I was super excited to read Last of the Talons because the premise/storyline sounded interesting! Plus I love Mythology books and I wanted to read more with Dokkaebi plus who doesn't love an enemies-to-lovers storyline?

Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim follows our main character, Shin Lina, an assassin on a mission to save her sister. She must kill a Dokkaebi or lose her sister forever. With beautiful world-building and enticing characters, the story packs a punch as a Pied Piper retelling.

I will admit, I rarely see retellings of Pied Piper so I found this pretty unique. Additionally, the fantasy elements throughout the story were really cool. I am looking forward to book two!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen publishing for providing me with an advance reader copy!

Preview: So excited to read this! I love Mythology books!

While I loved the sound of LAST OF THE TALONS, I ultimately didn't end up enjoying the writing at all and therefore decided to DNF this one.

4.5 Stars
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

What a GOOD book. It has been a minute since I have read a book in one sitting and OH YES THIS WAS THAT ONE BOOK. I will need to buy a hard copy for my shelves.

What I liked most about this book was the Asian Mythology. I don't read many books with it so it was a nice change up. I hope there is a sequel because of the end was sort of left open. If/when there a sequel, I will be snatching it up in a heartbeat.

thank you Entangled Publishing, LLC, Entangled: Teen for an eARC

4.5 stars rounded up.
I'm already looking forward to rereading this book! So many little small details that I know will mean something else during a reread.

"The order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…
... But she can win her life—if she kills him first.
... Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister...all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass."

The general banter of this book was immaculate. I found all of the characters to be likable and thought that they complimented each other well. Every action in the book made sense and I never felt like something was out of place.

This book is perfect for anybody who is looking for a young adult high fantasy book. This is also the perfect introduction into high fantasy because the worlds are adequately explained but not over the top.

This was so good! I haven't seen this book getting much hype online, but it really should be considering the internet's obsession with enemies-to-lovers. This was probably the best use of the enemies-to-lovers trope I've ever read, and I've read all of the extremely popular ones. The setting in this book was lush and descriptive, and I'm really excited to learn more about it in the next book. I loved Lina as a character; she was similar to our classic YA assassin girls like Celaena Sardothien, but she was more realistic. Rui was such a great character and I'm so glad the enemies situation resolved itself rather than turning into a cliffhanger. I also read that the author is a college student. I don't know how old she is, but this book reads like a book by a much more seasoned author rather than a debut. I'm so excited for Wrath of the Talon!

DNF. Please take this review with a grain of salt as I am not in the YA range. I had to DNF this early on because the the tone of voice was way too young for me. It felt every 2013-esque with how badass the main character has to be and how she has no female friends at all. She was way too edgy for me.

dnf

might try and pick it up again... maybe.

i saw a lot of positive reviews for this one so I feel bad for not liking it personally. But it just wasn't working for me. I didn't even get that far into it. I was so bored and so disinterested.

Shin Lina is a survivor, a thief, a sister, a talon. She does the dirty work and seeks revenge for the deaths of her Talon Family. She is forced to work for the rival gang to make sure her little sister Eunbie is safe. She does the job she is forced to do and then gets thrown into a fight she shouldn’t be in. This book is full of Korean Lore! Action, feelings, and survival. I loved it from the first page to the last!

This was a decent read. I enjoyed the Korean mythology and it being a Pied Piper retelling. I thought the concept was really interesting and overall it was a good story. I can't quite put my finger on it but I wasn't completely in love with the story. I think the alternating almost flashback timeline was kind of confusing and I would often find myself saying wait I want to get back to the present timeline and continue what is happening. The past information was interesting and definitely gave the story more depth but somehow it made the story a bit choppy.

I did think the characters were interesting. I liked the Dokkaebi and thought they were the best part of the story. The timeline was decent and the bargain gave enough time to have things happen without it being extremely fast or slow. I do wish Shin Lina had been the assassin we are told she was. I kept reading how amazing she is and how she is the best but yet she is often just angry and rushing things. She is frequently at the losing end of many fights. It would have been nicer to see her be the greatest fighter/assassin she is described as. The ending happens rather abruptly but it did make me want to find out what happens next.

