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!!!

2.5 stars rounded up. I'm disappointed in my reaction to the book, as I wanted to love it much more than I did. There are some really interesting dynamics and concepts at play. However I ultimately failed to follow and connect with the story as it unfolded in the way I had hoped to.

I've recently read another of Quinton Li's works "Tell Me How It Ends" and I did find I enjoyed "Chrysalis and Requiem" more and felt some real noticeable growth in their writing with this one, though as a reader I would like to see this continue to improve moving forwards.

This book captured my interest during many of the high-stakes, tension-building moments. I would say that towards the end of the book, events became more cohesive and gripping. The beginning of the book was a bit more scattered and difficult to follow, particularly the timeline of scenes and the mental state of each of the characters. I found it difficult to make sense of certain aspects such as the repetitions of 1,2,3,4 and finger tapping during times of stress, or flashback thoughts or memories that are interjected during unrelated conversations and scenes.

One positive thing I will say about this author, is they handle character differences smoothly and with great skill. Gender, sexuality and disabilities are portrayed and discussed on page with consistent respect and appreciation. This is something I love and you rarely see done well. I share a love of tarot with the author also and to see it so abundantly featured within their books is wonderful. There were references to biblically accurate angels which is a bold thing to include, seeing as they are kind of terrifying. You can tell the author's interests shine through in their work and their passion for certain subjects is easy to see. I think for those that have not read any other work by Quinton Li, there's likely to be some confusion for readers about Chrysalis and Requiem's magic and people, such as the differences between Caemi and Senti as I don't recall it being explained much within this book.

Overall, I am glad I gave the author's work another go by reading this book and I hope to see them continue to improve their writing style in future. I would love to see some short stories set in this world so that they can hone their writing skill and story creation before diving into another ambitious and complex project such as another novel. Their ideas are always impressive, it's the execution that does not translate so well into a great reading experience.

Thank you Quinton Li and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I did not finish this. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t get myself through this book. I managed the first three chapters but really I was confused the whole time and bored with it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Quinton Li’s “Chrysalis and Requiem” in exchange for a fair and honest review of the book. I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, primarily because of the queer representation, but also the fact that darker subjects of grief and violence were intertwined into this love story. After reading “Chrysalis and Requiem” I was left with a lot of feelings, the most prevalent one being frustration, specifically with the ending.

First I wanted to start by talking about what the book did well and the things I really enjoyed. I loved how relatable the characters are, Veaer specifically. Veaer struggles with doing the right thing at the cost of endangering those she cares about. While many of us can’t (and probably will never) relate to Veaer’s specific struggle throughout this book, I think most of us can relate to wanting to keep those we care about safe. Another thing about Veaer that I found to be relatable was the fact that she feels the need to constantly prove herself, sometimes going to the extreme in order to feel validated. Elise was another character I enjoyed, as she is seen as the “princess of the school” so I expected her to be pretty bland, and while she does have groupies that can do her dirty work for her, she truly is a mastermind, and I honestly wasn’t expecting that from someone who is treated like royalty and has never been told “no”. Another thing I liked was the Order, which I won’t say much about to make sure I don’t spoil anything, but the time spent with the Order was chaos in the best way. I do wish the Order would’ve been expanded more on, but it was definitely the thing that made me truly start to care about this book.

Unfortunately, this book was not perfect and there were some things that I didn’t enjoy. The first thing that really kept me from being truly immersed in the atmosphere was honestly Elise’s name. It felt very mundane in comparison to others throughout the story such as “Veaer” and “Izot” and “Harquin”. Another thing I was disappointed in was the magic system/history of magic within “Chrysalis and Requiem” because there was very little/no explanation of the way magic worked or why it was banned at Adraredon Academy. The history aspect of the world seemed to play a part in the murder mystery plot of the book, but we as readers have very little knowledge of the system. These issues made reading this book feel like I was dropped in the middle of the story and that I was trying to play catch up, which caused the first part of the book to really drag. The last thing that I didn’t enjoy was actually the epilogue. I honestly felt like it took away from the story, and was quite pointless in my opinion.

Overall, I did enjoy this book while I was reading it, but I’m neutral on it after reflecting on this story, therefore I’m giving it a 2.5 star rating. I do think that I’d check out other works by Li but I probably won’t recommend this particular book to friends.

First, I liked the variety of queer identities that were both shown and discussed in this book. I think it's great to have that kind of representation in books geared towards young people.

