*Thank you to the RB Media and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this story. It took a few chapters for me to understand the world that the author was creating and to get intrigued by it. But then the plot picked up and I was hooked. The book gets better and better as you go, and I could not stop reading toward the end!

I really enjoyed how the story was told. The author cleverly reveals bits about the past as the story goes, and it builds tension as information is slowly gleaned. I would warn that this story is not for the faint of heart- the main character is an assassin who gets up close and personal with violence and trauma many times throughout the book. That said, Lina is an amazing main character who keep getting back up no matter how many times she is pushed down. And I have to say, I am in love with Lina and Rui! The way their relationship grows is so sweet. And I really liked the elements of Korean mythology the weaved throughout the story.

I am so impressed by this debut author, and I am excited to see what comes next!

The narrator did a great job and made you feel like you were on a journey with her. The beginning was not what I expected and was more heist and less fantasy and I was waiting for the cover to make more sense. Then after about 40% it Amos up and I was completely enraptured. Some of the issues in this book I would not feel comfortable recommending this to my students. I would recommend this to fellow book readers. This book was Six of Crows with a mythological fantasy twist.

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 was really looking forward to this one because it sounds amazing. I love reading books grounded in other cultures' mythologies, and Korean mythology is one I haven't really had much experience with. The cover is gorgeous and promises a magical fantasy adventure. The synopsis brings to mind stories like Six of Crows. Sadly, the execution fell far short.

The writing could use some polishing. Everything is described endlessly, using the biggest words possible and five where one would do. It's sprinkled lavishly with curse words that just feel unnecessary. I'm all for cursing, just, it has to make sense. Our 'living breathing weapon' and skilled assassin of an mc just isn't. She reads much younger than the stated 18, is constantly getting herself in trouble with her impulsive actions (partially forgiveable because of trauma), and never actually does any killing or shows any skill, only talks about how awesome she is at it or gives a brief overview of things she's done in the past. The closest she gets to showing her skill is entering a building and opening a chest. And not even a human chest, before you ask. Like. That's about as much effort as she puts into the 'steal the priceless tapestry' escapade. Walk in, notice the dust, info dump a bit, open the chest, walk out. Mission complete. (yawn.)

She doesn't get along with any of the other women. An awfully lot of time is spent describing how she started / continued smoking. Yes, this leads into memories of her trauma from her family dying but... it's still sort of weird and abrupt.

The first-person present tense is my least favorite to read but it can be done well. Sadly, I did not find that to be the case here. She just reads as annoying. Also the moment she described her "shit-eating grin" I knew it was not going to improve. And it didn't.

The instant the eventual love interest enters the scene you can clock him as the love interest. He might as well come with a flashing neon sign proclaiming it. If the detailed description of his appearance wasn't enough, there's the bad boy sarcastic sense of humor and the enigmatic interaction and disappearance. Like what even was the point except to go 'hey, love interest here!'?

The narrator was ok, although her male voices were not very believable and her reading of the main character made her seem younger than she was supposed to be. I maybe enjoyed her performance less than I would have enjoyed reading the text as I was unable to skim the info-dump-y bits or the places where the descriptions dragged on.

I do think that anyone who loves Sara J. Maas' romances - ACOTAR especially - will probably love this. It seems to be much more focused on the romance with the fantasy used more as set dressing. It also gives major ACOTAR vibes which could be part of why I reacted so negatively to it - I enjoyed ACOTAR initially but hearing about it over and over in facebook book groups and spending some time reflecting on it lowered my enjoyment of the series dramatically.

After thinking some more about what it was that didn't work for me here, I think I've figured out why I was so disappointed with this book. The cover, narrator's voice, and initial writing of the main character all led me to believe this would be a middle-grade fantasy adventure with the narrator being around 11-12 years old. So the swearing and the smoking felt really jarring when I encountered them, because they definitely wouldn't be in a middle-grade book. And then it took a hard turn into fantasy romance with some major ACOTAR vibes which my initial impression of middle-grade fantasy did NOT prepare me for.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing an audio arc for review.

Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim
4.5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Wow! This was such an exciting fantasy debut filled twists, turns, and an exciting game of cat and mouse.

After her entire gang of friends are killed, eighteen year old Shin Lina is forced to become the highly skilled assassin for the deadliest gang in all her kingdom. When her new gang's leader sends her to steal a priceless tapestry, she is thrust into a realm where she must face the wrath of an immortal emperor.

If she wants to save her life and have any hope of getting back to her sister, she must kill the emperor before he kills her first. And she probably shouldn't fall for him in the process...

I loved this story and cannot wait for more in this series! There is so much more to Lina than meets the eye and I loved when we saw flashes of her friends and life prior to our original meeting of her.

Last of the Talons will be released September 27th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to RB Media and NetGalley for sharing an arc with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Last of the Talons is a YA fantasy that is intense and thrilling. The writing is engaging and kept me wanting more.

I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrator, Jaine Ye. She adds so much power to the story as it makes it feel like the story is coming to life. She embodies the character Lina to a T. I think her narrating shines even more during the action scenes and scenes between Lina and the emperor.

The book focuses on Lina. She is an assassin and has to defeat the emperor, Haneul Rui, to save her sister. Most would see it as an impossible task but Lina will do whatever it takes to save her sister.

I really enjoyed the hate-to-love trope. The writing is just so great, especially the world-building. It transports you to another world and makes you want to keep reading.

I give Last of the Talons 5 stars. It's dramatic, engaging, romantic, and an all-around must-read YA fantasy.

This book was just what I needed to get out of a reading slump.
The angsty enemies to lovers dynamic was perfectly executed.
I can't wait for the sequel.
The audiobook itself is really great.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a Korean mythology retelling and It was surprisingly delightful making me enthralled from the very beginning. What made this story stand out for me is Lina's keen and notorious character and what she represents as being a survivor that would do anything to protect her loves ones.

It was clear from the start that Lina is in a place where she was struggling to deal with her past and we see her go to such lengths to numb her pain. We have a past-present adventure where we follow her becoming a talon and how she ended up serving the crime lord. This is a story of a character being merciless with facing a lot of internal conflicts as she battles her enemies.

The only reason why I haven't rated it higher is that it wasn't enemies to lovers. In my case, for them to become enemies to lovers, they both have to hate each other with passion, and yet I didn't feel the wrath of the emperor toward her. There was only one scene where he showed hatred for her and other than that, he was mostly enjoying her company making me think he liked her when he first saw her. The time around the story is also the reason why for me I think the enemies to lovers were cut-short and I understand she had a deadline to save her sister but I was hoping that she would hate him until the very end.

Lastly, This was an amazing debut and I can't wait for the next release!

The breathtakingly beautiful writing, world building and characters we're given in Last of the Talons has everything you could possibly want in an epic adventure and then some.

Shina Lina is my favorite type of character. She is strong, insightful, cunning, and yet still human, with feelings, regrets, and memories that help and haunt her, a sense of responsibility for everyone around her while still being strong enough to push through everything life, fate, and the Pied Piper are sending her way.

With emotions running high and more than one rash decision you see the ups and downs of both Lina and the Emperor, the fragility of faith and the unraveling of a truth that Lina may not be ready to accept.

In this the perfect combination of reality, fantasy, and folklore we have a glimpse of the rich and coloful world of Korean mythology mixed with a character I never would have thought of in this world, the Pied Piper and in that combinaton we have a completely unique and original tale.

This book is as dazzling as dragon scales, it allows you to explore your thoughts and dreams while you root for Lina and then when you feel the despair she feels as she remembers her beloved Talons and the sister she doesn't know if she'll ever see again your heart breaks for her.

This is ultimately a tale of loss, love, revenge, realizations and the ability to survive without giving up on hope or yourself, no matter how many times you may have to change your plans in order to succeed, especially when success looks differently than you thought it would in the beginning.

