Only half of the book is the tale of this changling cat woman. The other half of the book is about an elderly, dying woman who is the aunt of the Japanese emperor. This woman reminisces about events from her life. Unfortunately, these events do not add up to a tale, they are just random highlights from the woman's life. Further disappointment: the woman spends more time on her past than on the tale of the cat-woman as the story progresses. So rather than building suspense as the big battle nears, the story meanders off into digressions about events from long past. And a final flaw: the old woman repeatedly tells us that she has invented this tale of the cat-woman, that it is just a fiction she is writing in her notebooks. How can a reader willingly suspend disbelief when the author keeps reminding you that it is just pretend? The result is an rather bland story. The battle against the Abe is unexciting, the fate of Kagaya-hime is not stirring. If this book had gone on much longer, I probably would not have finished, but rather set it aside to look for more interesting reading material. A disappointment, this is not recommended.