(4.25/5) THIS BOOK!!!! While it started a bit slow for me, once I hit 25%, I didn’t want to put it down. It has all the best things: badass female warrior assassin, “I came here to kill you but now I have feelings for you”, Korean mythology, chaotic banter, found family that will BRING YOU TO TEARS, and the one I didn’t know I needed: ONLY ONE HORSE. The way things came together at the end of the book… I NEED the sequel and the first book only comes out tomorrow! 😫

This book had me wishing that I didn’t need gainful employment to earn money to support my book buying habit because all I wanted to do during work today was finish the book. 😤

They are gone. All of them are dead and it is her fault. She is the last Talon, the most feared assassin in the land, yet here she is serving under the rival gang that killed all of her family. Shin Lina has nowhere to turn. So, when she is asked to steal a precious tapestry from a temple, she does it. Little did she know that this tapestry belongs to the legendary Pied Piper, who is anything but forgiving. Her whole world is endangered when her crime boss is whisked away by the Pied Piper, and she is threatened with the death of her little sister if she is unable to return him in time. Shin Lina could care less if her boss ever is returned but she will not have her sister’s life threatened. When trying to get to her sister before others would cause her harm, she is whisked away to the Pied Pipers realm and given the chance to play a game. Kill the Pied Piper by the end of the 14th day or he will kill her. Can Shin Lina find away to kill a god? Or is the end of Talons?
This is an interesting book. I honestly didn’t realize that the Pied Piper was part of Asian culture. I love books that use a cultures myths or legends and allow readers see what role they play within their culture. This book is fast paced, though I was expecting a few more attempts on killing Rui. If I was an assassin I would have tried at least once a day. While she did get “punishments” for each failed attempt, they really were not horrid of punishments, so really a couple more attempts I fell might have been warranted. While we all know what the end of this book will be overall, I think the journey there is just such a fun one. I also loved Lina’s fate for her crime boss. Hopefully this means that maybe her tale is not done.

Thank you so very much Entangled Publishing LLC and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This was... so cringey :( I wanted to like this so bad because 1) the cover is so pretty and 2) supposedly bad-ass female main character ALL MIXED WITH MAGIC!! Instead, I hated all the characters, found myself rolling my eyes at too many choices our main girl made, and was just overall unimpressed. If I have to hear the phrase "godsdamned" one more time, I'm going to give up on reading YA fantasy books altogether. And the phrase of endearment (if it can even be called that) "little thief" had me rolling my eyes every single time it was uttered. It feels like something someone would call their young child, not their romantic pursuit.

Not a fan, and probably will not read the second if another comes out (I still give it 2 stars rather than 1 because I read another book in the same week that was worse and gave me some perspective).

<i>Last of the Talons</i> was an enriching fantasy with roots in a culture I admire. The world-building was new, unique, and intriguing and kept me guessing and wanting to learn more.

The main character seemed to follow the formulaic YA-Fantasy heroine, erring on the darker side as she is an infamous assassin in this story, no stranger to driving a dagger in someone's heart. Her world is surrounded by death, and I struggled to connect with the plausibility of a character being so young being so dangerous. Everything she does is to protect her sister, a sister who we do not fully meet until the end of the story, as such I found their sisterly connection hard to accept in the narrative.

It isn't until the Pied Piper arrives on the scene and turns her world upside down that I started to really enjoy the story and wonder how things would play out when our MC is tasked with killing him in order to secure her freedom and her sister's protection. I thought for sure her play for the final kill wouldn't be until later in the book, and much to my surprise, her attempt came much sooner than expected. Needless to say, I expected the plot to unfold one way, and found it unfolded in another, pleasing way. I really enjoyed the connection they built together over the course of the story and how each learned to put aside their pasts in search of new beginnings.

Told in alternate timelines as Shin Lina is forced to go to the Dokkaebi kingdom on a mission. Told in this immortals land and on the past of how she got into this position.

