“Until We Shatter” is a ya fantasy standalone written by Kate Dylan. A book full of action, deceptions, lies, secrets, alliances and betrayals, which revolves around a highly risky heist and a group of thieves who are as skilled as they are misfits. A quick, gripping and engaging novel that kept me glued to the pages and highly satisfied!

The story takes place in a world in which the population is divided between the Shades, those who possess magic, and the typics, those who do not. In terms of politics, beliefs and rules, the society has two factions: the Council of Shades, which represents the wielders of magic, and the Church, which considers magic evil and as such to be eliminated. And then there are the Hues, or half Shades, born from the union of Shades and typics and considered a threat to be destroyed or punished by both sides. The Hues possess only half the magic of the Shades and require additional efforts to gain access to the Gray, a kind of incorporeal magical dimension of the real world, where the Shades dwell. A general situation difficult, tense, which is on the verge of erupting in the city of Isitar, where events are focused. What can I say? I found it an extensive, complex and super fascinating world building, delineated with great care and attention. The book provides numerous explanations, especially in the first part, which sometimes risk slowing down the narrative, but in my opinion are necessary to better understand the context. The concept of the Gray intrigued me a lot, as did that of the In-Betweens and the correlation between types of magic and colors. I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I don't often read standalone fantasy books with such a structured and solid world building. Seriously, I can't express anything but kudos!

The story proceeds quickly, alternating between more eventful scenes and quieter ones, with a stimulating pace that kept me glued to the pages. The narration convinced and satisfied me from beginning to end, although I admit that I guessed the various plot twists in advance.

I loved Cemmy, the protagonist with her only first person pov! Cemmy is a Hues, who became a thief to help her gravely ill mother. Extremely skilled at what she does, she lost some of her grit following a particularly traumatic experience. Cemmy is a complex, troubled girl, willing to do anything to help those she cares about. Determined, courageous and sarcastic, she harbors deep sorrows, doubts and fears, which she allows herself to release only when she is alone. During the reading I found myself rooting for her, suffering for her situation, and wanting to hug her! I also enjoyed the secondary characters, the other members of Cemmy's gang, with whom she has a wonderful relationship. I loved the queer representation in this novel, the disability representation (one of the characters is deaf) and the wonderful found family that is developed. However, my heart goes out to Chase, a super complicated character who completely won me over!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book was a miss for me. It had a lot of promise and some of the writing was really enjoyable, but I felt on the most part like I was being told more than shown what was going on within the story. There was a ton of world building, BUT I do believe that this book will find its audience and it was just not meant for me. There was a lot of representation that I think should be celebrated, hence the three stars instead of less.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I loved Mind Breaker and Mind Walker, so when I saw the author had a new book out I jumped at the chance to read it. I loved it!! This magic filled heist story is set in a sort of apocalyptic fictional historical setting, with a backdrop of rebellion against the corrupt Church and ineffectual Council of Shades. The world and magic system are well conceived, though it took me some time to completely grasp. The main characters are majorly flawed by their past and personal circumstances. Lots of humour in exchanges of banter. There are also a number of romance stories between the characters. Summing up - highly entertaining, as I’ve come to expect from Kate Dylan. Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I enjoyed this! Thank you for the ARC.

Overall, this was a fascinating book. The magic system was complex and did some time to understand, but the overall story had some great plot points/twists.

The FMC was definitely interesting, and I appreciated that all the characters felt pretty believable in their actions and emotions.

Will be recommending for sure!

This was an amazing book!
The world and magic system Kate Dylan built was so unique! I have to confess that it took me a while to truly understand the gray and the in-betweens. But once I did, boy, I was in for a ride!
The writing flows, the characters hook you from the very beginning, and the heist, the betrayals, the secrets... it had me on my toes and I just couldn't wait to finish this book.
I loved it!

"But didn't anyone ever tell you? We're always in between something".

Couple of editing issues chapter 24 and on page 304 it says "saym", just wanted to bring to your attention


Overall I really enjoyed this story, the magic system is new and exciting with twists to keep you on your toes. The main character Cemmy is sometimes so relatable it hurts with complex relationships that strain against one another.

