I quite enjoyed this story! I loved the main character. She had strong motivations and was a skilled assassin but her skills were also balanced with realistic weaknesses so she didn't seem like the stereotypical badass YA heroine. I had some difficulty following the dual timeline cause there wasn't any note at the beginning of the chapter that we were having flashbacks but I was usually able to figure out what was going on fairly quickly. If you're a lover of shadow daddies and enemies to lovers stories this is definitely the book for you! The dynamic between her and Rui was so interesting. I loved all their interactions (especially how getting to know him made it all the more difficult to kill him). The stakes were high throughout the book and I had a great time with it. I picked up the audio and really enjoyed all the emotion the narrator gave to our MC cause she's somewhat reserved but internally there's a lot going on. That really made the book for me!

3.5 Stars!
I was torn on my rating for this one. I wanted it to be a four, but it didn't hit the mark. It isn't quite a three either, so 3.5 it is!
This is a Korean YA fantasy with a bit of romance. There is a lot of Korean mythology that is interesting and different from anything I've read. The story follows Lina, an assassin known as the Reaper. She's working for a gang, and after pulling off her latest assignment, she draws the attention of the immortal Pied Piper. She's taken to the land of the immortals and allowed to save herself and others if she chooses to play the game. She learns more about the people and world she's in as she plays and has to decide who to trust and how to win while fighting her internal demons.
Lina's not always the most likeable or relatable but you get why she's the way she is as her story unfolds. She's resilient and willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family.
The side characters in the story are great, but I wish we had more of them. I felt the story lacked the depth these characters could have helped provide. The romance also lacks connection. You understood that something would happen with these people but we needed more to bring that connection together. The premise of the story is really good and has the potential to be a good series, but I hope future books will give us more substance and story.
The second book just released so I'm excited to see how the next chapter unfolds.

Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim is a delightful female led ya fantasy debut .

What I loved

1. Korean myth and legend running in the very veins of this story was great

2. Slow burn enemies to lovers vibes

3 Masterful world building

4. Last of their kind trope


What didn’t work as well for me

1. The pacing felt really uneven in the first act

2. There were some odd formatting things in my e-arc

Who would I recommend this title for
This title would be a great read for young adult fantasy readers who enjoy adventure vibes .

I struggled to get into the book. It was slow paced for the most parts and some parts were too fast paced for my liking. I loved the characters and plot overall.

Very good young adult female-lead adventure. The main character is a young female assassin who lost her guild/family. She ends up targetted by a God after stealing from their abandoned shrine.

It is a bit slow to start and sort of hard to follow as someone who knows very little about Korean Mythology. But overall I enjoyed the book.

I read this as part of an Entangled Publishing read-a-long and was able to engage with others who were readinging it along with me.

ARC provided via Entangled Publishing/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, a big thank-you for letting me read and review.

Last of the Talons is the debut novel, and first book in the Talon’s series, by Sophie Kim. I'm giving Last Of The Talons 4 Stars, why?

Being completely transparent and honest, I struggled to get into the book originally, even though it was part of a read along and chapters were dedicated days and what not - I did find myself getting disheartened very early on, but I stuck to it. I will say, that it does improve from there and does get better as you proceed.

I very much enjoyed the combination of the various Korean Myths and how they were used - the magic, the mythology, and whatever the thing was with scales (yikes!)

I did enjoy the world building and I do like Lina, even though I feel she is far too ... naïve? She trusts far too easily, especially with her past and her coping mechanism, isn't ideal. However, I really did enjoy the love interest between Rui and Lina and I did thoroughly enjoy the fact that roles switched and Lina had to save Rui. There was much tension between the enemies to lovers and that, I will applaud.

There was much to enjoy in this, beside Lina/Rui, the banter, the dynamics of the character, the grief (and boy there's a lot in this) - it kind of makes sense why Lina is so rash.

If there was anything that could have made this five stars, formatting was probably the biggest thing for me - I struggled to realise what was written as notes between characters. Like even some italic, emphasis, or even a different font would have been great. I had to read these sections multiple times to realise what they were exchanged as.

As for one other last reason, it felt very predictable. Like I knew what would happen, there wasn't much anticipation or suspense, I had a feeling that Lina was going to save Rui, I had this weird feeling but it was still enjoyable to read.

I'm going to continue with the sequel, there's a lot to explore and I'm excited to see where this plans out, and how thigns change.

