I am honestly so bored with it. I had to push my way through but while I have no problem with books being like other books it wasn't interesting or fun for me

The Reaper of Sunpo...assassin. Shin Lina is the last of her kind, her fellow gang members slaughtered by the rival gang she is forced to serve. When the gang's leader goes missing Lina is the prime suspect. She's been given 30 days to return him, or else the collateral they've held over her head is forfeit. Entering a world of superior and supernatural beings places Lina in danger, but it's one she's willing to risk to save herself...and her sister.

Everything about this novel shines....save the repetitive nature of Lina's sister's name...said again, and again, and again. The reader is more likely to remember Eunbi's name than the actual characters physically in the story. It is for this reason alone(a petty one at that, I know!) That Last of the Talons receives 4.75 out of 5 stars, but graciously Goodreads doesn't do half or quarter stars. The emperor, Rui l, is someone I enjoyed getting to know at the perfect pacing....it wasn't love at first sight or even like! Rui and Lina's relationship grew and morphed into something great that I can't wait to explore in book 2. I am hopeful that the publisher will have the same narrator for book 2 as well. She really breathed life into Lina, even when she wasn't being very likeable.

4.75 stars rounded to 5. A wild ride of action & lore that will leave you hungry for more! I'm waiting ever so patiently for book 2! Recommended for fans who enjoy lore as much as the current story itself(or it could get a little boring). Age recommended for 12+. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

The plot is way more complex than the above summary and it kept me engaged. Time is of the essence, and there are some mysteries to be revealed about what happened to the Talons and why Rui gives her such a strange way to save herself. There’s a strong romantic undercurrent to the story that works at odds with the murderous dynamic. That was fun. My only disappointment was that the ultimate solution seemed completely out of the blue.

Lina is a well trained assassin whose life has taken a turn for the worst over past couple of years. To the point where she finds herself in a situation. She must kill an emperor who is both powerful and dangerous, to save her sisters life. Cue a story full of fighting, cunning and of course angsty love and you have the makings of a brilliant start to a new fantasy series. Not to mention the love interest is the same person Lina has been tasked to kill. How delicious!

Add the very unique world building, along with the mix of mythology and folklore and a tragic backstory for Lina and this made for a great read.

It had potential, but never really dug into the story or characters.

I liked so much about this, but I wanted so much more from everything on the page. It felt very surface level and definitely seemed like it was more about certain tropes than about the actual plot and the emotion behind Lina's motivations and worries, her wants and fears. Especially when it came to the romance. That could have been so much more effective if more depth had been given to the her *falling* in love part.

And, not gonna lie, she was a little embarrassing. The banter is nine times out of ten her threatening him every other sentence and it got old fast. Not to mention it didn't strike fear into anyone's heart. Especially when she was like "touch me again and I won't just do A, I'll do B, C, and D to you," but at that point she had already tried A twice and failed miserably. I wanted to see so much more from her as a famed assassin.

I did the audio for this and didn't enjoy the narrator. I was listening at 3x speed and it was somehow still too slow to listen to. She also did the characters a disservice—in my mind—but keeping them a little flat and similar in tone and voice.

Like I said, this had potential. The ending was really good and I'm definitely interested in where it goes next. Hopefully the author's writing will have improved with experience and I'll enjoy it more than I did this.

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

As I’m reading more and more fantasy, especially YA fantasy, I’m finding myself becoming more and more critical of what I read. Books that may have been favorites years ago may not even stand out now, and that’s just because I’ve read so many books at this point, that I need more from a book before it stands out for me. This book is an example of one I might have loved years ago, but just didn’t entirely work for me now (even though I do have plans to read the sequel, and I’m excited to see where the story goes from the ending!)

I was given the audio ARC for this book, and I’m honestly really happy I was! I really enjoyed the narrator, and it felt like there was an emphasis on properly pronouncing Korean words and people, which I always love in audiobooks. I’m always one to get a word wrong the first 50 times, especially if it’s from a language I don’t know, so I always appreciate when books like this get audiobook narrators that seem to know what they’re talking about, and I feel like I get to learn a bit about the language while reading! I also thought the narrator did a good job of bringing the story to life and keeping it interesting, and I feel I might’ve enjoyed the book less had I just read it! It definitely made it easier to get through some scenes that felt a bit too slow or repetitive.