At its core this book is about a hiest the crew is first and foremost blackmailed into, until they realise not going through with it will also kill them. The ending twists were carefully built up to with this crew stuck in between the warring bodies of the Church and the Council (full of Shades who have full magic).

The magic system is fresh, the idea of Shades and Hues is very interesting and though it took a while to grasp what the different colours meant it was very compelling and made the plot all the more intresting.

I don't think I have ever enjoyed side characters so much since Six of Crows. I especially loved the representation of a deaf character. Each member of the crew are equally distinguishable from one another, with a different and intresting Hue ability that makes them incredibly engaging.

In a world where colors are power and shadows are deadly, Kate Dylan created a world full of spellbinding characters and adventure. This was such a fun read! It's been so long since I've read a YA adventure book and Kate Dylan did not disappoint. This book was so well written and the world this author created was so colorful (literally) and vibrant. If this book were a thousand pages long I would still read it, which I believe would have made this story even better. I think there's so much areas of this book to explore and can be expanded on.

Cemmy, a "desperate thief," and her misfit friends are being threatened to use their gifts to pull off an impossible heist while trying to navigate the shadow realm and survive. This adventure is full of blackmail, betrayal, and many twists and turns that are somewhat predictable, but is very well executed. While Cemmy works side by side with Chase, he challenges her to face her biggest fears and helps her overcome them. In the midst of an already stressful predicament, Cemmy also has to work through putting her trust in this new comer and risk her relationship with her friends.

I would have liked to read more about the bonds and the relationship between Cemmy and her friends. I felt like there wasn't enough time spent getting to know her friends and their stories. Cemmy talked a lot about how her friends were like her family, but it wasn't shown. From the beginning, there was already a rift in their friendship and Cemmy was already so distant and we don't get to know why until half way through the book, but instead of confiding in her friends she confesses her secrets to Chase in an effort to gain his trust.

I believe this is going to be the next best YA fantasy book because of the author's creativity building a world full of magic you can escape to. There's so much potential and so much to explore in this world that it could be a whole series. And if this were to become a series, I will definitely be reading every single book!

This book had everything. Colour magic, messy romance and high stakes drama.
The whole way though this I was warned time and time again that there were messy girls and boys who lie and not once did I remember to heed the warning. Some of the chapters hurt so good and had me audibly gasping to myself and having to frantically reread parts.
The pacing was really good. It was fast paced and gripping that kept me in the loop with all the actions happening on a tight deadline.
The connections between characters were all palpable and I enjoyed as snippets revealed more about them along the way.
I enjoyed the immersion in the world and everything was wrapped up nicely I just wished there had been a little more.
Overall a great world and an amazing magic concept. I would love to read more.
Favourite Quote - "No one is going to shatter. I promise."
Favourite Character - Cemmy

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

The first thing I'll say about Until We Shatter is that it has an incredibly cinematic, visual sensibility. It flows between two dimensions - one of colour (the world typics/non-magic users are most at home in), the other monochrome, built of shadows, and liable to shatter you to pieces if you outstay your welcome.

The magic system itself is based around different shades of colour, with half-Shades known more commonly as 'Hues'. They have been hunted to near extinction because full Shades believe they steal magic from their shadow dimension and, naturally, those that covet power don't like it when such power is t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶n̶e̶d̶ shared. It takes a hot minute to learn about what the different colours and hues mean in terms of magic variation, but once it clicked I thought it was a well-realised and inventive take. I was reading on kindle, but a colour-magic glossary in the front would be a win.

The author has described Until We Shatter as a 'witchy heist' narrative, but witches for me summon up notions of the eldritch and gothic (though I suppose cosy potion brewing is also A THING). This feels must more contemporary (though still in a classic fantasy world devoid of technology and all that jazz). It would make an awesome graphic novel or animation. But don't go into this thinking it's about witches in the classic sense. It's not. Though I suppose you still have persecution, forbidden magic and 'hunts' abounding - and bigots within religious groups that fear that which they don't understand - so parallels could be made to the old witch trials. Anyway, I digress.

If we're talking tropes, it's all about heisting, found-family and forced proximity. All comfortably YA. No spice. Not all that much romance, generally, to be honest. Unless manipulative flirting counts? We must seduce the enemy!

