I really wanted to like this. It sounds perfectly up my alley.
It was written in a very confusing manner so it just didn’t grab me. I was trying so hard to continue, but I could really only get a page at a time or so.
So I had to DNF in chapter 2.
I’m giving it a 3 because it SOUNDS like it would be incredible.
I just think don’t think the execution was in a style that I personally enjoyed.

DNF 20%, genuinely could not get into this at all. I tried so hard, and thank you net galley for the copy, but this book was ROUGH. I had such high hopes for this based in the premise. Sapphic dark academia with magic? Count me in! Bland sapphic characters that are just sad stereotypes with little to no personality, disjointed world building? Count me out. On top of that, I just genuinely could not click with the writing. It felt choppy and awkward for every sentence, and I feel like the only way to explain it is that I felt fully like I was half asleep while I was reading if that makes any sense, like I was only able to grasp every third word.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy of this book, sadly I had to dnf it 40% in.

It normally takes me a while to get into a new setting for a fantasy novel but for as far as I made it in, I expected to understand some parts of it like the patrons or gods they talk about, the force field that was mentioned once but never talked about again but was left disappointed and confused. I found the character dialogue hard to follow as well, especially the italics for thoughts as well as flashbacks but with no clear distinction between the two.

This book is fine, I was enjoying it, but the formatting of the flashbacks and prose were just too difficult for me to push through to the end to figure out the mystery. I did like the tension of Veaer knowing what Elise had done and still working with her but her reactions to certain things weren't explained well to me at least.

If you’re craving dark academia vibes with a side of murder, morally gray characters and twisted, toxic lesbians, look no further! Here’s what you need to know: Veaer is a senior at Adraredon Academy, as dark as dark academia gets. She witnesses the headmaster's daughter, Elise, murder another student. This is complicated because, well, murder… but also because she’s in love (er.. obsessed?) with Elise. Does she turn Elise in? Or keep the secret forever? And then to complicate things further Elise asks for her help, making Veaer her partner in solving the murder they both already know the answer to. It’s v dark, it’s v wild, and it’s v gay.

Was really excited about this one, but I unfortunately had to DNF.

The writing was off putting for me and made it difficult to get through this one.

I hate to give this a low rating because this book sounded amazing, the cover is stunning and blurb sounds great but unfortunately it just didn't work for me.

I really wasn't a fan of the writing style and while I don't usually mind grammar or spelling errors, especially in an ARC, this was a lot and really took me out of the story.

I did enjoy the dark academia atmosphere and the magic system was very interesting but unfortunately it just didn't flow or gel together very well, it felt all over the place. There was absolutely no world building and I found out after that it's actually based in the same world as another of the author's books which is fine but I felt like it was assumed the reader had read that other book and was familiar with the world.

The characters did absolutely nothing for me, they were very one dimensional and the romance/obsession didn't really make sense to me.

I really really didn't want to DNF as I hate to do that with an ARC I really try to give it a chance but this was tough to get through. The potential is there so maybe some day it could be worked and I do really appreciate the opportunity to read this book

Due to its premise, I have high expectations from this book. This is a Queer Dark Academia that I am quite interested in but it took me such a long time to actually be in 30% of the story. The main characters was seriously at some point— I think— was very vain.The plot was dragging and the words did not quite catch my interest so yes I ended up DNF this book.

But thank you Netgalley for letting me read this.

Unfortunately had to DNF this book.
I felt like the language/writing style didn't click with me, personally, but I will still recommend it to my store to order. I feel like it could connect with certain individuals but I, unfortunately, was not one of them.

Trigger warnings for Chrysalis and Requiem include: alcohol & drug use; blood, abuse, death, emotional abuse, escalating violence, gaslighting & manipulation; gore, lifechanging injury, murder, corpses, visions about traumatic events; panic attacks, paranormal & occult content, self-harm, sexual references, suicide ideation and trauma.
☆
☆
One thing I struggled with in regard to this book is the change of perspective. I found it difficult to follow who was narrating from chapter to chapter.
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I won't lie, throughout the second half of the book I really just didn't understand what was going on at all. By the end, I was just thoroughly confused.
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I think the book was very cleverly written, and I think that the themes and descriptions were done very well. Despite my confusion I did fly though the second half and finished it very quickly (albeit after the publication date).
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I couldn't honestly tell you whether I like any of the characters after the way the book ended and after everything they all did, but I suppose that's the purpose of morally grey characters.
•
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

DNF for now, but might try it again in the future. It has the makings of everything I enjoy, and yet the writing is just so stilted and infodumpy and the characters feel like dialogue placeholders. Could not for the life of me stay engaged.