Overall I think this was an interning and decent story and I am interested in the sequel. I think give this book a shot if you enjoy assassin enemies to lovers type fantasy's.

This was an interesting fantasy novel, based upon Korean mythology, although no knowledge of Korean mythology is needed to enjoy the story. Shin Lina is an assassin, a teenage girl who lost her parents at 10, and was taken in by a gang at 11, agreeing to train to become their assassin in exchange for support and safety for her younger sister, Eunbi - and at 14, she is just that: a trained assassin. Lina believes in the old gods of Korea, although many of those around her do not, and she prays to them to keep her safe so that she can continue to raise her sister. Caught in a gang war, forced to steal and kill for her sister's safety, Lina longs for a way out - and her meeting with Haneul Rui of the Dokkaebi may just be the way out she seeks - or it could cause her to trade one trap for another.

I enjoyed reading about Lina, a strong, fierce young woman plagued by her past and concerned for her family. The mythology upon which the novel is based seems authentic, although I was taken somewhat aback by the descriptions of various characters as having red, blond, or brown curly hair, as that seems somewhat out of the normal for people from Korea. However, that was a small blip, which did not detract from the story.

4 stars! i enjoyed this story a lot, it made me chuckle and it was kinda epic, so it was everything i wanted from this. some of the plot isn't exactly new, but its still written in a lovely way, and i loved the whole folklore and fantastic elements! the only thing i have to say, is that the emotional relationship progressed a little to quickly for my taste. but yeah, i quite liked it :)

Well that was fun! I haven't read a Pied Piper retelling before and this was much better than I expected. I loved this one so much I finished in under two days.

This did start off a tad slow but as it went along, it just got better and better. By the end I was thoroughly in love and can't wait to see where this goes next.

I sincerely appreciate Entangled Teen for the review copy. All opinions expressed herein are my own

Last of the Talons blends dark romance and Korean mythology together in a captivating way. We follow Lina who is a strong and formidable character who wants to save her sister. Since I know a bit of Korean mythology, I found this story easy to follow and understand. Great debut for Sophie Kim!

This was a disappointment. From the beginning, with a book that’s thick and based off of Korean mythology, I was excited. I love a thick book if it should be fat for a reason. I also love mythologies that I’ve never experienced before.

This wasn’t a good read even with the promise of a new mythology. Why? Characters, romance, pacing, plot, showing and telling, to be honest, it was a bit of a mess.

Question one: who are the talons? We don’t really know! We get these flashbacks into the MC’s past as a part but they’re quick, with little detail that will get us to care. We don’t really know who or what they are. Just that at the beginning of the story, she’s supposed to be this strong, badass member of the group and people strongly dislike her for it.

She is not a badass fighter. We are told over and over she is but the first fight we actually see? It’s her losing. Badly. Then she turns it around with a knife but she’s supposed to have these sharp reflexes, skills and none of them are present.

Follow that up with a character who is incredibly flat and you’ve got a situation where it’s hard to care at all.

She’s wrapped up in a gang because she’s trying to keep her sister safe from them. Her younger sister goes to school high on some mountain. And that’s her drive. But we don’t see how she is with her sister. We get told that she’s sweet and innocent and precious.

Everything we need to see is just told to us taking away any of the impact it’s supposed to have.

Then we get to the meat of the story. After stealing something, she’s now in a weird battle. Kill this god in 2 weeks. Guess what, it’s enemies to lovers except the romance is flat. Why are they interested in each other? What does a god see interesting enough in a literal teenager to want to be with her? With all that, it’s kind of creepy. Plus, there’s no spark. It doesn’t really track as a romance.

Now, not only does she have two weeks to kill this god, she’s also got thirty days to save someone and also keep her sister safe? It’s very confusing. A lot of the plot has some inconsistencies that will make the reading experience less than smooth.

All in all, this book was a massive let down. She tries to seduce a deity and catches feelings. That’s her plan to kill him. And that’s supposed to be the best plan this supposed best killer and assassin came up with? It feels more than a little reductive of her supposed abilities.