I did slightly struggle with how the big reveals played out. When we're experiencing everything from a first-person perspective, when breadcrumbs become plot-twists that catch you by surprise, there's nothing better. You're right there piecing everything together with your protagonist. Here, however, those breadcrumbs were entire loaves of sourdough. So when the protagonist failed to notice them, you couldn't help but think they're a bit of an idiot. The plot-twists weren't twisting. It meant I was in a near-constant state of despair over the FMC's lack of critical thinking skills. She's pretty chaotic as far as main characters go... but they're often a lot more fun to hang with.

Overall, this was an enticing YA adventure, and the author wasn't afraid to take risks, create rifts and deconstruct found-family dynamics. The visual realisation is by far the standout aspect for me, and I enjoyed how casually queer a lot of the characters were.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The entire book serves a very interesting plot which is why I was wanting to read this in the first place. It’s giving Six of Crows vibes in a way with its magical heist, found family and romance combined.

Cemmy, our main female character, is a hue, (a half blood within her magic system) and she begins stealing in order to help her mother who is ill after the loss of her father. Because of her ability as a Bronze, she is able to steal with much more talent. She is trying to keep her existence away from the Isitar’s Church who believe that hue’s, those with diluted power should not exist. However, Cemmy and her friends, all of which have different variations of magic, are forced into a heist in order to save those with diluted power from those wanting to destroy them.

This story is generally good. The magical systems are unique and the founding family element was written really well. The romance itself between Cemmy and Chase was kept minimal in comparison to what I expected, but I liked the slow burn and the enemies to lovers that is occurring throughout. I do wish there was a little more because I really wanted much more tension between them. The twists and turns allow you to be kept on your toes because something is always happening and I do like the writing style of the book.

However, the magical systems were quite confusing and there is a lot to remember, particularly with all the shades of magic that are presented, who hates who and who supports their cause etc. I don’t think I could remember the shades and their abilities off the top of my head which is a fundamental element to the storyline and even the characters in what they are capable of. With that being said, a lot of thought went into the development of the entire world building and systems introduced.

The characters are imperfectly great. Each character has their reasons to survive, traumas, to be the way they are with their own complexities and I think the founding family and the connections between the characters is what makes this story shine the most. There is also representation with bisexuality and disability (a deaf character who uses sign language to communicate) which is something I have not read about before so absolute props to Kate for some diversity in the characters.

Overall, I didn’t *love* the story the way I thought I would but I did enjoy it in parts. I feel if there was to be a next book in the series, I would 100% read it because I feel this world can be explored so much more than what it has and I really want to grasp at it so my confusion is sorted out. It’s fun, full of action and relatively fast paced with a dash of romance here and there.

I've read a few new release YA heist stories this year, and I'm happy to report that this one is so far my favourite!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In the world of 'Until We Shatter', some are born with magic. There are seven types of magic, each name after a colour and their holders collectively known as 'Shades'. Shades are capable of entering another world, a shadow of the real-world known as the Grey, where they can travel undetected by those outside. Those born between the forbidden union of Shades and typical people are known as 'Hues', and have a diluted form of magic that manifests in a single magical ability based on the Shade parent's colour. Hues can also only spend limited time in the Grey, and they do so at the risk of being 'shattered' by the shadows that rebel against their non-magical blood.

Our hero is Cemmy, a Hue with the ability to affect things in the real-world from within the Grey. With an ailing mother and little money, Cemmy uses her ability to steal and keep them afloat. On her latest ill-timed lift, Cemmy is captured by a Shade who blackmails her and some of her other Hue friends into joining a high-risk heist against the Church - the very group intent on removing all Hues from the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed the interesting magic system in this book. It was a little difficult to get my head around first, but after sticking through the first few confusing chapters I quickly got a grip on how things worked. The main drawback for me personally was how frequently certain things were repeated. Because at least one past event was mentioned so many times, it essentially spoiled one of the main plot twists as it was really hammered down in a way that felt like "you better remember this! It might be important later" and resulted in the big reveal becoming easily predictable.

