Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

This was really fun to read. 4/5

dnf @ 29%, not sure whether it’s just that my brain fog and the flowery lyrical prose aren’t going together, or whether this just isn’t worth pushing through the vague plot and overwritten descriptions

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

"Chrysalis and Requiem" by Quinton Li is a stunning exploration of transformation and identity, skillfully blending elements of fantasy with deep emotional resonance. The narrative follows a protagonist grappling with personal loss and the journey toward self-acceptance. Li's writing is lyrical and evocative, immersing readers in a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly. The themes of rebirth and resilience are beautifully articulated, making for a thought-provoking read. The characters are richly developed, each facing their own struggles, which adds depth to the story. Overall, "Chrysalis and Requiem" is a poignant and imaginative tale that lingers long after the final page. A must-read for fans of introspective fantasy!

We’re going to have some honest book review time today, and let me tell you, I was ready for this one. The cover? Oh, it’s a showstopper. Like, I’d frame that bad boy and put it on my wall kind of gorgeous. But… that’s where the excitement ends. Yep, it’s one of those.

So, imagine my heartbreak when I cracked open this beautiful thing only to find… chaos. The ideas? Incredible. The potential? Sky-high. The execution? Ouch. It felt like reading the rough draft of something that could’ve been epic, but instead was kind of like watching someone try to juggle flaming swords—and dropping every single one.

The characters? Flat. I mean, I’ve had more interesting conversations with my houseplants. The plot? All over the place, like it couldn’t decide where it wanted to go or how fast it wanted to get there. And don’t even get me started on the timeline. I was lost in the timey-wimey-ness of it all. It was like the writing just… gave up halfway through. No spark, no magic. Just words on a page that weren’t too keen on making friends.

Look, I wanted to love this. I tried to love this. But at the end of the day, it felt like a missed opportunity. So much potential, so little payoff. With a bit more thought and, dare I say, effort, this could’ve been something spectacular. Instead? Well, it’s just a pretty cover.

DNF @ 18%. This was not for me and I hate that I had to DNF an arc. The plot was okay, world building needed more work and the characters were just so.....annoying. The writing also needed some improvement.

[Thanks to NetGalley & the author for providing me with this ARC]

I struggled to write this review almost as much as I struggled to read through the book, which is quite sad because I was looking forward to this one. The cover is absolutely magnificent, but that’s about it. So many great ideas with such poor execution, that it almost hurt to read through what felt like an unfinished project. The characters were not fleshed out nor really interesting, the plot was all over the place, the timeline very confusing and the writing almost felt forced, all of which made it quite the struggle to get through.
The ideas were so interesting and with a little more thought and planning, this really could have been great.

Disclaimer: The ARC was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The ARC category in no way impacts the rating of the book. All of my reviews contain my honest opinions.

Sadly I did not enjoy Chrysalis and Requiem.
It had such an interesting premise but to be honest it wasn't what I ended up expecting at all.
The characters were extremely unlikable and while I liked the writing style, I wasn't a big fan of the pacing and in the end I really struggled to finish the book.
The one thing I liked about this book is that the cover is absolutely stunning!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Going into Chrysalis and Requiem, I was intrigued by the premise—an elite academy, a murder mystery, and the promise of gothic undertones. On paper, it seemed like the perfect mix of elements I typically enjoy in a novel. However, as I delved into the story, I found myself struggling to stay engaged and make sense of the narrative.

One of the biggest challenges I faced was connecting with the storyline. The plot is dense, layered with complex emotions, and steeped in mystery, but for some reason, it just didn’t click for me. While I appreciated the atmospheric setting of Adraredon Academy and the intricate web of relationships, I often found the narrative hard to follow. The story seemed to drift in and out of focus, and I frequently felt lost in the details rather than being drawn into the unfolding drama.

Veaer Rosell, the protagonist, is a character who seems rich with potential—her love for beauty, knowledge, and art is well-articulated. Yet, despite her being at the center of the story, I couldn’t quite get a grasp on her motivations or emotional journey. The moral dilemma she faces is compelling, but the way it's presented felt murky at times, leaving me more confused than intrigued.

The pacing also played a role in my difficulty with the book. It fluctuates between slow, introspective moments and sudden bursts of action or revelation. While this could work in building suspense, I often found it disorienting. The transitions weren’t always smooth, which made it hard to stay invested in the story’s progression.

That said, I can see how this book might appeal to readers who enjoy a more abstract and atmospheric style of storytelling, where not everything is spelled out and much is left to interpretation. Quinton Li's writing has a lyrical quality, and the world he creates is vividly detailed. Unfortunately, for me, those strengths weren’t enough to overcome the sense of confusion and detachment I felt throughout my reading experience.

