- "Actions change our course, influence our futures, but intentions define us, empower us. Without intent, we are nothing."
Since she was young, Emi had known that her destiny was to become the kamigakari, or mortal host, of the kami Amaterasu, a process that would consume her spirit and replace it with Amaterasu's presence so that she may carry out her godly business on Earth. Emi came to terms with this fact early on, spending the next decade since then living a life of purity so her physical form may remain intact once Amaterasu descends. However, everything changes when she comes upon a kitsune named Shiro, whose powers are sealed behind several strands of beads and needs her help to remove them so that he can regain them. Not only that, but dangerous yokai are coming to seek Emi out, as the time for her to face her destiny grows ever nigh.
The Red Winter Trilogy is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy book series written by Annette Marie. The first book, Red Winter, was released on October 21, 2016, the second, Dark Tempest, on January 6, 2017, and the final book, Immortal Fire, on April 11, 2017. On December 1, 2018, Annette Marie would release a prequel short story focused on the tengu Yumei called Prince of Shadows exclusively to the subscribers of her personal newsletter.
This book series contains the following tropes:
- Asian Fox Spirit: Shiro is a kitsune whose powers are sealed by strands of magical beads. With each band removed, he regains his tails, and thus more of his powers. Upon the removal of the last strand, he regains all nine of his tails and reaches his full power as Inari, patron kami of the kitsune.
- Artistic License – Religion: Amaterasu is a wind kami in this series rather than the goddess of the Sun like she is in real-world Shintoism.
- Can't Have Sex, Ever: Part of Emi's efforts to retain her makoto no kokoro, or purity, to ensure that her body isn't destroyed when Amaterasu comes to claim her include abstaining from physical intimacy. Once she realizes that her makoto no kokoro would remain intact so long as she acted with love, Emi and Shiro end up having Their First Time not long after.
- The Evils of Free Will: The ultimate goal of the Big Bad Izanami is to strip mortals of their free will so that Earth may become a perfect paradise under her rule.
- Expy: Shiro is one to Inuyasha, as both are Little Bit Beastly Yōkai with Mystical White Hair who are bound to their respective heroines thanks to some magical beads (though in Shiro's case, he needs Emi to help him remove the beads).
- Immortality Begins at Twenty: In the epilogue of Immortal Fire, Emi realizes that she has been made immortal by Amaterasu entering her body when she realizes that she hasn't aged past eighteen even though she is chronologically twenty-five.
- Muggle and Magical Love Triangle: Early on, Emi is undecided on whether or not she has feelings for her Childhood Friend Katsuo or the mysterious kitsune Shiro. She chooses Shiro.
- Otherworldly Technicolour Hair: While all of the humans have black or brown hair, the kami and yokai can have hair that run the gamut of red, blue, green, white, and so on.
