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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Asayi: An Autistic Teen's Journey to Topple a Shogun in Medieval Japan by Sharon Curcio follows the titular Asayi, daughter of a scribe to the Ashikaga Shogun. Asayi is brought to deliver her father's legal scrolls to the Shogun and arrange her marriage as third wife to the nobleman, Nabui. Once married, Asayi is abused, primarily because she is non-verbal and viewed as defective. Despite this, the household scribes discover Asayi’s talent for drawing. This does not save her when she is later brutally punished and exiled. Left for dead, Asayi is enslaved by a low-caste family but finds refuge with a blacksmith. After being identified by a former palace figure turned nun, Asayi trains to become a vengeful spirit named Yurei. As Yurei, Asayi becomes part of the resistance movement against the Shogun's oppressive rule, intent on using her haunting to disrupt his and Nabui's power and authority.
Sharon Curcio's Asayi is a thoughtful story of a teenage girl's life where two things put her at a significant disadvantage: being female, and autistic. I was drawn to the story because it is the first time I've found a true neuro-divergent protagonist in this period of Japan that isn't part of a supernatural or fantasy novel. I think that Curicio does an excellent job of building the spaces Asayi inhabits, with historical details that have clearly been meticulously researched. While it is neither gratuitous nor glorified, readers should be aware that it does describe the violent rape and torture of a child. This is an element of Curicio's transporting of the reader into the very real subjugation of females of the time and goes a long way in strengthening Asayi's journey from daughter and wife to quiet strength and what I would call the epitome of soft power. I loved the emotional connection she shared with her dog. Overall, this is a heavy but heartfelt read. Recommended.