Jaine Ye the Narrator is phenomenal, with a lilting quality to her voice she draws you in, makes you feel like someone is telling a story for you and you alone to hear. I was mesmerized within the first few chapters and hope to hear her voice again soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for providing a copy of this audiobook, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A fascinatingly crafted fantasy world with threads of Korean legend woven throughout, told through the lens of a gang-affiliated assassin who only cares for her sister’s safety, at least at first. Not quite a romance, and in my opinion at its best in those times. It utilizes little pieces of multiple genres to create a better fantasy world and a more interesting story, all narrated in the very fitting voices of Jaine Ye. And I am certainly ready for the sequel.

The beginning of LAST OF THE TALONS immediately grabs you, as it crafts the world of Shin Lina, last of her gang and being forced to work for her former rival. After she steals a tapestry from the Piper emperor, she’ll end up in his realm, with a bargain to leave with the gang leader he kidnapped if she can kill him in 14 days. Lina fights tooth and nail with almost nothing to lose and with a certain brand of recklessness that makes it easy to keep reading.

Underneath all of that, building undertones of romance, seduction as a weapon that fails because they’re seemingly both falling. And for me it’s what fell short. It might just be my own personal preference, but I am both tired of the story of some all powerful immortal falling for a teenage girl, and I truly did not feel any real, deep chemistry between them. It’s not necessarily bad, but it added nothing to the story for me.

As a whole, this book and this audiobook are worth checking out if it sounds like your thing, in all its elements of an enemies fantasy romance and fantastical legend. It largely kept my attention throughout, although the second half didn’t quite live up to what the first brought. I highly enjoyed the world that Sophie Kim created, and I’ll be interested to see what else will happen in this world.

If you same as me, who like retelling mythology story from different countries you should try this interesting debut book. Last of the Talon following a teen assassin name Shin Lina who must save her gang’s leader when he gets abducted by a goblin emperor from Korean legend.

I really like the premises and the description sound so amazing. But Lina as FMC failed to hook me in her first book. Her PoV1 narrative over descriptive and most of it about her feelings. It sound dramatic, repetitive and tiring me so fast to hear it. As reader I want got chance to channeling Lina feeling through her action, not from her nonstop moaning about it. The pace is slower than my usually expecially at Goblin's palace.
Alot characters being introducing at this first installment but I can't feel connection for each of them.
The romance between Lina and Goblin Emperor is slow burn but not yet fill all of the potential. I wish extra development from this unique worldbuilding.

The audio quality is good, the narrator suited Lina's angsty personality and help me alot to follow the story. But it lacked the playfulness and seductive tones when narrate the Goblin Emperor.

Thank you Netgalley and RB Media from Recorded Books for provided me with this audiocopy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own.

Ha sido una tendencia desde siempre, pero o ahora me estoy fijando más o hay muchos más libros que giran alrededor de la idea de “enemies to lovers” (lo que viene siendo “los que se pelean se desean”). Last of the Talons es uno más de esta lista creciente, que destaca un poco entre todos por el uso de la mitología coreana en su construcción de mundo, pero que tampoco deja una huella demasiado profunda en el lector.


El libro está narrado por Shin Lina, una joven asesina que trabaja contra su voluntad para el señor del crimen más temido del reino. El precio de la vida de su hermana pequeña es su total sumisión. Lina formaba parte de la banda de los Talons, pero a través de flashbacks insertados en la narración sabremos la razón del título del libro.

El comienzo de la novela nos hace pensar en el típico libro de ladrones y asesinos a los que les encargan misiones que tienen que ir cumpliendo, pero el desarrollo no va por ese camino, porque la primera misión que nos cuenta Lina desencadenará el resto de los acontecimientos. Tiene que robar un tapiz de un templo y esta acción tendrá más consecuencias de las esperadas.

El resto del libro transcurre como una apuesta entre Lina y el inmortal Dokkaebi propietario del tapiz, con un peligroso juego. Lina podrá ganar su libertad si en catorce días es capaz de asesinar a Haneul Rui, algo que no será tan fácil como pudiera parecer, ya que sus sentimientos comienzan a cambiar conforme lo va conociendo.