Adraredon Academy is a place of learning behind ancient walls and spires, and centuries of history. Passions run rampent. Companionships begin and end. Forbidden desires interweave through daily life at the Academy. And Veaer Rosell would rather be there than anywhere else in the world. She is driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, art, and beauty that will push the limits of her mind, body, and heart.

Veaer is being taunted by fate. In her final year, the peace and calm of her world is shattered by the very person she most desires. Witnessing the headmaster's daughter murder their best friend… and then asking Veaer to help her solve the crime drives Veaer to discover parts of herself that she had been stubbornly refusing to see. But how does it end?

My first reaction to this book was that it was going to be another teen Romeo and Juliet remake. I could not be happier that I was wrong. While there are elements of those tropes, the author gives each character a life of their own, desires, and wants that drive the story to further reach the climax. I absolutely love how the author showcased the spectrum of gender and sexuality, and the smoothness of using the proper pronouns within the writing of those characters.

The things that I did not enjoy from the book - the flow of the narrative was off. There were smooth and beautifully written parts that had me wanting more when I set the book down. But there were also parts that were disjointed and took me right out of the story. I wished for more of the magic built into the world, and felt like the age-barrier to magic was a safety net to remove a lot of the explanation that would have made the last third of the book more complete.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone seeking Queer representation and who enjoys a gothic teen tragedy.

I received this book as an advanced reader copy through NetGally. It does not affect my review in any way.

Content Warnings:
Major - Murder, Violence
Moderate - Blood, Death, Emotional Manipulation
Minor - Drug Use

I am usually all for books that are filled with purple prose and unlikeable lesbians, I love a good biblically accurate angel, but this just wasn't it. I found the world building sloppy and the pacing terrible. I didn't find myself interested until the last 25%, and that was too long for things to start happening. The resolution was rushed and I found the conclusion wanting.

I try my best to really think if a book is going to be good for me or not by the synopsis and I really thought I’d enjoy this one. It’s dark academia and queer that’s usually all I need to know. Unfortunately, I should’ve known more.

For me the fantasy and detective work clashed. It should’ve only been dark academia or only fantasy I think having both wasn’t the right choice since there wasn’t enough development for either one. The fantasy was sprinkled in and the academic storyline wasn’t thought through which left not much to enjoy.

I was hoping to connect more to the characters but there wasn’t anything that drew me to them. I found it harder to enjoy anyone and usually I can find at least one character to cling onto.

There’s really not much to say other than I wasn’t able to enjoy this book. It’s another case of wonder idea, wrong executions.

Things I really enjoyed about this book are - It was clear the author wanted to show the realities of gender and sexuality, in particular when questioning your own or another persons gender or sexuality. The character names were kind of perfect and I loved the concept of the book. There was also some good representation of the experience of intrusive thoughts and how confusing they can make the experience of peopling. There was transgender rep too, although, having no experience of this I don’t know if it’s good rep or not. There’s also non binary rep that resonated somewhat. Finally, I really enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I am a sucker for a quote heading for chapters.

Thing’s I didn’t like - I often found the flow of the story confusing and it was quite a disjointed read. Things would happen very quickly with little to no warning so it was jarring and added to the confusion. There were also a few times that a character would refer to things like I would know what they’re talking about and I didn’t. For example, “ that day was…” I didn’t know what day they were on about. I could also have liked more of the magic and definitely more explanation and world building around the magic. There was a scene where there was two people having sex and one of the people was fantasising about another person which made me really uncomfortable. It felt like I was reading disjointed short stories instead of chapters.

Instagram: 19/3/24
YT: will be mentioned in the video titled Wordn3rdathon 2024
StoryGraph: 17/3/24

(I hit a reading slump when I began this book, so maybe take my review with a grain of salt.)

I feel like I really only became invested in the story in the last 20%. I came here for the toxic yuri, and this part of the book definitely delivered. Though for the rest of the book, I mostly pushed through reading because of my completionist nature, and not because the book made me want to read it. The prose could have used some work, sentences were running for too long and I sometimes got lost in them (not in a good way). I couldn't understand why Veaer was so obsessed with Elise, like what started this feeling towards her you know. The world was interesting, though I wish we were given more information (especially in regards to this world's religion, the place of angels in their spirituality, what happened with those heroes, etc.). At least, for those of you who don't like when a book infodumps, the information we do have when giving very naturally. The school setting was nice, with that dark academia aesthetic, but it could have been exploited more in the story, especially with Veaer's relationship to art. Also, a lot of butterfly symbolism that I didn't really understand.