She's already lost so much but she could lose more. The emperor and her have an agreement but he seems to be toying with her. Their mutual attraction and blood lust is warring against each other.

This is an enemies to lovers fantasy adventure told with Korean mythology.

I googled Dokkaebi and I recognize the images they were goblins- nature deities or spirits possessing extraordinary powers and abilities


Thank you entangledteen and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

(Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the free ARC of this book!)

Every step Shin Lina takes in life is decided by someone else, but if there's any mistake in the calculation, that misstep is hers to take responsibility for. It's easy for her to throw herself in the near-death situations - after all, that's where she danced all her life. So, when the Dokkaebi shows up at the rooftop, the game doesn't change, the stakes just get higher.
This book literally glued me to my seat! I loved every bit of it! It's been a while since I've read a book with this much chemistry between the MCs.
Enemies to lovers, Korean mythology, amazing story building and backstories, the mixture of teasing, adrenaline, power and pain, all in this gem of a book. Go get it, immediately!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for provinding me with an ARC of this book in exchange of a honest review.

Last of the Talons is an enjoyable fantasy read with a morally grey heroine (my favourite ones), a deadly task and enemies to lovers romance. The world building is the strongest part of this book: the author paints a vivid picture of all realms the heroine visits, and the history of the world really entrapted me. I really hope that the author will expand this world even more in the sequel! I also adored that the mythology is based on the Korean one - it led me to some amazing wikipedia page binges!!

While the romantic chemistry was enjoyable, I wasn't a massive fan of the pacing of it. Looking at the books timeline it felt a bit rushed, but hopefully we will see more development in the other book. I will definetly pick it up and go back to this amazing world

Last of the Talons is genuinely a fun book; it's intriguing, has some great descriptions and I loved reading about the Korean mythology included in the book to set up the worldbuilding!

Unfortunately, it also reads as all show and no telling. We're told Shin Lina is a skilled assassin and that she has to outsmart the Dokkabebi emperor but there are literally no important stakes here or evident instances to sell Lina's cleverness and ruthlessness. It felt like the author was trying too hard to set characteristics but could only deliver basic tropes. Besides, there are a lot of plot related inconsistencies and jarring switches to the past timeline, all of which combined made the book fall flat for me. I wasn't invested in the story as much as I wanted it to be, which is sad because if this book was a little more polished I would've thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was a really interesting read, and not what I expected!

In the beginning I struggled to get into this, but once it picked up I had a really good time. This had such meaningful commentary on things like grief, and I actually really liked the romance in this! Which is rare for me. The characters were interesting and unique and I felt they were well developed.

I do have to say... the use of "purr" as a dialogue descriptor was not my favorite.

The mythology, the magic, the plot, the characters, etc. were all excellent! Apart from a few minor gripes, I really enjoyed this.

LAST OF THE TALONS is a book soaked in Korean folklore about an assassin who finds herself stuck in a game with an immortal - kill him or be killed herself.

There's a lot of action packed into this book, starting off with a heist. I like heists so this was the perfect start for me - hints of the creatures in the world building, a sense of history, and also stealing a precious tapestry.

The book is sort of told over two timelines, with the bulk of the book taken up by the present timeline of her in the other realm trying to kill Rui. However, interspersed are flashbacks to the events leading up to Lina joining her current gang. You know from the start it was not her choice and that her old gang, her family, were killed, but you don't know exactly how or why. The information is revealed slowly over the book, building up a picture of her past.

Lina explores the pocket realm the immortals are trapped in, and it was interesting to read about the consequences of forcing a bunch of people used to roaming into one place, the way lives changed. To humans like Lina, the realm is mystical and magical (and terrifying), but there are some very mundane structural issues that are found in her home too. Usually it's the humans who end up at the bottom of the pile, with the immortals at the top, but when there are few humans, what happens?

This is the start of a series (duology?) and while there are definitely things that need to be resolved in the next book, this one comes to a really nice conclusion without a cliffhanger.