Me ha interesado bastante más el trasfondo de los reinos y su mitología que la relación amor-odio de los dos personajes, la verdad. Me parece que Sophie Kim abusa de la innegable atracción entre ambos. Catorce días es muy poco tiempo para cambiar tanto de opinión sobre una persona que tiene el poder de decidir sobre tu vida o muerte, y tampoco es que la personalidad de Rui sea arrebatadora, si sabéis a lo que me refiero. Se define como una novela juvenil y estoy de acuerdo, aunque cada vez me resulta más difícil saber qué se considera destinado para adultos o para jóvenes. Reconozco que para ser la primera novela de la autora, está bastante bien llevado tanto el ritmo como la prosa, aunque en ningún momento me he sentido absorbida por la lectura. Es un pasatiempo, pero no algo destinado a perdurar.

El audiolibro lo narra Jaine Ye, que hace una labor muy correcta aunque la impostación de las voces masculinas acaba siendo cansina, pero esto es una apreciación personal mía.

El libro forma parte de una serie, pero está perfectamente contenido, así que si no te acaba de convencer no hay una necesidad real de seguir con el siguiente de la serie para ver cómo acaba la cosa.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really like how this book put a twist on the Pied Piper, it was so interesting to read. I really liked his character and Shin Lina, but I felt they were the only interesting characters. I also thought the beginning of the book was more interesting than the middle and end, but her seeing her sister was so cute.

Side note: I listened to this book on audio and the audio echoed and I couldn’t go above 2x speed without the words splitting in half when the narrator was speaking. I also felt like I should have asked for a e-book instead because I couldn’t remember all the side characters names and their relevance, which is my fault for not remembering it’s harder for me to comprehend terms and names for fantasy on audio.

Thank you so much for letting me listen to this audiobook. I really liked this story. It is high stakes and very adventurous and the end really made me want the next book.

Thank you to RB Media and Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this audiobook! All opinions are my own!

First and foremost, if you are looking for a deeply immersive read, this is the book for you! I absolutely adore the world that was created by this book and the way it draws the reader into the lore and culture. It is captivating in the way it describes the world and weaves in the fantasy elements.

I love how strong Lina is and the way that her story is one of healing. She has struggled in such a relatable way, but she has also overcome those struggles, and I adored seeing her journey. It was so easy to root for her and place yourself in her shoes. Her relationships are so strong and her emotions are so real that I had trouble separating my own feelings from hers.

I also loved how unique the plot was. I vaguely knew of a Pied Piper, but the depth of the Korean folklore and the way this fantasy was so different from all the rest was refreshing. I loved learning about the lore and found it well explained and easy to grasp for someone without much of a background in Korean culture and history. The plot twists were definitely things I didn't see coming, and they made me want to speed through the book even faster!

The romance was adorable! I was worried that it might feel a bit rushed/forced, but it ended up being sweet and genuine. I can't wait to see where their relationship goes from here and how Lina's new goals will affect everything.

This new trilogy is most certainly the fantasy series to watch!

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.

Thank you Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the advanced electronic audio review copy of this delightful book! What a fun read! I really enjoyed the action, adventure, great world-building, and wonderful characters based on Korean mythology. Can’t wait for the next installment in what promises to be a great series!

4 pages into the book and I had predicted 2 things - the enemies to lovers characters and the plot & guess what? - I am still happy!

Reading this book has been a journey of wiring those electronic elements on a PCB plate. You might guess/know what's about to happen next but you still enjoy the process of it happening. The speed of the book, writing(both emotional and humorous aspects) and the whole world creation idea were to my liking. In fact, the world-building aspect is one of the major reasons for my inclination toward fantasy books.

The ending is different from what we anticipated and with a decent amount of logic and reasoning was given to it. Which helps you embrace the end. Talking about the ending I wanted to highlight that this is only the 1st part in the series of the Talon series. So stay tuned there is more to come!

Thank you for the advanced access to the audiobook for Last of the Talons!

This book, from the summary, seemed right up my alley. I'm a big fan of cultural folklore and myth based books with creatures of legend and things like that woven in to the plot. Unfortunately this didn't really play out in any way I expected.