This story is a queer dark academy, suspense, thriller, paranormal, book about to queer characters Veaer and Elisa in their journey to save one of them. You have Veaer a scholarship student that is Caemi that is a magical counterpart of scent kind, which is an animal like characteristic that is a wolf. What I like about her character is she is willing to do anything for Elisa because of the obsession and the love that she has for her. And throughout the book, you will see the two of them get close together and you will see her be there for Elisa in a way that nobody else has been there for Elisa. And there are times when these two are together and you were like why is this happening and then you realize it was all predictive, but what happened between the both of them from the angels and from the tarot card, reading that happens to be a part of there story. Then you have Elisa character you realize all her life she wasn’t put first she was always second to everybody else in her life, and all she just wanted was to feel loved and seen. Through this story, you’ll see her get to be first for once in her life, and that people finally acknowledged her for who she is, and not for her family. Then when the time comes, she realizes that she had love in the first place, but she’s going to go through with the plan because she believes in her heart that this is meant to be. These two together they were a toxic kind of love because you have an obsession from one end and then on the other end and being used. But it works perfectly between the both of them because now that they have somebody and they’re not alone, and I finally feel scene by another. They finally realize that they have love they will do anything to keep it no matter what. I would recommend this story, if you are queer representation, dark academia, thriller,paranormal, and a suspense story.

Thank you very much to the author and Netgalley for an E-ARC of the novel :)

Chrysalis and Requiem was a sapphic magical dark academia story focused on an obsessive love that seemed to transcend reality and moved beyond into a metaphysical realm of passion, desire, and obsession. The magical wolf-like abilities of Veaer were interesting, but I found the story was challenging to follow and it was difficult to buy into the plot and romance. I hoped to see more exploration of the characters personality, motivations, and to see more character growth as they fall into this dark story line and inevitably become entangled.

The vibes that this book gives at all time is some sort of memorable and the romance was quite pleasing, However, I can’t say that I fully connected with this book. I’m looking forward to read more from the author, though.

I loved the concept of this book, and was so excited to have the chance to read it, particularly after following the author’s journey for this book and its characters over on instagram.
I enjoyed it, but not as much as I thought I would, which is a shame.
I loved the diversity amongst the characters and the academic setting, but it felt slow paced and dense it sections which made the story feel longer than it actually was.
It’s a book I’d recommend on the basis of exploring disability and representation, as there are a variety of characters that cover a large basis of representation (including neurodiversity, queer representation, mobility issues).

**I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

DNF @46%

I have been trying so very hard to love this. I am a fast reader. Like I read over 400 books a year fast reader. This 310 page book has taken me 11 days to reach 46%. And I simply can't anymore.

Full disclosure: I have already purchased this book in a special edition from Fox and Wit. I won't be keeping it when it arrives regardless of how pretty it is. And that is what originally appealed to me about this book. Queer dark academia. Fantasy. Lovely cover. Queer author. All key things I love. Which is the only reason I have pushed this far. I wanted to initially DNF around 14% and have kept trying.

I enjoy the representations of queerness both in sexuality and gender identity. I love the concepts of the world that are hinted at, though they are never fully explained in the first half of the book. I was happy with the plot and trying to push to see it resolved.

The characters are insufferable. Yes, this is a hallmark of dark academia. However, there tends to be something that binds you to the characters and makes you care. Even when their choices are horrible. Even when their personalities are privileged and elitist, there's nearly always something that allows a reader to lock in. I couldn't find that for me in this book.

The writing is... well beyond words. It is thick and convoluted, which is made no simpler to understand by the fact that we are moving forward and back in Veaer's time at school. I really thought I was just struggling due to personal busy-ness in my life. But I, in desperation, checked reviews and saw that a lot of people felt the same way I do about the writing. Many of their reviews say it better than me accompanied by the fact that it doesn't get better until the last 15ish% of the book. For me, I'm not the person to read a book to only enjoy the last 15%.

Best wishes to Quinton Li. I sincerely hope this book finds its audience, and am beyond sad that it turns out I'm not the reader for this book.