Wow, I LOVED this. This had excellent world building and magic systems, and I really felt attached to the characters. The plot was slower-paced with a lot of the focus being on the politics, magic, and world building of this universe. Karys and Ferain’s relationship devastated me (I love a slow burn).

The last couple chapters were super stressful and though I hate a cliffhanger-y ending, I can’t wait to read the next one.

Asunder by Kerstin Hall was definitely one of my favorite reads of the year so far. Wow. This was so good. It was so compelling, I couldn't put it down. The writing was fantastic and I loved the characters. I will definitely not be shutting up about this book any time soon.

This was a solid read and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I never fully engaged with the character; she just felt a bit young despite all her apparent lived experience. I did like the premise and the world/setting, and the action kept everything moved at a decent pace. I hated the ending though — it just didn’t feel like the type of book that needed a cliffhanger.

3.5 stars, with thanks to NetGalley for the free e-ARC. My opinions are my own.

This was...very long. That's really my main impression of it. The writing is okay, the plot is interesting(ish?), and the characters are just fine. It started out super promising, and I liked the idea of this person being stuck inside someone else's body, but that potential never really went anywhere. The novel's plot just meanders, with seemingly no purpose or endpoint, and the ending was very disappointing and underwhelming given how long the novel was.

I desperately hope that we get another book in this world from Hall. A direct sequel, a spin off, a bunch of short stories, a one woman show on Broadway that is then published as a play, I don't care what form it takes I WANT MORE.

This is by far one of the most inventive, gut-wrenching, and compelling fantasies I have ever read. There is no hand holding, you are thrown into this strange world with eldritch creatures and strange magic. I have never felt such empathy for a main character before while reading, I cried, feeling Karys's emotions as my own as she went on this difficult journey. The cast of characters is fantastic, from the friends to the enemies Karys meets along the way. The book is fast-paced and deeply immersive. I could not pull myself away from this book.

you've heard of only one bed but may i suggest only one head??? forced proximity but may i offer you LIs sharing a body and needing to get split up before they both die??

dark adventure fantasy with a tender heart that brings you through fantastical place after place with an almost ghibli-esque wonder and imagination, while never losing its characters or kirsten hall's other trademark of super concerning demons and doses of body horror. this is an excellent loner-reluctantly-gains-band-of-allies-and-learns-to-trust fantasy; it's learning to open a walled-off heart and want to live and live with someone; it's got scholars with magical workings, demented sea slug gods and places and creatures i'd love to visit; it crosses personal stakes with a vast world so wonderfully and the ending DEVASTATED me.

i would kill to see this as an animated series. i would also kill for the sequel.

There is no doubt in my mind that Kerstin Hall is one of the great imaginative minds writing fantasy today—Asunder is a masterful novel, one that is both intimately character-focused and layered with intrigue, eldritch horrors, and high-octane action. It is immersive, inventive, and intensely unputdownable. I was spellbound from the first pages.