Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 16 by Mizuho Kusanagi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Su-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when tragedy strikes her family!
A large fleet of ships from South Kai heads to Sensui at drug trafficker Hyo’s behest. Will Yona and her friends be able to thwart Hyo’s nefarious plans and stop these enemy forces? And what will happen to Yona when an infuriated Hyo attacks her?
Warnings: threats of bodily harm to a woman described, physical violence, stabbing
This was a pretty intense volume, and not just because there is a drug dealer backed by the enemy kingdom coming with a fleet to destroy the Dragon squad. The presence of Su Won, Yona and Hak in one place will obviously raise tensions, but now its not just them in the picture, but their allies, too. While Yona is working with Riri and Su Won to mount a defense at the shore, Hak, Ki Ja and Jae Ha attack the fleet; Yona is conflicted but still give backup to Su Won when necessary. Hak, however, has a much different reaction to meeting him, which I felt was a bit OOC for him (he wouldn’t show his emotions like that, is all I am saying). From the secondary characters, too, you see emotional reactions to the three of them being in the same place, like Ju Do being stricken with a small amount of guilt for having a hand in ousting Yona from the palace, to Jae Ha realizing that the young man he had befriended is Yona’s enemy. Riri, meanwhile, is also a bit conflicted about it, but she back Yona and stands up to her father – in a move that made me scream, “you go girl!”. There were, once again, hints that she has a crush on Yona, but I am not expecting it to go anywhere. Overall, an entertaining installment, and a good conclusion to the Nadai arc, but also a good build up to rising political tensions.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Viz Media LLC, via Edelweiss.
Previous books in the Yona of the Dawn series
Buy links
Amazon | The Book Depository | Wordery
Releases on February 5, 2019
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