<i>I received an e-ARC of this book through Netgalley.</i>

This is one of the times when you should judge a book by its cover, because <i>Chrysalis and Requiem</i> is as beautiful as its brilliant cover. I had such a lovely time reading this, but my only issue is the confusing plot and the characters; I couldn't really connect to our protagonist as much as I would've liked. Regardless, this is a decent read that I recommend this to anyone who loves a good dark academia sapphic story

I'm pretty sad to say I didn't like this at all. I was dragging myself through most of it and by the end I just found I didn't really care? I will say that I can see it benefitting some young adults so I will recommend to some folks with specific requests, but in general, I didn't get so much of the details and I think the character development is very much lacking. I'm sorry!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!

I was so excited about this book. It sounded tailor made for me, with queer characters and angels and dark academia vibes. It was a collection of tropes and scenes that I've absolutely eaten up in other books. Unfortunately, though, they just fell flat in this one for me.

I couldn't get attached to Veaer. I didn't understand her obsessive fascination with Elise at the beginning, which seemed to be simply because Veaer needed a project to research. As Elise became more manipulative and toxic throughout the book, it was easier to understand Veaer's continued attachment, but the genesis of her obsession was totally foreign to me, which made Veaer less compelling to me.

I also felt like the whole magic system with the patrons, caemi, and senti took away from the story more than they added to it. I can't think of a single aspect of the plot that could not exist without the caemi/senti system. Additionally, the biblically accurate angel mythology was super interesting! However, it felt out of place in a world with a completely different religious system---what were the angels worshipping, if not the patrons? If they were worshipping the patrons, why were they biblically accurate? I think angels are super fascinating, but completely removed from any biblical context they lose a lot of their meaning and symbolism.

The vibes of this book were cool, though. The descriptions of the school were fun and there were some genuinely beautiful paragraphs of writing. I liked the dark academia aspect, but I feel like this book just tried to do too much, and it didn't really work for me.

This story is set in the halls of Adraredon Academy, with dark stone walls, secret societies, murder, mystery, a hunger for knowledge and a love of art. The perfect dark academia setting.
We are given a look into the schools halls through an outsiders lens, the magnificence of it, the glamour and awe of being allowed into such a brilliant academic space. Veaer is our main character, an artist who (not spoilers!) sees the most beautiful and popular girl, who she is enraptured by, commit murder.
This is where the story starts to unfold, we are taken on an intense, gripping and obsessive whirlwind with Veaer following her love no matter what it entails.
It was really interesting to read a story where basically everyone is morally grey, it put a really interesting perspective on the whole situation as we become at odds with the characters and their choices. It makes you start to wonder who or what is right and wonder what you would do in that situation.
There is some brilliant and vivid mythology included as part of this story that I wish was expanded on more so as the glimpses we get are so beautifully described. I also feel the same for the characters as we meet quite a few very interesting side characters that I definitely would have liked to see more of. There were a lot of loose plot points by the end and I did unfortunately feel as though I was left with more questions than answers, but perhaps that was the point.
The way the book is written was very disorientating and at times, hard to follow. This does in part aline with what the character goes through as she is thrust into so much chaos and uncertainty, I do have to say that I thought the ending was good, very unexpected which I liked. However I feel that the epilogue was rushed and didn't answer anything for us.
(I was happy with Veaers ending though)

Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy my time with this one. While the central story and some of the themes explored held promise, it was under-developed and confusing as a result. It's frustrating because there were things that peaked my interest. There's some dark academia vibes; there's murder and lies; there's a secret society; there's obsessive love. All of that should have combined into something that prompted me to keep reading. Instead, the characters felt half-formed, the world-building oscillated between glossed over and irrelevant, and the pacing needed some work.

