Last of the Talons is yet another epic fantasy based on East Asian, this time Korean, folklore to come out in recent years and it does not disappoint. Yet it brings something a bit different to the table. It is oozing with rage in a way that may come as a surprise for a book that is marketed as YA. However, that shouldn’t be a deterrent. Instead, it is exactly why you need to pick up this book in the first place.

Sophie Kim has done an exceedingly good job of creating the world her characters live in and the characters themselves. They are bloodthirsty and passionate. These emotions are what fuel the story and make the book hard to put down. Shin Lina, the protagonist, brings everything she’s got to the table and she won’t let you forget it.

The Story
Last of the Talons covdr
Eighteen-year-old Shin Lina, The Reaper of Sunpo, is the sole survivor of her gang, The Talons. Afterwards, she is forced to work for the world’s most feared crime lord – a position she despises. Despite this, she must continue working for him in order to protect her younger sister, who they use to keep her in line. However, everything changes after she is instructed to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple. She succeeds, but there are unexpected consequences for the crime she has committed.

She has destroyed a piece treasured by the Dokkaebi emperor, Haneul Rui, and must pay the price. He whisks her away to the lands of the Dokkaebi, immortal creatures created from the blood of the gods, and challenges her to a game – she may only go free if she can kill him within a strict time limit.

Tasked with the impossible, Lina must find a way to defeat the almighty emperor before her times runs out or her sisters life will be at risk. In the process, she will meet many and learn much, but at what cost?

Emotionally Raw
A really interesting aspect of this novel is how absolutely raw the emotions are throughout the whole story. From the beginning, Lina is feisty and powerful – even in her weakened and controlled state. She is quick to express her emotions, regardless of how vulgar they may be, and stays true to herself. While this is a common trait of other protagonists in the genre, Lina is particularly honest.

Perhaps this difference in atmosphere is due to the language that Lina uses in Last of the Talons. She does not shy away from cursing and there are other characters that use foul language as well. Kim has pushed the limits of the genre with her characterization of Lina and it is super refreshing.

Revenge is Sweet but Complex
Another key aspect of the story is how focused it is on revenge. Both Lina and Rui are focused on this and it is a huge portion of their life or death game. Lina is a trained assassin who isn’t shy with her words or her actions. Rui is an immortal with powers unimaginable. Yet they both share the same desire for revenge. Their thirst for blood is more or less unrivaled.

However, their desire for revenge is far from simple. They have both experienced indescribable traumas that fuel their rage. It is not simply a matter of getting revenge, but also about finding themselves in the process. This makes their character development really interesting and plays directly into how raw the emotions of the characters are in the novel.

In Conclusion
Overall, Last of the Talons is a genre-defying type of novel. It just fits into its niche while also playing hard to the sensibilities of readers of other genres as well. From blood and foul language to the passion, it definitely brings something to the table for everyone. An absolutely stunning start to what will hopefully be an excellent trilogy. Cannot wait to read more about Lina and Rui in the coming volumes.

If you're looking for a new fantasy with a true enemies to lovers romance, You have to pick this up!
I've been finding myself moving away from YA Fantasy, but this one reignited that spark. This romance, story, and mythology all mixed made an incredible story and I'm so excited for future books. Seriously, this is a debut and I can't wait to see what the author does next!

This is one of the best romantic fantasy book I read this year and one of the best fantasy tout court.
The author did an excellent job in creating a fascinating world building, an action packed plot and a romance that works and never put the action on the backseat.
I discovered it's part of a series and I can't wait to read the rest.
As it's so good I hope it will be read by a lot of people.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book was so enjoyable The romance was so so good!! And the world building and mythology made for a really interesting plot.

Heres the setup:
The Reaper of Sunpo is death and Death does not die. Young Lina is an assassin forced to use her skills for those who killed her friends and hold her little sister hostage. To keep her sister safe she steals a tapestry which happened to belong to the Pied Piper. Trapped in another realm she must kill or be killed, but there are politics at play she doesn't understand.

This was a fun one. Lina was well developed, wasn't too superhuman in her abilities. She cares so much about her sister and you see her work through the grief and guilt of what happened to her friends. Yes I generally figured out how it was going to play out but overall I liked it a lot and look forward to the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Teen, and Sophie Kim for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of the first YA books I've read in a while and it was a fantastic reminder of why I fell in love with reading. Shin Lina was the perfect FMC, ready to take on the world to keep her sister safe. Whether it was joining the Talons, surviving the Blackbloods, or taking on the Pied Piper himself.

I took a bit off cause I understand that insta-love is part of YA but it felt really fast.

Overall this was a fantastic retelling of a Korean legend that I enjoyed immensely.

4.5✨

This was cool! Loved the premise and how the story went along. There were a few things that didn't make sense like how a small small gang can rule an entire city but I can forgive that and such. Looking forward to how the next installments go!!

First of all, thank you Netgalley for providing the eArc!