It’s the first of a series and I won’t be reading the rest. This book was just not it. I hate to say that because Korean mythology is so interesting.

This is getting a two (2) out of five (5). I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

As a massive dragon fan this book made me very happy especially with how it was woven with Korean culture - this is absolutely delightful and fun to read!

Last of the Talons was honestly one of my most-anticipated releases of this year; the moment I found I was granted the eARC, I ran around in Clo’s DMs screaming excitedly. Sophie Kim’s debut novel, and the first in the Talon series, has everything I would enjoy in a book: enemies to lovers, Korean mythology, and failed assassination attempts! The last one is not concerning at all when taken out of context.

From the moment I opened up the book, this was one of those where I knew I would love it. Last of the Talons was overall a fun read for me; there’s plenty of sass and banter from Lina and Rui, and I loved seeing their relationship progress throughout the book as they got to know each other. I also liked their backstory, especially the flashbacks featuring Lina’s sister, Eunbi (the absolute cutest from the few scenes she’s in).

The world-building was intriguing and immersive, taking inspiration from Korean myths, and Kim’s writing was very engaging, with beautiful lines and quotations. With each chapter, I was interested in reading the next one and finding out what would happen next to the characters until the very end, and it left me wanting more.

Last of the Talons was also one of those books that, by the time I finished the book, it ended up being an unfortunate disappointment when looking back. But since it’s the first in a series, this could work perfectly in the long run, and I’m just very conflicted, so I hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot. Ratings are hard.

While I loved the world-building and writing style and the side characters, in addition to the mains, it was overall slow-paced. While there’s a relatively solid backstory for the characters that left me emotional at times, the transition from present to flashback was disorienting, rocky, and a little surface-level.

We don’t get to know the Talons (at least the people Lina spends a lot of time with) all too much, and it sounds like being a part of them was a huge and formative part of Lina’s life that it feels a bit lacking not to have more beyond what leads up to her becoming a part of the Blackbloods. I also wished we saw more of Rui’s council because they feel like Important Side Characters™. Since the book is mainly in Gyeulcheon, it feels like there were missed opportunities because they float around easily forgotten.

Additionally, there’s a lot of telling rather than showing. We get told a lot that Lina is known as the Reaper of Sunpo, a name she chose when she became a part of the Talons: someone who is grim, violent, and a ruthless killer. But we don’t get shown this, though it’s hinted at during Lina’s multiple failed assassination attempts on Rui. We find out early on that she’s treated poorly by Konrarnd Kalmin, though, so while it would’ve been nice to see her live up to her nickname, it also would’ve been unlikely. And considering this is the first in a series, it’s not the biggest of deals for me (but it might be for others).

Last of the Talons is very much a set-up novel, which I personally find a struggle to read (though I appreciate them). But I was very much invested in the entire story and enjoyed myself a lot while reading this because each of the chapters had a slow buildup that ultimately left me wanting more. Despite my qualms with the execution, this promises a more exciting and fun sequel, and everything that I didn’t enjoy so much here could fit well with the rest of the series.

a solid 4 star read!

I’m so glad I read this book- it was so much fun! A lot of the scenes have become my all time favourite scenes and I can see myself rereading them over and over again. The angst between Lina and Rui was literally sizzling. The enemies to lovers was done so well, and I loved the plot of this book; t was twisty, bloody and yet full of grief and hope.

Lina is such a strong character. She has lost everything and now only has her little sister to take care of. She is the last of the talons, a gang who I kind of don’t know what they did, but they had a constant rivalry with Kalmin’s crew the blackbloods. Lina is still battling her grief after losing her gang and kind of gets reckless through her grief. But when she meets the Dokkaebi emperor Haneul Rui, she finds herself hating and loving him as they spend more time together.

I think the romance was done REALLY well. Both the characters had a strong personality and were flawed in their own ways. I really loved whenever they communicated- Lina always telling him how she’s going to kill him and him just smirking ahhhhh.