Veaer, the main character, was a bit trying to be in the head of. She's entirely defined by her obsessive "love" of Elise. Like, she stalks this girl and breaks into her room to steal stuff from it and I'm like, "I'm supposed to be rooting for this girl???" Even upon seeing Elise murder someone (despite what the synopsis claims), Veaer immediately resolves to just... not tell anyone either about the murder or that Elise was the one who did it. And, again, the synopsis doesn't quite articulate that Veaer is constantly trying to insinuate herself into Elise's life. Elise doesn't so much as "request her aid" as she does decide to put her weird stalker to use. And their relationship doesn't really make much sense, especially because we never really get a good look in Elise's head. Whether this was intentional or not, Elise comes across as highly manipulative and only looking towards her end goal. Which, this could be an interesting dynamic if: 1. it felt like it amounted to anything and 2. if the book made a better effort at highlighting just how uneven and very much NOT love this was. But I never really felt like any of this worked for me. I also feel like Elise's motivations still remain murky. That could be intentional, but I'm not so sure and I wasn't exactly sure how turning into an angel as a trans allegory(? I think?) worked with her character.

As for the world-building, there IS magic, but none of it really makes much sense to me. There are people with animal ears and tails called caemi(?), which only matter to the story, it seems, in very few instances. It just reads as weird because the setting--despite having an established religion and gods (even though I remain a bit confused about that, too)--comes across as very modern. Almost magical realism, in a sense. Until the author decides that these more fantastical elements should come into place. As such, it's a little jarring and, honestly, the book would've been better served without them.

Again, it's frustrating because I think if the book were a little more focused and cohesive, the story it tells both about queer obsession and being trans could've really hit. Even for an ARC copy, I feel like this needs so much more work to really feel like a completely coherent work.

This one is hard as I wanted to love this book and saw so much potential in the world and characters. Yet, Chrysalis and Requiem fell into the trap many "dark academia" books fall into, not being a criticism of academia. An integral part of the genre is exploring how academia is built on a system based on elitism; it often explores this theme through the death of a student or a secret society that brings the darkness not of the setting but of its characters to light.
For the first 50 or so pages the story shows potential to intrigue readers and to have the characters grow into different people through the horrific events they will witness. But that was before it was made clear that who Elise and Veare are at the beginning of the novel are exactly who they will be the whole time: not growing at all. Having an unlikeable protagonist can be a good thing, but Elise and Veare go above and beyond to make me want to pull my hair out with how entitled and strangely obsessed everyone is with calling Veare "The Princess."
Li has the potential to make something truly worth reading; however, Chrysalis and Requiem were little more than a Pinterest board and playlist that failed to understand the genre of the novel.

Summary: At Adraredon Academy, fervent passion, contemporary companionship, and forbidden desires intertwine with tall gothic spires, ancient halls, and centuries of history. Veaer Rosell can't imagine a better place to satiate her craving for beauty, knowledge, and art. Yet senior year shatters her illusion of tranquillity and civil intellect when she witnesses the headmaster's daughter murder another student and is confronted by an unthinkable choice: avenging her fallen peer or taking this secret to the grave, one way or another. But fate laughs at Veaer's expense when the headmaster's daughter requests her aid. Driven by an all-consuming thirst for answers, Veaer becomes an untimely partner in solving a murder they both know the answer to, unaware of the intricacies that come with learning the bigger picture and playing with death.

Review: Impeccable academia vibes! Would say this is a magical story of internal struggles. That being said, at times you don't know how you got to certain part of the story. Here for the beautiful gothic elements.

#ChrysalisandRequiem #NetGalley

I am having a difficult time articulating how I felt about this book. I was, at the begging, a bit bored and very confused with the world building but that got a bit better as I kept reading, however, it did felt lacking which is honestly sad to say considering how interesting the premise about angels and death was. One of the main reasons this is not getting a 5 stars even though I actually had a great time reading this, was the character of Elise, and maybe she was meant to be written this cryptic but at times she read like an 18 teen girl and other times she read like a other worldly being which would take me out of the story at times. 3.75/5 rounded up.

Honestly I’ve just got nothing to say, this book was an incomprehensible mess full of relationships that made equally no sense. And I do not have the energy to explain the numerous issues with this in any form or fashion.

Thank you NetGalley for supplying this ARC!