I really hoped I‘d love The Last of the Talons, and don‘t get me wrong I still very much enjoyed the story but I had a hard time getting into the story, the writing was kind of too much?

However I looove me a Korean mythology, with the enemies to lovers trope AND a female assassin! (Btw that cover is georgeous!)

Shina Lin is a protagonist that deals with lots of hardships such as addiction and mental health issues, and I loved to follow her on her journey of protecting her sibling, however what felt kind of off to me was how she‘s always being described as this great assassin but we rarely really get to see her in a major fight scene.

I wish we would‘ve seen more of the side-characters, it felt like their only purpose was to get the protagonist further in her plans if that makes sense? For me they didn‘t really had substance and felt flat.

I loved the mythological aspect of this book, I haven‘t read any Korean retellings so far and I think it’s great that we now have a larger selection of east Asian retellings than we had just a few years ago.

The pacing was really good and fast, despite the struggles I had at the beginning.

It‘s a well made debute and I hope we get to read more by Sophie Kim!

Thank you Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the ARC. And thank you Sophie Kim for writing this amazingly woven Korean mythology YA fantasy.

World building, characters, enemies to lovers with fast paced plotline had me devouring it in 2 days. Love me some female assassins who protect their siblings and loved ones. I thought the MC was badass and the book as a whole reminded me that reading is fun!

I thought this was an amazing debut with intricate relationships and great well rounded story.

Thanks again Entangeled and NetGalley!

My Goodreads is HereforIndieBooks it won't let me link it for some reason.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

Man, I loved this book. I went into this with low expectations, but it was great.

In this story, we follow Lina, who is an assassin. She used to be part of this gang called the Talons but not anymore (for reasons you’ll find out later). Her new gang master tells her to steal this ancient tapestry, so she does. However, she enrages an Dokkaebi who ends up kidnapping her and her master. This Dokkaebi, Rui, offers her a deal: kill him within 14 days and she can return to her world. She accepts, but things aren’t as easy as it sounds.

This book is character (mostly Lina) heavy. You see her struggle with addiction, the loss of her friends and family, and depression. She feels worthless and only finds solace in the fact that her little sister is safe. I’m not much of an emotional reader, but there were some scenes where I just felt for Lina. I understood her pain and frustration, which made me tear up a little.

As you can probably tell by my review or the description of this book, it’s Korean influenced. I haven’t heard of too many Korean retellings. Sadly, I never heard of this retelling so I didn’t catch any parallels or whatever, but the lore was still fun to read!

A few minor reasons why I didn’t give this a full 5 stars:

1. I wish we got more out of the side characters. Most of the time, they were just there to say a few sentences but didn’t really push forward the plot.

2. For some odd reason, this book (and thus the plot) felt really short to me despite it being more than 400 pages long. I guess that means the pacing is fast, but I could have used more slow times.

3. The gang rivalry could have been explored more.

4. Lina is an assassin, but we get one major fight scene with her. Two, maybe? I wish we saw her be a little bit more kickass.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! And I will be picking up the sequel whenever that comes out.

Would I recommend this book? Yes!

Last of the Talons has a gorgeous book in appearance, with an enchanting tale between its pages. As a mythology lover, I devoured this story that draws inspiration from Korean mythology, where a young assassin is whisked away to the Dokkaebi realm.

With a heroine that will get what she wants, the snarky emperor she's supposed to kill, their game of assassinations and an exploration of what happens in world abandoned by gods, this novel by Sophie Kim is sure to make many readers swoon.

Although this book is evidently the first of a new series, I felt as though I were dropped down in the middle of a story. Confusion was compounded by the unfamiliar names and terms in an unfamiliar world. The plot revolves around Lina, who has been enslaved to be an assassin after her tribe has been killed. In order to save her little sister, she must first follow the orders of one person, then another, and finally the Dokkaebi emperor Rui, who challenges her to kill him in 14 days. One hardship and misadventure after another challenge Lina until there is finally a satisfying resolution, which will easily lead to the next installment of the series. A list of characters and glossary would have definitely helped this reader.

The set up of this plot really got me— Immortal emperor of a pocket realm of immortals challenges an assassin to kill him within 14 days (or he will kill her if she doesn’t), and the whole time he treats it as a silly game— and you know I love a traumatized older sister MC! But I think the like gritty dark fantasy is not so much my jam these days?? I think this book would definitely work for the ppl who are looking for that darklina dynamic or who are into a hero who has gotta fight their ptsd demons and carve out a life for themselves, but for me personally, I find that’s not what I look for really? The world building was alright (the food descriptions were amazing and the bit where they’re reading the book about legends of the gods really worked for me) but I wanted more of it, and overall, the only personal dynamics we really got were emperor/MC, and I want more friendship/family/enemies (sexual/romantic tension alone doesn’t quite motivate me to keep reading, lol)! All that said, the Korean based fantasy/magic/lore was different and cool, and I would love to include this in my classroom (because I am well aware that while these vibes weren’t for me, they will DEF work for my teenage students!!) So from a teaching perspective (not necessarily a personal one), this is a 4/5 stars. Thank you @netgalley!