I think the biggest reason this book didn’t work for me is because of the following combination: Lina is very isolated throughout almost the entire book, and I didn’t find Lina particularly compelling yet. While Lina’s isolation makes sense, as someone recently betrayed and struggling with the loss of nearly all her friends and loved ones, it also means there aren’t many other characters we get to really know well, or to learn about Lina through. We only see Lina as she sees herself, and that’s honestly just not very positive for most of the book! It also quickly begins to feel repetitive, if you never get a reprieve from a character’s direct thoughts, and that also made the beginning and middle of the book suffer for me. It felt like there was almost too much space to fill as we were waiting for more things to happen or develop, and while I also don’t like when a book moves too quickly in ways that don’t make sense, it did feel like parts of this book were stagnant.

A few other reviews mention that this book suffers in the way of many debuts: overused tropes, too shallow, etc., and I have to agree. While there’s a spark inside this book that has me excited to see what else there is to this world and story, it often felt bogged down by a bit too much, and not having time to truly dive deep into things. It felt like the book was also a bit too action-based, which did feel like it kept me as a reader in a surface-level connection with Lina, even though this book is largely an emotional journey for Lina. However, this does start to get better further into the book, which is why I’m still planning on reading the sequel!

I also just really loved learning more about Korean mythology, and seeing so many various myths blended together, and I hope that continues to be a large part of the sequel! I also think there are some fascinating aspects to the ending and to the relationship that developed between Lina and Rui, and I’m curious to see if this will develop into something truly unique (which I hope!)

Overall, while this won’t be a favorite of mine, I did still generally enjoy the book, and am intrigued to see where the story takes me next!


Review will go live on my blog on June 5.

Last of the Talons tells the story of an assassin who tries to kill the Pied Piper but falls in love with him instead. This story is basically a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It focuses more on romance and has very little action. I did not like how the story kept switching between last and present. It made me confused about what was going on. The romance was very underwhelming. I did not understand the Pied Piper. He seems very untrustworthy, and I did not know why Alina fell for him except that he is handsome. Lina was very likable. I thought that she was a strong and interesting character. As for the world-building, it was very confusing. I think for someone who has little knowledge of Korean mythology, should have more explanation in the worlds. Nevertheless, it was an engrossing listen! The narrator did an excellent job in portraying the characters! She made the story come alive! I recommend this for fans of Hunted, Cruel Beauty, and The Wrath and the Dawn!

I think the book is fantastic. The audiobook, not so much. The narrator wasn't my favourite and it really impacted my experience

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great fantasy and a great start to a new series. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

Super intrigued by this story. It was sometimes hard to keep track of when I would pause it, but that is a fault of my own rather than the book's contents.

Likely will be picking up a physical copy.

Last of the Talons follows the last living talon, reaper of Sunpo, Shin Lina who works for a crime Lord. To pay her debts and protect her sister, she has to steal a precious tapestry from a temple only that it belongs to a powerful being, the sandpiper

After a while, Rui, the sandpiper of the dreamy realm of Dokkaebi forces Shin Lina to play a game with him. If she can kill him, he would set her free and return her to her world.

The story then continues with Shin Lina trying to find means to inflict injury and kill the king of Dokkaebi, Rui.

As the story progresses, Shin Lina begins to work with a resistance group to take down Rui and eventually she begins to get closer to Rui and finds out he's not a bad person.

The whole story felt far and I didn't enjoy reading it. I didn't enjoy the plot of the story and the chemistry and romance that was developing between Shin Lina and Rui felt tropy. Like it was a story written basically for the trope of enemies to lovers.

I barely liked the main characters and the plot went through and I couldn't catch up to understand what was going on with the story.
I did not finish this book because it fell flat to me. And I Couldn't enjoy it.

Such an incredible start to a new action packed YA fantasy romance! I couldn’t put it down. If you’re into enemies to lover, sent here to kill you, Korean mythology and who did this to you moments this is the books for you!!

Thank you Entangled Teen for the PR box and Netgallet for the Audio ARC

I enjoyed the world and story.
The Korean background was different and great to read.
But the main character could have used her brain a bit more, sometimes she was very smart but other times....

The narrator had a very monotone voice and lacked emotion.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. I thought I had already sent in my review before now.

Shin Lina- the Reaper of Sunpo- finds herself in a delicate position. Her gang and band of misfits that is more like family was brutally murdered in their hide out and she is forced to work for them almost vivid memories of her fallen comrades. Worse they have her little sister and use her as a means to keep Shin working for them to become their deadly loving weapon.

Shin is ordered to kill the Emperor or watch her sister die. Shin sets out to finish this game but finds unexpected block on her way. A handsome yet infuriating man of course. Too bad she has to kill him.

I think this book is a great addition to the YA world. I enjoyed the new folklore and customs brought about by the world building. I rooted for the MC and lived for the angsty romance.

I would recommend this series to anyone looking for different culture’s mythology and lore. Anyone looking for great action with a believable plot.