In the end, Chrysalis and Requiem is a novel that I wanted to love, but it ultimately left me feeling more puzzled than satisfied. If you’re a reader who enjoys unraveling complex, enigmatic plots with a heavy dose of gothic atmosphere, this might be a book worth exploring. But if, like me, you prefer a clearer storyline and more accessible character motivations, you might find it difficult to fully immerse yourself in this tale.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc

For right now, this book is not high on my list. However, I will return to it soon. Congratulations to the author for releasing this book and I appreciate their journey.

I’m not sure what’s going on but until we figure it out it’s time we take dark academia out back and put a bullet in it. Many sapphic work attempt to grapple with love and obsession, but this year so far, I’ve seen none handle it well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced reading copy.

This turned out to be way different than expected. I couldn't get into the book as much as I would have liked to.
This resulted in me DNF'ing this book unfortunately. Therefore I can not give a proper review.

I had some difficulty getting into the story, as I felt that the first chapter kind of dumped me in the middle with no buildup or explanation. I think this would have benefited from a short prequel or introduction into the world, as I had no idea what was going on, or what any of the words or descriptions for the people in this novel meant. I think with this book veering into magical territory, with inhuman creatures that each have a definition for how they look, something to help the reader understand what exactly is going on would be beneficial. As it is, I kept forgetting what each character looked like or what these new words meant, as I was reading.

I eventually had to DNF it at 26% in, when I realized that I wasn’t really following the story or understanding everything that was going on. I felt some of the dialogue and internal monologue sections to be overly worldly but difficult to parse what, exactly, was going on. Nothing felt like it had any strong impact or emotions tied to it, so even reading the section with the murder fell flat to me.

For instance, sometimes things would be said or described that I thought meant one thing, but in fact meant the exact opposite.

After Veaer witnesses the girl she’s obsessed with murder another student, this is the ending of that chapter.

”Then she stopped, dropped the knife, and got on her knees.”
And Veaer joined her in prayer.”

And until the continuation of the story about 2 chapters from this point, I thought that meant that Veaer literally joined her, and that they would be hiding the murder together. The fact that the next chapter suddenly has a POV change without telling you, about cleaning up after and hiding the body, did not help this interpretation.

I also had difficulty understanding the characters and their relationships. We have a bunch of people named at us with very little distinction or understanding, and there were multiple times I thought a character was dating someone who was their BROTHER or that a character had a relationship with someone who I THOUGHT was their brother. Neither of these were actually true, but you can understand my confusion when there are two sets of siblings in this story, and a flat narrative voice that makes it difficult to understand who is who.

On top of this, much of the language is extremely flowery with little substance, which made it hard to follow along with what was going on. The relationship between the main character and the girl she’s obsessed with seemed to flip flop, and their meetings with one another made no sense.

(The book literally starts with her breaking into her room, waiting for her there, and then when the other character finds her - she barely reacts. And then, our MC tackles her to the bed in a way that seems sexually aggressive, but then she steals her necklace and then leaves? And then practically nothing happens after this - no development, no explanation, nothing. Extremely confusing to read). Not to mention the long and drawn out descriptions of the other girl, and her apparent art obsession with butterflies, and their discussion about how “deep” and “complex” this is - all the while talking to the character that just literally broke into her room.

I think this could be a good book to read to someone who enjoys extremely flowery language in their stories, but for me I could not get into it. The writing felt like a barrier to me accessing the story or the characters, and I had to stop when I realized I was both skimming the words and filling in the blanks of what I (thought) was going on as I read.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this one fell short for me. I had a hard time keeping up with the POVs timelines. The world building was not very well developed and explained.

The writing style, for me, was not particularly easy to keep up.

I think the idea and the story have so much potential and it truly got me invested at first but I was having difficulty keeping track of the story as it went back and forth. The use of riddles is also a cool concept but for me as a reader I’d like to not have to guess time and time again.

I’m a huge fan of dark academia, and since it’s by a queer author of color, I genuinely thought I would love this, but I can’t get into it. I must DNF at 15%.

The first chapter started off with lots of info dumping, which was making the story drag. And from there it just got incredibly confusing. I had no idea what was going on. I couldn’t even picture what was happening in the scenes. I set it down because of how confusing it was, but I wanted to try to give it another chance eventually. But it has been several months and I haven’t been tempted to pick it back up, so I’m calling it. If I ever decide to try again, I’ll update my review!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for his ARC. All opinions are my own.

I, like others, wanted to like this book. However, I was unable to get into it. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t be moved to pick it up. /:

All the ideas were so promising but the execution was so poorly done! The world building wasn't explored enough for my taste and the ideas were simply surface level, never having a large impact on the overall story. The characters were so dislikable but not in an antihero way, in a poorly written way. Very disappointed.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity

Not my normal read but I did enjoy it. The setting was unforgettable.

This had great ingredients, from a underground cult to obsessive love, but it wasn't cooked well. So it didn't really ate—apologies for whatever I just did here. Basically, the characters were the best part with the morally grey personalities and it had strong elements like a sapphic angst and dark academia vibes. But since it tried to do to much, the final story fell flat.