It had the potential to be so much better than it actually ended up being. The premise sounded really good, and I enjoyed the author’s previous book. But I just couldn’t get into the story or the characters. This was due to the story basically throwing you into the deep end and hardly explains anything that’s going on. So many things seem to have happened before the book even starts, yet the reader isn’t caught up on it. Something that makes everything even harder to get into was the flow of the writing, at times it felt more like just word dumping than an actual story.

I DNF’d at 18% 😭 I still had no idea what was going on. I just couldn’t follow and was so confused. I don’t want to rate this bc obviously this was wasn’t for me - so I’m just giving 5 stars bc honestly any LGBTQ+ book is a star in my eyes and writing a book is hard. I can’t wait to see reviews from people who love this! Maybe I’ll end up revisiting. Thank you for the ARC!

I have never read a book like this before which is a big positive considering how much I read. It was a struggle to engage with the characters at some points but an enjoyable read nevertheless.

this is a sapphic dark academia thriller that promised lies and dark plots and women brought together through gruesome discoveries, and it felt so distinctly Me that i felt a wave of affection whenever it appeared on my feed, and i was desperate for an arc. i wanted tragic obsession and relentless grief and i wanted it Now.

it took me embarrassingly long to read what i did with this book because i just couldn’t understand what i was reading. at first, i thought i just wasn’t smart enough, but i read a few more early reviews and it seems like this is a concern with the book rather than me. i’m usually quite lenient with editing (especially self-editing) in indie books, but this one was borderline incomprehensible in so many places that i had to admit defeat. it wasn’t necessarily the complexity of the language, rather something slightly unplaceable that will almost definitely come to me the moment i post this review. i appreciate this book for jumping straight in with the action, and there are a few descriptions that i do love in the early chapters. however, there were a few moments where i felt as if a lot of the context i needed to know had happened off page before the first chapter, but this might be more about my preference to meet the characters on page, rather than hear about them in monologues.

it seemed to be missing the key element of dark academia: the academia. i think it would be easier to just remove this key phrase from the marketing - not everything in a school setting has to be academic (or dark, even). the book does dabble in a lot of themes (angels and magic and queerness and murder, to summarise) that work well individually, but don’t mesh well together, especially within the context of the dark academia genre. it also seems to be set in the same world? universe? as the author’s other works, and i hope there are references that will stand out and be enjoyable to returning readers.

it’s definitely an ambitious book, and i hope the author has the opportunity (or the desire) to rework it in the future. there’s a lot to like about the plot, and i hope i can return to it with a slightly different execution. i try not to be one to leave negative reviews, especially for books i requested, but this one has dominated my social media feeds so strongly (and ngl i admire the marketing campaign greatly) that i cannot end this personal storyline without a conclusion.

Chrysalis and Requiem is a book I wanted to like but didn't much care for. I think in general Dark Academy books don't get as much love as they deserve. It's not a genre that is as popular as others. So after reading Li's first book, Tell Me How It Ends, full of an interesting world, characters, and concept of Tarot reading, I had hoped I would like this one more.

It's set in the future from the first book, with new characters and a different- more acceptable society than we've previously read. Senti (Non-magical folk) and Caemi (magical folk with animal-like features and abilities) are not trying to kill eachother.

Beyond that though, I wasn't really pulled in. It felt a bit like when Avatar released Kora, and we were just expected to move on from all the characters we fell in love with in the first series, but couldn't get past that to really enjoy the new ones. I heard Li is planning a sequel to the Tell Me How It Ends series, but I think it might have been better to do that one first before releasing a book set in the future. I finished this one but I really dragged on for me. Maybe if I had been in a different mindset I would have liked it better. I may re-read it again after the sequel to TMHIE releases.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Absolutely loved this book so much. This author never disappoints! I couldn’t get through the book fast enough.

Having had the chance to read an ARC of this book on NetGalley, I can genuinely say it was an enjoyable experience. The intriguing premise was well-executed, maintaining my interest throughout.

The unexpected yet satisfying ending stood out, and overall, it's a great book.
I'd certainly be keen to explore more from the author in the future.

Chrysalis and Requiem is so unique and unlike anything I have ever read before. The premise was very fun even if the execution was lacking at times. I recommend it if you like sapphic characters and dark academia.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I’m all here for queer rep and dark academia! The cover is stunning and the marketing for this indie book is incredible. I love a good sapphic fantasy book. The characters didn’t really grow on me an d don’t seem to have much growth either. The world building was also strange since I’m not familiar with the author’s other works. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book is for me. Thank you NetGalley again for the ARC!