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am shaking with excitement as I write this review. 5 FRICKIN' STARS, no joke. I don't give away 5 stars freely but this book deserves it. Last Of The Talons is my newest obsession because Lina and Rui are goals👌🏻 And Shin Lina is a QUEEN, you cannot convince me otherwise. With the most slowest slow-burn I have ever encountered and characters that did not let me rest, this book is a masterpiece and I'm thriving because of it. A new favourite author has been discovered by me, I am SO looking forward to more books by Sophie Kim. Thank you for this book😭💖

5 stars!🌟

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book! I read the blurb and was so intrigued and I instantly wanted to read this. It had all the tropes I normally love but it fell flat in this book.

I was so bored in the beginning and middle that I was skipping pages and reading ahead. One of my main issues with this book is the lack of natural transitions between the past and present. At times it was confusing and jarring.

I like Shin Lina as a character, but I just didn’t understand her position as this great assassin? To me, it was really unbelievable. I feel the author tried too hard to make her a female replica of Kaz Brekker with Carlene Sardothien vibes.

I don’t understand how the entirety of the Talons died just because she wasn’t there? Aren’t they also good fighters? Didn’t they teach her?

There were some things I did enjoy about the story. I enjoyed the mythology and the settings in the realm the Pied Piper ruled over. I could imagine myself there with the smells of the flowers.

I can’t say too much about the other characters because they were all so lack luster and one dimensional.

Rui as a character confused me.. I wanted more from him. This whole “you have 14 days to kill me Or I kill you” just didn’t make sense.. what was the point? And all because of a tapestry that collected dust.. I don’t know.

The romance for me was okay. I did enjoy it at times but I wish we got more.

Overall, there were parts I did like. The last 20% had me sitting on the edge of my seat. And then there were times where I was bored.

I just don’t think this book was for me. Will I read the sequel? Probably not.

I was excited to read this book after seeing it on the cover of PW. It is the story of Shin Lina, an 18 yo girl who has been forced into a dangerous life to keep her younger sister safe from harm. After her crime family is killed by another crime boss, Lina is forced to work for him. When he has her steal an important tapestry, the two of them find themselves in the realm of the Dokkaebi, the immortals. The only way Lina can escape with her life and save her sister is to kill the emperor of this city. But things are not always as they seem. This book combines Korean fantasy, the story of the Pied Piper, and romance.

A good debut and I had some fun reading this book. Definitely a good fantasy to sink into plus I liked the MC. Hope to see more books by this author.

Death does not die and neither will you

2.5

Do you know how much I wanted to love this book? And how disappointed I was left??

I will agree with the rest of the reviews for this book: great idea, poor execution. I'm a little hesitant when a book features an already ''powerful'' protagonist because it usually feels like "they're the greatest assassin ever but not really" and this book was that. We're always reminded that Lina is a great assassin, the greatest assassin in Sunpo but it doesn't feel that way. In fact, she feels like... an amateur? How is she the greatest assassin ever and the first thing that comes to her mind is to seduce Rui to kill him?? At least to me, she didn't seem as prepared for everything as an assassin should be. She's betrayed and is always a step behind so she really doesn't feel like a great assassin.

I also felt that the author focused more on developing the romance than the rest of the characters and worldbuilding. Other than Lina and Rui, the other characters were just there. Even Lina's former gang members, Rui's court, the Blackbloods felt flat. The greatest assassins and spies and gang members didn't know they were falling in a trap? Like, I'm not an assassin but if I were, I'd be suspicious of anything and never underestimating anyone, not even rivals.

*******SPOILER******
I didn't really like the twist in Lina getting serpent skin(idk how to explain it I've stopped producing brain cells at the age of 14). I would have preferred to see her remain a human, a mortal among immortal Dokkaebi

Overall, could have been done better

I really, really need the next book. Like. Now. I really liked the storyline and I have hopes and dreams on how it'll end, but I can't state enough how much I need hands on the next book!

Shin Lina is an assassin, the Reaper of Sunpo, and has lost nearly everything and is owned by a despicable man. One day when she steals something sacred she gets more than she bargained for.

'Death does not die, and neither will you, Shin Lina.'

Before I gush over the rest of the book let me just tell you I have a new bbf. Rui. He's mine ladies and gents.....back off!!!!! I mean the man is an Emperor and he has a fondness for winter. It all just points to being mine!

I absolutely loved this book! It's been a while since I've had this feeling about a book and it feels so good! The utter joy of reading each word, sentence and paragraph and never wanting it to end but still wanting to know what happens!

The writing, the story, the characters, the world of Gyrulcheon. Everything! In fact I'm actually lost for words! I do not know how to review this book to do it justice apart from to say that it deserves all the stars and now I'm off to stalk the author and to see what's next!