Well... that was something. Two stars. I considered 1.5. Chrysalis & Requiem has an insanely interesting premise, with excellent intertextuality, and a great dark academia vibe. The last ~15% of this book was by far the most interesting, and read far smoother than many earlier chapters. I also adored the representation of queer and trans folk in this book, so big ups on that! Despite that, I did have several issues reading this book.

The writing was indistinct, confusing and chaotic. While I recognize this writing style was likely a purposeful choice to exhibit the chaos of grief and mourning, it ultimately worked against Li. The writing style that often focused too much on the philosophical rather than the scene contributed greatly to the confusion I felt trying to keep pace with this book. Settings were unclear, and character dialogues left me constantly flipping back pages to understand what I was currently reading about. It was ultimately made worse by the convoluted world-building, plot, and characterization. I think this book had a fantastic plot! A cult forming in the underbelly of a prestigious academy with toxic wlw? Yes please. But it was let down by characters that I was ultimately uninterested in, who were without clear motivations and purposes. Major plot points only occurred for the sake of occurring, rather than being prompted by the characters actions. The naming and magic systems of the characters were also a primary source of my confusion. A lot of the names felt like keyboard smashes, and then there was Elise?, ultimately it needed a lot more clarity. Likewise, the magic system wasn't explained in the slightest- and while I appreciate the lack of exposition, it resulted in a horrifically overwhelming feeling while reading this book. Ultimately, Chrysalis & Requiem requires serious reflection and editing to improve the clarity of the narrative arc.

After seeing many people feel the same about this book, I hope Li onboards the feedback and applies it successfully. I would love to read this book again after it's officially published to see the changes, and hopefully, be less confused the second read around.

Firstly this was a DNF at 30%.

Secondly, thank you for the ARC.

Chrysalis and requiem is a difficult read in the way its a bit raw and jumbled right now. I love the idea but the execution just wasn't working for me. the world building was poor and there was little explanation of the magic system.

on a positive note, I did feel this was inclusive and did not feel forced. will try and finish this but its become a drag for me

This was a hard book for me to get through. Legitimately. I think the verbiage was just so thick it was hard for me to grasp a scene, to understand what was being painted before my eyes. You get thrown into the story with absolutely no explanation as to what's happening, how we got here, and the main events that were to unfold. It's fairly unclear what the plot is, and even 5 chapters in I was still finding myself absolutely baffled and not understanding why things were unfolding the way they were. Things seemed jumbled and placed together in a weird way, and the chapters that followed did nothing to put together the pieces into one cohesive puzzle. I really was looking forward to this book, but it was very hard for my mind to understand. It's not to say this book was bad, just confusing to me specifically.

Chrysalis and Requiem made me go through quite an array of emotions, but unfortunately, not all of them were very positive. I still struggle to comprehensively summarize my thoughts on this book, so I will just write about what I liked about this book and what I didn't.

To rip off the bandaid, let's start with the parts that I didn't enjoy:

The first chapter alone was incredibly confusing for me. I was desperately trying to understand what was happening in the plot while also trying to wrap my mind around the little worldbuilding that was being explained to me. In general, it felt like the worldbuilding was made up in one setting and then slapped into the book to make it more interesting, but the book would've probably worked better without it. The writing felt very hectic to me (which I will get back to later), and I couldn't really pay attention or follow the train of thoughts that Veaer had. I couldn't really grasp who the characters were even as the chapters went on. They weren't tangible for me, which also meant I couldn't enjoy the romance subplot because I didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters... did they even have personalities?

Now, onto the things I did like or can at least appreciate:

This book is a horror/thriller book about obsession and grief, which means the whole point is that ... things go off the rails. I love the story's premise and the whole idea behind it. And for a book about obsession, the hectic writing I mentioned fits absolutely perfectly. I did not feel sane at all while reading, I felt like I was positively losing my mind most of the time. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I don't want to go into detail about the plot points I enjoyed, but I can definitely say I enjoyed the last half much better than the first - mainly because I accepted that I would just not understand what was going on.

Overall, the book just wasn't for me because even though the premise sounded fun, I didn't like how it was executed.