I struggled with this book. Not a fan of dark romance, but thought I would try something different. I also liked that it was about Korean Mythology and that was kind of new to me. However, it was enough to make me want to finish the book. I read 2 books in the middle of reading this one. I had to force myself to finishm which isn't a good thing. I like the enemies to lovers trope.

Thank you Entangled Teen for the review copy, my opinion is my own.

I read this as prep work for the release of the second book in the series that released April 2, 2024.

I had my eye on this book back when it released, but was swamped by other books, but I am glad that I read this, it was a fascinating look into Korean based myths and fantasy. Lina is an assassin who is ordered to break into an abandoned temple and steal the contents of a chest. Sparking the rage of the Dokkaebi, she is swept away to Emperor of the Dokkaebi Haneul Rui's land and challenged to kill him before he kills her, she has 14 days. This is enemies to lovers, with a side of "I'm going to kill you" and "Who did this to you?," near death experiences, and some really hilarious death threats.

I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I would love to see a map and glossary of the gods, cast of characters to help keep everyone straight. There are a lot of flashbacks that Lina has that were sometimes a little jarring to be dumped into, but the information was important and relevant, and helped explain Lina's reactions.

I have no idea how this slipped my radar when it came out but I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to read this! This was such a fun and captivating read. Once I got into the story, I couldn’t put it down! This is a must read for anyone who enjoys YA fantasy with an enemies to lovers romance! Thank you Entangled for allowing me to read this.

This was a good debut and I liked the mix of Korean mythology, lots of secrets, twists and turns all of that sprinkled with a romance. The characters were well built and the pacing was a bit slowish at the start and going faster when the end was near. When I finished this installment I left intrigued and now I want to read the sequel and see how the story will progress.

Thank you Entangled and Netgalley for this read.
I recieved this ebook as a read a long for entangled.

I enjoyed the book. It did take good chunk of the book to get me pulled in to be able to be unable to put it down.

Enemies to Lovers, slow burn, he fell first.

Lina, The Reaper of Sunoco, the last standing member of her gang is spirited away for a game to the death by the pied piper, Rui, who she stole from.
Determined to win and keep her sister safe; she is ready to win by any means. Regardless how Rui makes her feel.

Ready to see the Wrath of Lina in book 2.

Last of the Talons is an intense, engrossing story that had me hooked until the end.

This is a YA Fantasy that included enemies-to-lovers / knife-to-throat -"I have to kill you" / "Who did this to you," tale that follows Lina, an assassin who must defeat the Emperor Rui in order to save her sister.

The story was well-written and flowed seamlessly. The author did a fantastic job with world building that easily transported me to another world.

I loved the Korean mythology integrated in the story which I found interesting and that, along with the twists, secrets, action, hints of magic and romance all kept me turning the pages.

Rui and Lina's relationship developed at the right pace. The enemies-to-lovers aspect was well done and I loved the tension between them.

This was an interesting tale and I'm excited for book 2. I would definitely recommend it to lovers of YA Fantasy.

WARNING- May contain spoilers!


When you have been through so much, what would you do to survive? The Last of the Talons dives into the world of Shin Lina, a Talon who is at the mercy of a rival gang with leverage on her that she is not willing to risk. In enters Hanuel Rui, the emperor of an immortal race, who will turn Lina’s world, and everything she thought about herself upside down. This enemies-to-lovers eastern fantasy will keep you wanting more as you dive into the world that Sophie Kim has created.

With a strong female lead, and a male antagonist who only adds to her character development, the Last of the Talons had me reading this book. Though I had to stop to look a lot of things up(which had me learning a lot about different cultures), the book was still captivating, with characters who were not always as they seemed, and suspicion that kept you guessing at who the real enemy is. I normally would not have picked this book for myself, but the opportunity to read and discuss it arose, and I am happy that I did. I will definitely be picking up book 2 to find out what becomes of Lina and Rui, and I know that we have so much more to find out. Be ready, as this book will leave you with more questions than you came with, but the mysteriousness of the characters drives what is a compelling story. I can’t say too much without giving it away, but I definitely recommend picking this one up!

Thank you to the entangled team for this copy to review and read along with you! It was a blast!

I was lucky enough to get to join in a read a long for this book with Entangled. And just to prelude this I’d say fantasy is one of my personal weaker genres but also some of my favourite books are fantasy lol.
I thought this book sounded good because I liked the thought of the pied piper retelling and having a female assassin. I love kick ass woman main characters. The age category confused me a bit. It read like young adult but I believe our characters are a bit older. I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers so that worked for me. I’m excited to see where to story goes in book two.
I really like Rui’s character because he was a tricker and the leader but he was also curious and let the readers know that he could be caring when he wanted. Lina was a (like previously mentioned) kick ass female character who was so used to looking after her self and her sisters that she was willing to sacrifice everything. She truly showed us what bravery is.
I would recommend this book to fantasy lovers.