I felt like perhaps this was just a toe dip into the ocean that is this world and it's lore. I didn't fully understand the ancestral differences between the senti and caemi. I didn't understand why the caemi features were suppressed while at the academy.

I felt like an entire book could have been written on this history of the old heroes. That could be quite interesting!

Veaer, I found her to be naive, which makes sense for her age. But it didn't feel like she did a lot of learning. I wanted more growth from her as a character.

The identities of certain figures, I felt was a bit predictable, seeing as how only so many people were named. Veaer not understanding who people were had me feeling like screaming at her character.

I feel like this book had strong aesthetics, which I can appreciate.

The writing seemed stronger in the last third or so of the book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced eARC of this book.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this after 15%. I found the phrasing throughout too jarring and couldn't get into it at all. The writing didn't flow and there were a lot of words thrown in about the world that had no explanation so I couldn't get to grips with the world it was set in.

At 15% in, I didn't have a clue what was happening and wasn't invested in the characters or what was happening.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc
I wanted to love this book, the cover intrigued me and the synopsis had me hooked, unfortunately the book didn't do what it promised. Big paragraphs, bad grammar and an insane amount of information which made it indigestible. I'm all for dark academia and queer rep but this didn't do it for me and i had to dnf.

Netgalley ARC

I was certainly very happy to have received this arc, as the premise itself was so fascinating to me and I will give a honest review.

There were many aspects of this book that I loved. It’s a queer dark academic story with aspects of cults, angels and tarot - all things that should’ve made this my top book of the year. I definitely believe that the writing style was perfect for the genre that the book was written for and the school system was fascinating for me. I will admit that I looked at the author’s instagram regarding this book and so I definitely found certain things more tolerable knowing the purpose of the book. The characters were all fascinating and probably one of the better points of this book - I want to know more about Izot personally. However despite this I wasn’t particularly attached to Veaer or Elise which took some enjoyment away.


However I wouldn’t say this book was at all easy to read. The writing style just wasn’t for me and honestly the first part of the book was so difficult for me to get through, only the twist at the end encouraging me to continue reading. I also really disliked the jump in time between chapter because the magic system was already really hard to understand and in my opinion underdeveloped and so adding in the time jumps left me so disoriented and confused. If this was the purpose, I still think it could’ve been executed better.

I just don’t think this was for me. I will be giving it a re-read when I’m in the mood to because I think it has potential.

Thank you to the author for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to love this book, the promise of a queer culty dark academia story with trans angels sounded like something right up my alley, but unfortunately, I didn't. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely aspects I enjoyed, like the writing style. It was very fitting for both the story itself and the academic setting. I also found the religion/cult themes very interesting. Oh and the way Li described the trans body as something heavenly and dive. Though, I had a very hard time getting into the book. I was very confused, and I think I'm just too dumb to get it, which is on me, and not the book itself. It just made the entire book feel like a fever dream, which might've been the point, but unfortunately hindered my enjoyment.

Now for the characters. Veaer and Elise were both mad, just in different ways. Veaer was obsessed with Elise in a stalker-like way, and throughout the story it only gets worse. She's being followed by a ghost and is feeding into Elise's delusions. While I was very aware that this is a very unconventional lovestory, it wasn't something I could enjoy. I liked the diverse and queer cast, but I never really got attached to the characters, and only got properly invested in the story in the last 30%.

I had too high expectations and i realised that this book was just not really for me. Though, I would still recommend that everyone checks it out once it releases, as it's concept is interesting and something a lot of people for sure will enjoy, if you're into morally grey dark academia stories.

Good premise, but poorly executed on all counts. The magic system was entirely nonsensical, as very little world-building was done to explain it. All of the characters were one-dimensional -- Elise's entire character can be summed up by "beautiful" and "princess." The most redeemable part was the ending since Veaer finally put a few of her brain cells to use, but even that was underwhelming. All-in-all, not worth the time or patience it took me to get through it. 1.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for sending me an arc in exchange for a review.

I dnf'ed this book, and after reading some other reviews, I feel a little less guilty about it.

The writing was disjointed and incomprehensible. I had to keep rereading sections over and over, and I still didn't understand them. Was this edited by a professional editor?

It also sounds like this book takes place in the same world as the author's previous book(s). That's really awesome! But you have to reintroduce your world if it's a new book, that's not a sequel. The reader was introduced to new words that the author never explained, as if there was an expectation that we should just know what the people/creatures in the author's world were -- but I certainly didn't, and I didn't understand what or who I was reading about.