The writing was great! I liked how fast-paced it was. However, it did get a little slow around the 70% mark so my rating reflects that. Still, this is a book that has a great premise, and strong Korean mythology interwoven throughout. I highly recommend it!

So hard to rate this book cause I honestly have no idea what this was. I requested an ARC cause I thought I was going to love it, but much to my disappointment, I did not.

I found the writing really amateurish. That’s what editors are usually for, but have they given up? I’ve said this in the past for other books, some editors don’t know how to edit books anymore. For starters, there are too many adverbs. Plot holes. We are told everything and showed nothing. This is literally the job of an editor, but I guess not anymore? I’m not an editor and I could have probably done a better job here. Harsh? Meh. Anyways… let’s move on.

The plot and the characters are average and already seen before. Which, okay, it’s hard to be 100% original, I’m not talking about that, but there is no original spin in anything.
The story has several plot holes (again, editors, are you there?). Why did the Pied Piper and Lina made the “who’s going to kill the other first?” bargain? Am I stupid and missed something?
I have no idea why Lina cares so much about Eunbi. She spends the whole book trying to save her, but I have no idea what’s she’s saving her from or why she cares so much.
And honestly, I did skim and skipped pages. Ops. I was so bored in the middle and the beginning, I did not understand what was the point of anything. The romance bored me to death.
The ending was fine. Things picked up and I was hooked. The writing threw me off on multiple occasions, but it wasn’t that bad. I wanted to actually read what was happening. And we finally saw why Lina is supposed to be a ruthless killer. We saw it for a second, but it was there.

I could say more, like… the brutal gang made up of five people that ruled everything and everyone but was easily killed made no sense to me. But at this point this is a minor problem.

Probably won’t read the sequel. Once again, I’m super disappointed with this.

It didn't have enough background mythology. I would have liked to know more about the gods and goddesses. Romance was unimpressive, I wasn't drawn to the characters.

Honestly, this gives me The Cruel Prince vibes in a good way. The beginning is a bit rocky, but it just gets better as it goes on. There is a enemies-to-lovers romance, a fantasy realm, a somewhat violent heroine, and some interesting magic. Of course, it has different inspiration: Korean mythology/ The Pied Piper, but it still gave me similar vibes. I think a lot of people will pick this up on the premise alone, but it’s going to deliver more.

I’m not sure that this book is going to be as successful of an age crossover as some other Y.A. books that have been released recently. Lina is eighteen, but sometimes acts immaturely, but she also is an assassin. It’s a bit of a juxtaposition. This juxtaposition should be fine for its intended audience, but I’m not sure if older readers thinking that this will crossover well, will enjoy it as well. However, this book has quite a bit of violence for a Y.A. book, so I would say 14-15+. I don’t have a child, I do teach children, but honestly, if you’re a parent it is up to you to decide what your child can handle.

Now, I have to say the enemies-to-lovers aspect of this book could have maybe done a bit more for me. It was a little instalove and I wanted a little more angst. I never believed that Rui really wanted to see Lina dead. Sure, she stole from him, but he was very flirty, even from the beginning. Lina, sure. She just wants to do what needs to be done to keep her sister safe, but… the dynamics weren’t as strong as I wanted. I also wanted more banter, but I am not going to let this impact my rating because we try to review what’s in the book and not what I waned from a book.

One of my favorite aspects of this was the mixture of Korean mythology and the Pied Piper retelling. It was great how the author has blended these two things together to create this story and this world. While the Pied Piper thing is touched upon in this story, I feel like more of it will be uncovered as the series continues. The Korean mythology aspects made me just want to see more of it in literature. I found it so interesting and magical. The different gods, the dokkaebi, the magic. I loved it. More please!

Overall, I would recommend this for fans of Y.A. fantasy with female assassins, enemies-to-lovers, Korean mythology, and a bit of violence. I wouldn’t necessarily call it romantic, but I think that a lot of readers will be just fine. I’m picky. Otherwise, yes, pick this up if it even vaguely sounds like it might be for you and give it a try. I’ll look forward to picking the next one up when it is released next year.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book, however, all thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.