First thing is that I really liked that this stayed in the YA genre and didn't venture into NA. I've never read a Korean mythology retelling before and the pied piper was interesting. The MFC has a sad backstory that contributes to the character she becomes. This is a enemies to lovers, adventurous, quick read. Not my normal reading material but I give it 3 stars!

A big shout out to Entangled Publishing for hosting a read-along and providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Entangled hosts a read-along you can safely presume I’m going to sign up, no matter what’s happening. Even if it’s my wedding in four days (it’s not) and those four days require me to be reading and participating in the discussion, I’ll be there. They’re honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had thus far and I cannot recommend it enough. If you’re interested, please think about joining! The discussion questions are so thoughtful and I enjoy them just a smidge more than the reading even when the book is fantastic (and Last of the Talons was!). It’s like a lovely little prize at the end of every allotted set of chapters! I get to spam messages about what I think. Also there are giveaway prizes! Honestly it’s a win-win-win. And no, I was not asked to promote it, I’m just here spreading the love.

When I read the blurb of Last of the Talons I knew I had to read this book. Also to me, the girl on the cover looked so much like Han So-hee so I gleefully imagine her as Shin Lina nearly the whole time. Or whenever I remembered. Anyway, that being said, I think Last of the Talons has one of the more heartbreaking narratives I’ve read. The tone of the book—set by the voice of the FMC whose perspective the book runs in—has a hardened, bleak, gritty perspective to it. It reads a little like (tonally, speaking) K. S. Villoso’s The Wolf of Oren-Yaro. There’s an undercurrent of hopelessness, but the character brings in a lot of their sheer will that has the power to change their circumstance.

As mentioned earlier, the book reads in a single first person POV over the span of forty eight chapters. Shin Lina is a reliable, steady, intelligent and honest narrator. The emotions she drags out are a consequence of our empathy to her situation. She never tries to convince you of her feelings/decisions, she states things as they are and you’re drawn in by her honestly and plight. The writing that’s strongly intertwined with the voice of the FMC, is as strong willed as its main character. It never bends, yields or takes any prisoners. The author promises a reading experience that’s rich culturally and I love that it was delivered. I loved all the mentions of anything part of the Korean culture and folklore and seeing it brought so much familiarity (from all the Korean content I’ve engaged in over the years), I loved it!

The world building for me was nearly perfect. I’ve watched and engaged in so much content related to Korean folklore that it was just a reiteration of what I already knew. The rest of the world building was linked to the FMC’s situational set up which was just as beautifully done. The author takes us on an interesting journey of Shin Lina’s mind, emotions, present and past at the perfect moments, dragging us in slowly and hooking us til the end. I was with the author every second of the book and never struggled with anyone/anything.
In my opinion, the plot we see in this book is just a part of the whole. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, why? ‘Cos I can. After being a reader for the majority of my 29 years of living, I’ve fairly come to understand/predict which direction the story will bend and where we are likely heading. I expected some parts of the book but the others I was blindsided by! I love when an author can do that to a seasoned reader (yes, it is myself I speaketh of 💅). There’s one primary plot which gives way to many sub plots that explore the worlds of both the MMC and the FMC.

I loved every interaction between the main characters in Last of the Talons. The ebb and flow of their connection from the very moment they meet to the last page was emotionally satisfying, thrilling and you’re waiting to see what’s coming next. They have the strangest graph—in a good way. They go from strangers-to-enemies-to-areweloversarewenot-to-reluctant-allies-to-friends. Maybe. It’s not so easy to break it down though, I’m simplifying it. *waves green flag* Love relationships with immense green flag potential!

The pace was fantastic, it never lets up and keeps us glued to the pages. The chapters are all short, ranging between 1 to 9 minute reads (based on my reading speed). They’re to the point and pack a punch. Just perfect 🤌🏻✨.

Five stars! There’s so much emotion in this read that I didn’t expect to feel. There’s so much story in these pages. Last of the Talons will always hold a special place in my heart. Check trigger warnings! The second book has released so you won’t be left bereft once you’re done with this baby!