➥ The Book:
I find myself a little confused on the timing of events in Shin Lina's life. She was a member of a powerful gang that controlled an entire city but the gang is really just 5 people that don't really get much back story to justify/explain their power over the city. We are given peeks in to Shin Lina's past with random flashbacks that don't really explain enough. It's also a bit odd to believe that she became a deadly assassin called The Reaper in about 3 years; but when tasked with killing the Piper her initial plan is to try and use seduction to catch him off guard. If she's such an amazing assassin to be dubbed The Reaper, why would she need to use her body to trick him instead of her skills?

I also found fault with the whole general plot in terms of WHY the Piper would task her to kill him within 14 days just because he's bored. While I'm sure we can dive in to this further by saying we assume he KNOWS she'll never succeed or even that he wants to die for XYZ its still too flimsy to build an entire book off of. I just really struggled to get in to this one and wasn't able to be captivated by it. The plot does have promise and maybe the 2nd book will have a stronger pull but this one fell a little flat in too many places (the first 50% is incredibly slow for example).

➥ The Audiobook:
The narration for this is really slow. I bumped it up to 1.25 which helped a little but its way too monotonous throughout. The narrator's tones made Shin Lina overly done with attitude which in turn made her seem more bratty than badass. Its better to let a character SHOW you what they can do versus just telling you what they can do.

I also think the writing could be tweaked in some places in the future. Once I realized I'd heard the word 'Dagger' and "gods dammit' about a dozen times each before reaching 50% I couldn't unhear it every time it was said after that. More variety in descriptors will paint a more vivid image and the general conversational structure doesn't fit well with the timeline the book is putting itself in.

Overall, it has some great strengths that are outweighed by other weaknesses. Its a good debut novel but the audiobook itself falls a little flat.

"Last of the Talons" is Sophie Kim's debut book, consisting of a pied piper retelling mixed with korean mythology, and it has such a promising plot - it follows Shin Lina in an adventure to the magical realm of Dokkaebi, where she sees her path intertwined with the emperor's (the pied piper) and the revolution.

While I did enjoy the author's writing, I see room for improvement, especially regarding monologues. She does start to fix that towards the ending of the book. There is much more internal monologue at the beginning of the book, which made it a bit dull at times, but once the book picks up, it gets really interesting.

Some of the "plot twists" weren't really twists, I could see them coming a mile away, but I still enjoyed when they were revealed and the plot developed. There are really good fight scenes and dialogue and Lina is a captivating character and fighter.

I think the one thing I disliked the most (though this is only a personal preference, for others this may be their cup of tea) was the constant flashbacks. Until about half of the book, Lina has flashbacks regarding her time with the talons, until it eventually culminates in their murder and how it came to happen. Sometimes these flashbacks take up whole chapters. I understand they're important to the story and I enjoyed reading about the other talons, but I feel like it would have been better if the book started up when Lina was still with the talons - their loss would have been more significant and we would've had a chance to see Lina in a different environment and time in her life. Though, if it was so, then we wouldn't get to Rui until later in the book.

Haneul Rui is the emperor and love interest. The one bad thing I have to point out about him and his romance with Lina is the classic "hundred of years old man falls for 18 year-old girl" (even though it's said that "Rui is 20 in dokkaebi standards" - I can only forgive that if time in his realm works kind of like in Narnia? Then the age difference wouldn't have much meaning but I'm not sure that's how it works). If I overlook the age thing, I was capable of enjoying their romance, especially towards the final chapters.

And speaking of final chapters, the one thing I was shocked about in the book was the final fight and the revelation about Lina - and I really liked it. It changes a lot regarding her fight since she now has the upper hand and no one else is expecting it. And the plan she shares with Rui in how she plans her revenge... can't wait to see it unfold.

Added to that, there were some plot points left unanswered that I'm curious about so I will definitely be reading the next book. I'm also a sucker for sisterly bonds so I'm looking forward to seeing how Lina and Eunbi's bond develops and I'm curious about the gods and their abandonment of their realms (I don't know if we'll get any looks into that but I think that would be really interesting).

Overall, I think Sophie Kim has done a pretty good job. "Last of the Talons" is enjoyable, fun and pretty much everything you can expect for in a book that has an assassin for main character.