I would agree with that. Due to the fact that one of the characters is a doctor and there are repeated mysterious deaths there is a decent level of semi-graphic descriptions that not everyone can handle. If it wasn’t for that I would happily say that the book would be suitable for young adults as well. So I will instead say that if the young adult feels comfortable with that kind of content than I would recommend they consider trying the book. Either way, if you decide to try the book feel free to share your thoughts about it in the comments.