Inspired by Korean mythology, Last of the Talons follows assassin and thief Shin Lina after she is hired to steal a tapestry. After angering the deity is belonged to, Lina finds herself swept into the world of the Dokkaebi. She ensues on a deadly game between her and the Dokkaebi emperor, Rui, but in order to succeed, she might need to face the grief of her past.

This book had all of my favorite tropes and excellently explored Lina's grief, healing, and her difficulty to face frightening emotions. I think it was a pretty easy read, but I did get tripped up by the sentence structure at several points throughout the book which I feel affected by enjoyment. Overall, I loved the take on Korean mythology, the characters (can we add Rui to the list of BookTok boyfriends???), and the heart behind the words.

Highly recommend for fans of badass and vengeful FMC's and morally grey men!

Thank you to Entangled Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for a read-a-long, all thoughts are my own.

Last of the Talons is the first book in a YA fantasy series, our main character is Shin Lina, an assassin nicknamed the Reaper, who is considered the best assassin in Sunpo. She has lost everyone she loves but her sister. For the past year, after the murder of her found family, she has been used as a slave for the man who killed them. When he gets kidnapped, she is beaten nearly to death and given 30 days to bring him back or her sister dies. That is, until she herself is kidnapped and taken to another realm, the realm of the Dokkaebi. She must either kill their emperor to save her sister, or forfeit her own life.

Over all, this was a decent book. I think I personally am just transitioning out of a lot of YA books, but I found myself not fully falling into the world. I went back and forth between whether I should rate it a 3 or a 4 because by the end I was getting intrigued, so my real score for this book is a 3.5 stars.

What I enjoyed about this book was Sophie Kim's use of Korean mythology and that is was an interesting take on the tale of the pied piper. The world building was very interesting. The world of the humans has all but been abandoned by the gods, and warring gangs were left in charge of Sunpo. The magic system has potential and you can't go wrong with a dash of romance. I think I would like to continue the series, at least with the second book to see where we are heading and how this goes. The end held a lot of interesting teasers that peaked my interest which is where I actually got invested.

Now to the things I didn't enjoy, this book fell into a lot of the typical cut and paste tropes of a ya fantasy romance. The world, while pretty, lacked very much actual development, it was all surface level without diving into anything of substance. There was no reason I could find that made the leading MMC make full sense. "I'm bored with life so either kill me or I kill you, meanwhile let me give you freedoms, nourish you, and give you punishments like pretty clothes, be my date to a ball and lets have dinner under the stars." Lina is supposedly the best assassin to ever live, but we are only ever told this, and told it repeatedly. Every action seemed to contract this at every turn. She didn't have a poker face, she was caught off guard many times, she fell easily to her emotions and acted out on a quick trigger.

I feel like the book could've done well with another pass through the editing process. There were multiple times things were repeated over and over that it got to the point that it became more of a hinderance than a helpful reminder. I also was confused by the DARE level anti smoking campaign that seemed to happen randomly in the story. I didn't think the whole minor plot point of Lina being a smoker was frankly needed. There could have been many other things that could've been added to attempt to show care from not just Sang but Rui than having an anti-smoking minor subplot.

Despite my criticism, I want to get it out there that I was impressed with the fact this was Sophie Kim's debut novel. For a debut novel, and in fantasy no less, she has the bones right, she did manage to keep me reading wanting to know what was happening and where the story was going. I want to read the next installment to see what she does with this groundwork.

If you're a fan of fantasy, of YA and similar vibes to the first book in the Throne Of Glass series, give this book a shot. As I'm writing this the second book Wrath of the Talon has just released. Lets see where it goes.

Last of the Talons is a fast paced fantasy based on Korean mythology that keeps you on your toes, and had me continuously asking myself what does this mean?? Lina (an assassin) is the last of her original found family (the Talons) and has found herself in a position where she has no choice but to enter a different realm and take on a challenge presented to her in order to live. The moment she meets Rui, you wonder where this is going, but are excited to be taken along for the ride.
I loved the way Sophie Kim incorporated flashbacks into the present story so you get a better feeling of what Lina is thinking and going through behind the scenes as she ventures through her quest to complete her challenge before the deadline. There were quite a few twists and turns, so I didn't always know where Lina's story was headed, but that made it wonderfully fun. And to know that the story will continue on with Wrath of the Talons that was just released is icing on the cake!

This book was amazing! It was perfectly paced with extremely well-developed characters. Plus it had some Korean mythology and some slow burn romance. The story kept me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns. I loved Lina and Rui and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.