The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge (Review by Madhura Mukhopadhyay)

Rating: 5/5

A contractor for a women’s shelter, Lily works in the shadows fighting injustice against women and children. So, when Lily hears of would-be rapist J Tran who walks free in spite of damning testimony, she knows she must protect the accuser from retaliation. But the further she delves into the lives of J Tran and the survivor Mia Mikkelson, the more perplexing the situation becomes. Soon Lily finds herself embroiled in a gripping adventure involving the Ukrainian mafia, the Los Angeles Transportation Department with a few cold-blooded killers on her heels. But Lily Wong is no ordinary woman, she is a kunoichi or a modern-day Ninja.

Tori Eldridge’s debut novel packs a punch from the very first sentence. With Lily, Eldridge has created a heroine you can’t help but cheer for. She is smart, fearless, a Chinese food devotee and a complete badass!

Once I started reading this book, I simply couldn’t put it down. I especially loved the fact that Lily is not a perfect character. Like all of us, she has several flaws – primarily her strained relationship with her family. Eldridge does a marvelous job of creating backstories for her characters lending explanation to their intent and actions. Lily Wong is an American of Chinese and Norwegian descent who has sought out Japanese martial arts. She is in essence, an amalgamation of all these cultures she has embraced. I really appreciated the fact that the author does justice to how each culture has contributed to making Lily the person she is.

An important theme in the book is the constant disrespect that women endure for the crime of being the perceived ‘weaker sex’. In multiple instances in the book, Lily is underestimated by gropers and molesters because of her size and gender – of course much to their later regret. Lily is the complete opposite of the crying and helpless female stereotype in need of rescuing and I love her for it.

In conclusion, this book is a firecracker debut by author Tori Eldridge. I hope that this is only the beginning and that there are plenty more Lily Wong adventures coming up soon.