*I received an arc from Netgalley and Victory Editing in exchange for an honest review.*

I didn't really enjoy this. It was a bit too complicated for me and I was really hoping for more.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
I received arc thanks to Netgallery (dnf 18%)

I wasn't able to enjoy it, even though i tried.

The writing style is uneven and overwhelming.

For example whole 1st chapter is unreadable because there is to much informations and weirdly used words that it was really hard to stayed focused. I'm level B2 in eng even though it's not my native language, but lots of those words are used so badly that it didn't make sense to me. In other words It feels like raw not as finished book.

There is also this weird use of flash backs.

Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF'd at 10%

I am truly sorry I could not finish this, but I refuse to feel like I am suffering. I wanted to support this indie author, but I didn't like this. Granted, there could be an improvement to my criticisms if I kept going, so take this DNF review with a grain of salt.

I did not understand Veaer's obsession with Elise. I don't get the appeal. Nothing about her obsession was interesting enough to continue further and find out. I was easily bored. Also, I am not sure if I needed to read Li's debut novel, Tell Me How It Ends, before this because I did not understand the world at all. I think I came across one of the author's Instagram posts saying something about this book was set in the same world as their debut novel. There was not enough explanation for a reader who had never read the debut novel to understand the world.

Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me. Might check it out again when I read their debut.

Chrysalis and Requiem by Quinton Li follows Veaer, a scholarship student at a prestigious boarding college who is planning on breezing through her last year to secure her place at a good university. While following the schools resident "princess" after hours, Veaer witnesses a horrific murder and is thrown into a mystery of angels, rituals and power. It is described as a dark academia, new adult thriller and while I want to love everything this book has to offer, I really had to force myself through the majority of the text.

The criteria this book meets to be considered dark academia is essentially "bad stuff happens on school grounds" with some additional class divide mentioned in pieces throughout. I have very little idea what the world even looks like beyond the school, with magic broadly explained over a few sentences early on, the world building leaves little to be desired.

I can appreciate the authors inclusivity of queer representation, of which identities don't feel forced or "tokenised", but the characters lack development to have let me form any kind of attachment to them. There are some really lovely bits of purple prose throughout the book, but no effort to connect the characters to the actions or feelings playing out on paper. Even as the action picked up in the last 20%, I really could not tell you why anyone was involved or even how it was explained within the books fictional universe. I have no understanding of why our main character has such an obsession with our love interest, nor do I particularly like the characters. Veaer's almost stalking felt more like a plot device to start the story and to keep our MC in places and situations that make no sense whatsoever.

While the premise and how angels were utilised in the narrative was so interesting, I just would have loved to see our love interests fall for each other over the course of the mystery, as opposed to what felt like empty declarations and an obsessive MC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC I received of Chrysalis and Requiem in exchange for an review.

1.0 star.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley CO-OP for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one really hurt. I was so stoked to hear about this book and its premise. Unfortunately, it was just so hard to get through. The writing was hard to follow, even after picking it up multiple times. I truly didn't care about the characters. I just ended up annoyed and wasted time.

Chrysalis & Requiem || Quinton Li
★★★★★
TW: ALCOHOL & DRUG USE, DEATH, ABUSE (EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL), VIOLENCE & GORE, DEATH (MURDER), TRAUMATIC EVENTS, SELF-HARM & SUICIDAL IDEATION

Good News: We are starting off the year with a 5 star read!
Bad News: I am going to be sick

I'm trying so hard to explain the absolute roller coaster that this book took me on, but I don't think I can. I think the closest imma get is:

[on my website, there is an image of discord messages here. I will type what they say]
i'm trying to gather my thoughts for a review right now and i just
my thoughts are
beginning: teeheehee funny murder mystery with MATH? rood
middle: oh oh OH I FUCKING KNEW IT
end: [these are emojis] :bigscream: :horrifiedscream: :sickwtf:

I guess, I should start from the beginning. This is an ARC!! I am on Quinn's ARC team (and hopefully eventually street team if I can spare the time) and I got this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

Because the book doesn't release until March, I will be keeping this spoiler free. Sad for me, as you guys know I love giving the full run down on the book.