How far would you go if you were in love with someone... who has killed? At Adraredon Academy two girls will find their paths crossing leading to death, romance, and more. Veaer Rosell is a scholarship student who is bored, she craves beauty and art and finds herself fixated on the headmaster's daughter, Elise. Elise is known as the school's princess, she's a loner, an extremely talented artist, and something about her just draws Vear in. Yet when Veaer witnesses Elise murdering her own best friend, things only begin to get out of control. So begins a violent and illicit love between the two as Veaer seeks to discover why Elise would commit a murder and what her goal is while also dealing with her own obsession with Elise. Will their love end in more death? This book had all the potential to be one of my all time favorite books but completely missed the mark. This book had everything but an actual good plot and characters with personalities or even growth. Reading this book was difficult only because it was so boring and so completely incoherent at times. I honestly couldn't find myself liking any of the characters or being invested in the story. The book dragged on and on and I have applaud myself for even making it to the end, despite this being a short book. The book had a gorgeous cover, had all my favorite things from dark academia to sapphic romance and a murder mystery.... but it just fell flat on all counts. I wanted so badly to like this book but I don't think I can recommend it to anyone. If you like sapphic dark academy stories I would say give it a try, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did. Now if you do want a good dark academia sapphic book with obsession and a murder mystery I can highly high recommend A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee.

*Thanks Netgalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

It makes me really sad to say this because the premise of this book was perfect, but I'm DNFing it. I'll not finish it because it too confusing for me and I'm not connecting with the story or its characters. The cover is really really beautiful tho.

DNF @21%

The writing is terrible, the characters are one dimensional and I don't care about what's going on in the plot.

DNF at 16%

I cannot finish it. I can't 😭 I usually reach at least 30% before deciding if I should DNF a book or not but this one...I can't push through. I'm having difficulty trying to connect with any of the characters. This is why we don't judge a book by its cover. The cover really caught my attention but that's the only good thing I could say about it. I mean, it is beautiful. I remember even describing it as immaculate.

The jump from year 3 to year 1 to year confused me because I do not understand why there's a need for it (probably in the future chapters but still).

The writing...It didn't help at all. I feel like I am reading. Well, yeah, of course I am reading but it is MAKING me read. I hate it when a book can't make me visualize the scenarios. I can't imagine what the characters look like or what they are doing or their surroundings at all. I feel like I am just stuck in their head where there is nothing. I need a book that helps me visualize a movie and not just read.

I am so sorry. I am very thankful for the eARC from Netgalley and the publisher but I really can't push through. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Good premise, but not good execution. While there were some parts that I enjoyed (themes of obsession, queer characters and murder), but the grammar definitely detracted from the impression of the book. Some parts of the book was very confusing and I had to spend some time to think about them. It could be great if it was any other book, but this one.

This book was difficult for me, because I think it felt so unique and fresh, and had a large number of narrative and atmospheric things I look for in a book (dark academia is my absolute favourite)!

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish reading the arc as there were so many grammatical issues and problems with sentence structure that it became really impossible to read. I definitely understand that independently published and arcs can have grammatical issues, but I wasn't able to appreciate the story through the errors in this one.

I do think I would have really enjoyed this story otherwise, and I do think it showed amazing potential and great imagination, so I will still rate it 3 stars!

i got this book on netgalley as an ARC, and i can’t get through the first chapter. i’m disappointed by that, because the premise of the book is good, but i can’t get past the first chapter. i’m marking this as a dnf. a lot of the wording is over the top, confusing, and i have no idea what anything

I was really drawn in by this cover and was very much hoping to enjoy this book. But I really did not.

The book begins very abruptly. And is confusing. The first chapter starts the story kind of in the middle and it is really jarring and makes no sense. I think it’s meant as a device to draw the reader in but it is so confusing that I could see it putting readers off. It definitely put me off for a while.

The sentence structure is also very nonsensical at times. It’s trying to be lyrical but is just confusing.

“Murmured sweats emitted from her being” - aggressively overwritten.

I fought to keep going with the story but every chapter was a struggle and I never really got my foothold with the characters, the world or the plot.

It’s literally just word soup. Nonsensical word soup.

I enjoyed this! It had magic, intrigue, cult vibes and sooo many secrets.

I really disliked our FMC’s slight obsession with Elise, it sent her down a dark path and changed her for the worse really. Elise was an unlikeable character but her ending was sad, but her escape I guess.

This book was a Little hard to get into because I was expecting more fantasy academy with murder mystery, and this was really heavily a psychological thriller that happened to be set in a world with magic.

Did I like any of the characters? No, not particularly. They all seem to be a little mentally unstable, selfish, and apathetic. Did I like the book? Yes, in the same way I like the movies The Voices and Mother! I was entertained but now my brain hurts and I probably won't be rereading it anytime soon.

Thank you so much to Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for gifting me a copy of CHRYSALIS AND REQUIEM in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I love this premise. I love morally grey queer characters and intentional motifs, which is why cover artist Caleb Hosalla's iconography - and the author's close study of these visual themes within the text - really spoke to me from the start! I am also a big fan of dark academia and gothic literature, and I am usually very intrigued by the way in which authors use cult or secret societies settings as a manifestation of the inherent elitism within institutions, usually as a way to legitimise the validity of the observation.

While I don't think this book managed to scratch that last itch for me (dark academia shines when it is a critique, when authors look past the pristine institutions and pretty aesthetics to really pick apart elitism and injustice), this was an overall interesting read. The protagonists were frustrating, for lack of a better word, but I won't deny that it kept me reading.

The author had a great idea here. In future, I think that they just need to work on their execution a little bit. Please keep writing!!!