I went into this book solely because of the Korean folklore. After watching my fair share of K-dramas, I was familiar with some of the myths that were retold here, but the book expanded more on Goblins and their powers that was new and utterly compelling.
Any book that opens with a heist is up to a great start. Our 18 yr old, Shin Lina, is tasked with stealing a tapestry for her boss, Kamlin. A piece of cloth that would cast her into months of misery and deadly games.

Lina was the sole survivor of Talons. We get to know more about them as we read the book. She misses the others and wants the group back, but they only visit her in dreams and their memories haunt her at every turn. She suffers from a trauma that leaves her wounds raw, wide open, taking time to heal. She really struggles with it for the most part of the book.

Things looked grim for her until she stepped into the hidden realm of Gyeulcheon (the made-up world of the goblins). The Goblin Emperor, Rui, whisks her to his land because she stole his precious tapestry, so she has to pay for her crimes. He's weirdly obsessed with Lina not in a creepy way. But he is interested in her from the go. It makes me think that he has different motives to approach her.

Lina and Rui end up making a deal that was ridiculous in the first place. She had to kill him before 14 days, or he would kill her. The fun part was reading about her failed attempts at killing him. He had a knack to escape death. Readers who love daggers-to-the-throat trope will enjoy this story. I sure did.

Read this book if you like Korean mythology or watching periodical fantasy K-dramas. I can assure you it’s worth your time. I can’t wait to see where this story is headed next.

A beautiful cover, but I didn't love what was on the inside sadly. It felt like it dragged on a LOT, and I was having to skim read to get through it.

Our main character, Shin Lina, is supposedly a ruthless assassin known as The Reaper, but we were never shown this - it was a lot of telling and not showing. We are constantly told how she maimed, she assaulted, she killed, how everyone in the city feared her - but I just didn't find that believable for a second. There was no example or proof that this was ever the case. Also, despite her being such a highly skilled assassin, as soon as going for a full frontal stabbing assault on the Emperor didn't work, rather than finding a more creative, crafty, sneaky way to kill him, she goes for seduction instead. It just felt very invalidating and reductive when we're constantly being told how amazing she is at killing people. I also felt confused because she became a member of her gang only 3 years ago, and yet she is more skilled than any of them who have been training for a lot longer than her, to the point where she is the only one capable of protecting any of them? I didn't feel any chemistry between her and the love interest, and pretty much all the characters fell flat.

I loved the inclusion of Korean mythology and more books need to be written about it, but this one just did not work. A lot of this book just didn't make sense, and I think it needs more development and fleshing out

An enjoyable read with an enemies-to-lovers vibe. I wish I had this Korean mythology-inspired fantasy when I was growing up, but I'm so happy young and older readers alike will see their culture reflected in the books they read. I'll admit it did take me a bit to get into this. I read the first couple of chapters but ended up putting the book down and then picking it back up again from the beginning a few days later. I wasn't quite in the right mindset for it when I initially began.

I could have done with a few less "vulgar/cruel gestures" only because due to Sarah J. Maas's THRONE OF GLASS series, I'm forever turned off by that phrase because it was so overused. I did find a few overused words in this book as well but nothing to really distract me from the story as a whole. The world-building is good, especially in terms of the Korean gods and goddesses. The writing itself is also good and you wouldn't think this is a debut novel. It's hard-hitting, really gritty, and there's blood and death all around.

The main character, Shin Lina, is dealing with so much as well. There's a lot of tension between her and Hanuel Rui, the emperor, and internal struggle and guilt within her regarding the old gang, the Talons, and her younger sister, Eunbi. The entire idea of the "game" sort of fell to the backburner and was just mentioned in passing as the chapters progressed. I don't think the two seem to take it seriously later.

For a hot minute there I thought we would be left wanting in regards to the reason why Shin Lina is actually in this realm of Dokkaebi but we got some answers. How Lina has transformed throughout the book is gone well, which makes me all the more eager and interested to read the next book in the series because I know she and Rui will just kick ass, lol. Their romance definitely fits the enemies-to-lovers trope, and I liked it, especially since all they wanted to do is kill each other but also seemed to have a lot of fun with it. Give me more of these two walking in moonlit gardens at night, please.

Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel.

Orphaned at a young age, Shin Lina, the Reaper of Sunbo, is taken in by the Talon gang and manages to get her younger sister to a safe place. Betrayed by a rival group, she is forced to work for the gang who killed her found family and is ordered to steal treasures from sacred places. When her despised boss is taken hostage by the powerful god Haneul Rui , also known as the Pied Piper, she is blackmailed using her sister's safety into going to the realm of the Dokkaebi, the small created kingdom of the immortals, in order to save her boss.

Amused by her antics and her reputation, Rui is intrigued by her and offers her freedom if she is able to kill him. Will she be able to use her skills and intelligence to save her sister?

Last of the Talons, the debut novel by Sophie Kim, is a fun and entertaining book that blends romance, action and Asian culture. I thought it had a fun plot and it kept me interested in what happens. I liked that mythology, Korean details, magic and fighting were all mixed in together. I really enjoyed it and hope it finds an audience!

Really loved this book! It has a vibrant, well-executed romance which took up a big part of the book. The main character had great development and the world was pretty interesting. Looking forward to the sequel.

ARC REVIEW
This was amazing. Enemies to lovers. Fantasy. A strong willed fmc. This had everything! It handled grief amazingly well and had my teary eyed several times and squealing with delight at other times. Safe to say this pulled me out of a reading slump and im desperate for the second one.

This was quite an enjoyable book. The start might not have seemed as such, but it really had me on the edge of my seat when the wheels of the plot started moving. I think the world and the mythology are my favorite parts in this book, and it reallt made reading it so much more fun. I liked the characters too, even if they were frustrating to me a few times, and some of the background characters felt kind of meh and forgettable. Plotwise as I've said, it's interesting, but it's also lacking that extra wow factor that would have bumped my rating. There were just some scenes that felt anticlimactic. I still liked it overall and I'm definitely seated for the sequel.

Last of the Talons may be one of my new all-time favorite YA fantasy books!

Once things got started, I did not want to put this book down. The deal that Lina strikes with the dokkaebi emperor creates the perfect tense and crafty story with two equally cunning characters. I was immediately obsessed with the emperor. He is snarky and flirty and clearly has a big dark past. A.k.a the perfect YA fantasy love interest. Lina can be naive and overly trusting at times which contrasts with her history as a dangerous assassin. This is a problem in almost all YA fantasy I read so I chose not to lower my rating even though it was very annoying. Other than her few moments of questionable judgment, Lina is an incredible main character. I always love books with badass assassins and this one did not disappoint. I also loved reading about Lina's journey of self-forgiveness and growth.

I am obsessed with the romance in this book. Their dynamic reminded me a lot of Cardan and Jude in The Cruel Prince. I loved watching Kui and Lina slowly figure each other out. Though the romance was borderline insta love, the sudden shift in their attitudes is balanced out by some truly delicious angst. This book has one of my favorite angsty romance scenes I have ever read.

The world is incredibly rich and unique with an intriquing cast of side characters and many secrets to discover. Kim reveals just enough details to hook the reader while leaving a lot left to discover in the next books. I can only imagine how the stakes will be raised in the sequel.

The short chapters, engaging plot, and romantic angst made Last of the Talons a very fast read. I cannot wait to read the next book!

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

I was interested when I first saw Last of the Talons because Korean mythology, but I also heard enemies to lovers? And y’all, I love a good enemies-to-lovers trope. You know I couldn’t turn that down.

Plot: The general plot is perhaps not the most unique in terms of the basis/structure. It wasn’t necessarily formulaic; I think it’s just plot points I’ve seen in a lot of other fantasy novels (ex. this happens and this happens and then some sort of betrayal and then that happens). But I did like how the plot was very character-driven, and I think that it worked well. The plot pacing was good, and I felt like I just flew through the book. I honestly could not put it down. I also love when authors tie in the title with the plot, so I liked that little tidbit too.