I'm bummed because the premise sounds amazing! Sapphics, boarding school, dark academia - all things I love! And for the few people that made it through the book, it sounds like the very end is enjoyable. It's disappointing I couldn't make it that far into the book to find an enjoyable part.

Thank you NetGalley and Quinton Li for gifting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf at 12%

I have a really hard time dnfing advanced reader copies. I have been trusted to read a book, one an author worked extremely hard on and give honest review. However, there are times that I make exceptions. The biggest one being grammar and syntax. This book has something to it, however, the grammar is atrocious. There are parts of the writing where sentences would still have been run-ons if they were cut in half. The syntax made little sense at the best parts and unreadable at worse. Each sentence either repeats itself or contradicts the paragraph before it until the reader is betting on a dead horse. Look, I read a lot of books, like over 200 books in just the last year. I have not read a book with such bad grammar in years. Years. All respect to the author but if they did not catch it or the beta readers, I am worried. Indie published books should not be held to the same standard as traditionally published books, however they should still be edited properly.

Thanks, Victory and Netgalley, for letting me review this book!

Vaeae Rosell has always felt like an outcast at Adraredon Academy- shes a scholarship kid and a loner who dedicated herself to just make it through her time there. However, vaear witnesses her crush commit murder, and gets drawn into investigating the victim's spiritual ties and eventually each other, despite the danger.

I really loved the plot of this story and all the twists and turns, and who doesnt love a magical school and occult-y murder plot. It did take me longer than i expected to get into this book, and the shifts in the timeline sometimes got confusing for me. The things i struggled with in this book i can see a younger reader, or even myself as a younger reader truly flying right through and enjoying. 3.5/5

DNF at 12%. I just couldn't do it. This has everything I love in books: sapphic/queer main character, dark academia/gothic aesthetic, murder! The writing though was so impossible to follow and the story just felt way too cringe for me. I honestly couldn't get past 12%. Maybe I'll give it another try when the audiobook gets published, but for now I have to stop.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC.

(3.5 stars)
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC! (My first properly approved one!)
First 50%:Extremely dense
Second 50%: Otkay this is kinda intriguing
I took a long break from this book around 45% but I think a lot of people who DNF’d around here miss out on the things that really grip the plot.
Am I still hella confused? Yes. But am I glad that I stuck it out? Also yes.

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

The idea behind Chrysalis and Requiem had me hooked instantly when I first came across it, it had all the elements I could possibly look for in a book. The representation in this novel is beyond amazing and I believe a lot of thought and love were put into the creation of this project.
Unfortunately, I had to DNF it. Whereas the idea behind the story was phenomenal, I couldn't connect with the writing, I found it to be confusing and the dialogues had the same effect. I actually tried starting the novel again but it didn't work.
I've talked to some friends who also received this ARC for review and they felt the same. I was encouraged to get to the end of the book because they all found it to be really good, but whenever I picked it up it put me in a slump and I just couldn't move past where I was at.
I'm definitely interested in giving this one another try upon release. Like I said, I was fascinated by the topics dealt within the story and by the plot itself. I hope upon revision the matters stated above are taken into account.
Thank you again for the copy provided.

Thanks netgalley for the arc.
3.5 rounded up.

I've read the first book of the author and loved it last year so I was super excited to get into this one.

It's a dark academia set in the same world as Tell me how it ends, except this time instead of following wholesome characters we have morally Grey characters doing their worst.

It's a confusing book, at time I wasn't sure of what was going on, but it's mostly because the mc Veaer was confused too and not mentally stable at all.

It's a perfect depiction of toxicity wrapped in a dark setting with cult angels and magic

Listen pals, I was straight up not a fan.

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, the cat/wolf/fox-people just there for author's self indulgence, and the pacing terrible. I didn't find myself interested until the last 25%, and that was too dang long for things to start happening. The resolution was rushed, I found the conclusion wanting, and overall, this is now a reminder that if I want to dnf a book, I probably should,

Spectacular world-building with likeable characters and and even more compelling romance .
There's something about Elise - the princess of the school - that interests Vaear and for once she wants to see what that is
5 stars would recommend

DNF at 8% I hate DNF'ing... Sapphic dark academia with fantasy elements is everything I thought I wanted. Way too many things introduced too early. With some editing, this could be a really interesting story.