When I started this book, I was a wee small child (i started it yesterday). I didn't know what the universe would hold for me, I didn't know the emotional turmoil I would be put through.

The beginning was a bit hard to get into, as most books are for me these days. I'm incredibly sick at the moment and I just graduated from college last month, any story where I have to learn new things is hard. And you do have to learn new things for this book, I mean it is a fantasy novel.

But once I hit like 20% I was hooked. I stopped reading for the night at 24% and thought that I would be able to meter out my consumption (wrong) only to wake up this morning and blast all the way through to the end.

I am a huge murder mystery person, and when I started this book I thought that might be a detriment. But I can assure you, it isn't. You think that because you saw the murder that you know what's going on. You don't. At all.

I had my theories, about halfway through I had my theories. The group chat will probably never forgive me for reciting the "I've connected two dots" scene from Unsolved but I mean, I'm not the only person reading the book in that chat so I couldn't tell them what my theory actually was because they aren't to that point yet!

Then I hit 60%. And I really started to struggle. This is my fault, the content warnings at the beginning of the book say "This book contains references and themes to alcohol/drug use" and I guess I just didn't realize that meant we would see the POV character being out of her mind drunk for an extended period of time. As someone who really struggles to be around alcohol due to my past, this was nearly enough for me to put the book down. But I'm glad I didn't

Because then, at 72% in:

[more mesages]
72%
1. my theory was right
2. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
3. I FUCKING KNEW IT
4. my theory was at least partially right

And again, not too long after:

[and more messages]
:bigscream:
:horrifiedscream:
i'm tired of this [redacted]
andi SCREM — Today at 6:16 PM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa
THE SECOND HALF OF MY THEORY WAS RIGHT

Until finally:

[more discord messages]
omg this book is gonna make me sick (/pos)
i'm so upset right now
i'm crying
(91%)

And honestly, I don't think I can explain anything better than this. I highly recommend this book for y'all, but
please please please be mindful of the content warnings. Actually, imma put them here too

This book contains references and themes to alcohol/drug use, blood, confrontation to 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.

now for the part some of you are waiting for: some of my favorite quotes!

- Thorns falling away, petals outstretched, bleeding red onto white roses—revelation would be hers and hers only.
- We leave behind love when we die.
- Beautiful, beautiful, so beautiful. They would be beautiful together.
- Girls like you have secrets. I'm going to peel you apart and reveal every part of you. I will consume you.
- To create is to be alive.

and then this one, an epigraph for part four of the book:

Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.
— Homer, The Iliad

Y'all know I'm a sucker for a good Iliad reference and this one. This one wrecked me. I sure wrote a lot for someone at a loss of words, so I'm going to end this here and go curl in a ball and cry and try not to throw up. I am sick and this book is to blame.

Thank you Quinn, truly. I'm so fucking disgusted I love this book so much

(3.5 stars, rounded up)

This book was such an interesting experience. I honestly don’t know how to describe it very well, but I’ll try and start with the good things.

The writing style of this book was so detailed and intricate, and at times it was incredibly gorgeous and poetic. Mostly, I loved it. Sometimes, however, it was a bit much. It got very hard to understand what was actually happening at some points in the story, and I found myself skimming quite a bit. The second half was definitely easier to read and understand than the first half.

Also, the characters’ personalities were… interesting? I really couldn’t get behind Veaer at all. She was so obsessed with Elise that it got annoying. Elise, on the other hand, was pretty well written, especially closer to the end of the book. Adair and Haiwrin were wonderful. Adair’s story might have been my favorite of all.


So overall, I did really enjoy this book. The angelic metaphor for transness was so so beautiful and almost made me cry. Mostly, it was just a beautiful experience to read this book. Sometimes, I felt like it was trying a bit too hard. But I can imagine it’s hard to find that perfect balance. I would recommend this book (with some clarifications of what to expect) but I doubt I’d read it again.