Characters: Lina is a very strong-willed character, and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. Lina and Rui are both a bit morally ambiguous in their own way, and I really liked how their characters complimented and contrasted with each other. There’s definitely still a good amount of mystery surrounding Rui, and I’m really interested in learning more about him and his past. The secondary characters like Kang and Chan didn’t play as much of a role, but I hope to see more of them in the sequel too.

Romance: Regarding the romance, you already know I love the enemies-to-lovers trope, and I also love the “who did this to you”/“who hurt you” trope. So when that was also in there, I just, yes, *chefs kiss* delicious. I enjoyed the build-up of their relationship and how, even by the end of the novel, it was definitely still in development which is a nice change from insta love, which I see a lot of. I’m really looking forward to seeing their relationship grow; I loved their dynamic so much.

Honestly, I think the romance was what sold me on this one with the mythology and action taking more of a backseat. But I truly enjoyed it a lot, and I can’t wait for the next book. I definitely recommend it to fans of romance, enemies to lovers, fantasy, and Korean mythology!

CW: mentions of physical abuse/torture, addiction

Probably more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

The first time I saw this cover, I was immediately intrigued but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it. But when the arcs became available, I couldn’t resist requesting and it’s almost relieving that I’ve managed to finish an arc before the release after quite a while.

I’m in the middle of a reading slump, so I was actually glad to have both the digital and audio arcs as I felt it easier to navigate the two based on my mood. I however do have to mention that there was a strange echo throughout the audio production, and I don’t know if it’ll be present in the final audiobook. The book starts off in a pretty intense manner and I felt like that tone remained all through, with the stakes always being high. The world building is also pretty cool with Korean inspired gods and mythology, a whole new realm of Gyeulcheon where the Dokkaebi live and their powers and motivations. I also liked how the mortal realm is kind of modern with their technology which makes it feel almost like a contemporary fantasy, which isn’t usually my cup of tea, but it worked well here. I will agree that it took me a few chapters to get into the groove of things, but once our main character moved to the Dokkaebi realm, things got very cool and intense.

Lina is the reaper, or a highly skilled assassin, working for a gang lord against her will. Her character is defined by the self loathing and guilt she has for the death of her group, Talons, and how much she adores her baby sister Eunbi. She will do anything for her sake, including saving her boss whom she hates by killing the Dokkaebi Emperor, Rui. She is quick thinking and full of anger about her circumstances, and can get impulsive at times, but is also naive and trusting in ways which surprised me.

Rui on the other hand is a trickster, playful and charming and wants to see if Lina will be able to kill him. But he is also fascinated by her and tries to keep interacting with her even when she only tries to kill him or shows disdain. Theirs is a truly crackling enemies to lovers dynamic with pining as well as hatred (from her side) which turns into something more. It was quite delightful to see the progression of their relationship. It’s still obvious that Rui is keeping a lot of secrets related to his realm but I was glad to see that they both could come to some understanding despite both of their differing motivations when it comes to mortals.

There are quite a few side characters but frankly I don’t think anyone was fleshed out enough that I cared for them deeply. But I did like Rui’s friends, who also happen to be his generals and advisors, and how protective they were about him. The more significant side characters are Lina’s dead Talons, her found family, who taught her everything she knew, whose values and teachings and words are still embedded in her mind, and whose deaths still haunt her every night. Their story is all told through flashbacks, which worked well in some moments, but also pulled me away from the current storyline at other times.

Overall this was a fun read. Fast paced, intense and emotional, charismatic main characters, and a very fascinating mythology make this an easy book to enjoy, and might also be just what you need if you are in a slump like me. Jaine Ye narrates the book matching the intensity of the main character Lina, and I did enjoy listening to her narration, if only a bit peeved by the strange echo. The climax action sequences and the surprises we get were very enjoyable, which has definitely made me much more interested in the sequel.