Lina is the last of her gang after they were all brutally murdered following a hit gone wrong. Now she is forced to serve the man responsible for those deaths, or her little sister will die as well. She is sent to retrieve a tapestry that contains gorgeous jewels. Jewels her master wants to sell. But then The dokkaebi that owns the tapestry, a mystical creatures long thought to have abandoned the mortal realm, appears and a vicious game of cat and mouse ensues.

I really loved the use of Korean lore, especially the Korean pantheon of gods, which are rarely spoken about in the English world, and difficult to find information about. I loved the relationship between Lina and her sister, what little we saw of it was. moving and believable. Also her relationship with Rui was, for the most part, a believable shift from enemies (wanting to kill each other) to lovers, though I still think it could have been done a little better. The most influential shift in their attitude to each other was the realization they had lust for the other, which then led to more heartfelt conversations. A little annoying, but again believable considering how young they both are- biologically where he's concerned. I also loved the world building as a whole, it was based on Korea, but not overly so, and I can imagine someone who doesn't know a lot about Korean culture could survive just fine without extensive research.

That said, the things I didn't like about it are about the same. The first is personal, I really hate "Gods dammed" used as a curse in anything. It's annoying. I also didn't care for the way she just never questions anything. She has been in trouble before, and didn't learn her lesson. The rebellion out right uses her, and continuously shows red flags, and she doesn't question anything, takes everything at face value. And wow, shocker- they turn out to be bad guys.
The rebellion: "We don't want to rule the human realm! We just want the benefits we used to have!" Lina: "Oh yea, okay. that seems fair"
The rebellion: "Nope it's just the three of us!" Lina: "I mean they ARE dokkaebi so I guess its logical they pulled off an elaborate heist"
LIKE GIRL! Use your brain for A HALF A SECOND. She continually only had intelligence when it suited the story, and lacked it when her being in the dark was better for the story. Then her addiction. She didn't have one before, never smoking, never giving into temptation. Only having the cigarette more for an obvious sentimental value. Then he sees her with it and so ensues the most out of date anti-smoking campaign I've seen since 1997. Because she's suddenly addicted to smoking? It made no sense at all. Again, another instance of story progression making zero sense character wise. It continuously pulled me out of the story.

But if that didn't pull me out, the narrator's continuous lack of emotion and flat delivery certainly would have. She's say things in the driest, dullest tone then have the nerve to say "he said passionately" Ma'am, what? She alternated voices so it was easy to tell who was talking, but they all lacked any kind of believable delivery.

I know this seems like a poor review, but I did have fun reading the book, and I think if I had read physically it would have been a better experience. But its just that the things that bothered me are particular nit picks of mine in books.

*2.5*
This is definitely a me thing not a this book thing.
My main gripe with this book is the main character. I genuinely cannot tell you a real reason why I didn’t like this character, I just didn’t. She was a strong character but I only saw her as cocky and as I continued to read I got more annoyed with her.
The plot is interesting, pretty much the only thing that kept me reading it for so long. I love Korean mythology and the magic that the author was able to weave in. I liked the idea of rival gangs that ended terribly and of a woman trying to avenge her family and friends. I just don’t know what made me dislike this so much.
The writing was good and easy to read. The audiobook was okay.
I hope to see what else this author has in store but I will not be continuing this series. Maybe I will try again at a different time.

The overall narration was good but I didn't care for the story.

Sorry, but this was rather boring. I picked it up because it was compared to Leigh Bardugo's works and was disappointed that it was not even close to the same level. We are told lots of things but it is not demonstrated. The characters were lacking and I was not engaged in the story. Glad it works for others but I will be moving on.

The narration was amazing! Will be getting a physical copy. I’ve started steering away from YA fantasy but this book sucked me in. Absolutely loved!

I DNF’d, I am not a big fan of first person and the time blurring of the storylines made things very unclear in first person.

Many thanks to Netgalley, RB Media and the author, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows the story of Shin Lina who is true to the name of the book, the last of the Talons. She is under forced servitude of the people who killed the Talons, her chosen family and gang. When she is forced to steal an artifact that belongs to the pied piper, she finds herself in trouble to a depth she cannot control or fathom.

I both really enjoyed and did not enjoy this book. The intrigue is real, so is the danger. The plot was a bit too much on the romance heavy side for my liking. I will definitely pick up book 2 to understand more of the magic of this world and the folklore and myths, even though this book kind of did feel final and had a good closure in my opinion. The narrator was really good, even though I think multiple narrators voicing the conversations would have added a bit more dimension to the story.

TW: Blood/Gore, Death, weapons, Addiction, Kidnapping, Murder, PTSD, Violence, Grief, Loss