However, with an interesting magic system, a fun heist plot and diverse cast I think I could definitely see this becoming a new favourite for readers in the YA genre. As someone *cough* slightly outside of this target audience, I still had a lot of fun reading this and will continue with any sequels.

Took me a week to read this gripping story, the start was slow but it built up quickly! I love the character build and storyline all together!

The ending has me in tears still! It was amazing!

Until We Shatter is an enjoyable, fairly typical YA fantasy.

there was a lot to like about this - specifically, the magic system. it's been a while since i've read of such a unique, particular magic system. Kate Dylan meticulously lays out the rules of the world, and it's evident that a lot of care went into developing it. even though certain elements - like the In-Between / how Cemmy 'anchors' - were complicated, the author's writing simplifies things majorly & brings the reader completely into the world. the book moves at a (mostly) fast pace, is filled with action, and has a cast of entertaining (but typical) characters. i enjoyed Dylan's precise descriptions and refreshingly snappy dialogue - Until We Shatter is a very assured novel, and Kate Dylan knows exactly what she's going for. Cemmy is a pretty conventional YA heroine, but she feels thought-through and it's very easy to empathize with her, even when she does something stupid. i really enjoyed the scenes between Cemmy and Chase - their chemistry was excellent.

as with YA, however, there is a certain superficiality to some of this book. Dylan focuses the most on Cemmy, and i came away feeling like i know very little about the other characters. by extension, i don't care much for them either. they all feel archetypal, and not as complex as Cemmy herself. Until We Shatter tends to give most of its page-time to fleshing out the world & the romance, and much less to defining its characters and their relationships. there are also portions where it feels like the book is doing too much, and the middle ends up dragging a little bit. this is where the book didn't fully work for me, and i wish the author had started the heist slightly earlier in the novel.

overall, though, i do think that a lot of my reservations come from the fact that i've outgrown this kind of YA fantasy and not through any real fault of the book itself. this is evidently written to be part of a very specific genre. i settled at three stars - but i think this would be a great read for someone younger, just getting into the genre, who is looking to explore books that tackle magic / fantasy in a way that is a little bit more outside the box.

thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

Until we shatter is about a young woman, Cemmy who’s life has been in danger from the moment she was borned because she is a half blood. Her mother has been on the run since her father was killed to teach her mother a lesson. When her mother gets sick, Cemmy knows that she most find a job to save her mother, while risking to get exposed and even killed.

This book is full of action, fantasy, magic and romance with enough danger to keep you reading.

At the beginning of the book, in a foreword, the author tells us she hopes we will forgive her, and for the life of me, I was sure I would never forgive her. But well, at the end turns out I don't hate her that much any more and forgiveness is growing in my heart. 

I absolutely loved this book, while the notion of the heist is not new, the magic system and the in between were interesting and original, and have me absolutely obsessed. The found family trope is one of my favourites and is perfectly done. The characters are real and flawed, their mistakes, lies and betrayals not only serve the plot, but make sense, they are realistic mistakes that match each personality and growth. 
The writing is fabulous, flows in a way that has you turning pages so fast you don't even realise, and there you are halfway through the book in blink. 
The world building is rich, well explained and not heavy. Things are easy to remember and understand.

The stakes are high in this book, the characters likeable and real, the world building and magic system fantastic, with found family, and LGBTQ+ main character. If you like books like six of crows and a tempest of tea, I am pretty sure you will love this one even more.

This an absolute fantasy you expect it to be. And the fact it's about a new faction named shade , mostly it's vampire, fae, werewolves etc but shades are new which makes it even more intriguing.

The characters in the story are really fascinating belonging to various shades as in colors which comes along with different abilities linked with their shade. Green, orange, yellow, violet, blue, red,indigo are pure blooded and are considered most powerful among all the shades and half blooded are mixed and create shades like bronze , gold, amethyst, sapphire etc they are known as hue and as they are mix blooded they should remain hidden as if they are discovered by the government they would be faced with cruel death.

The thrill you feel the entire book that you couldn't guess the next chapter because something unexpected might happen is what makes you stick to the book and binge read it.

It's more of an adventure than romance.

There are a lot of occasions for empathy like killed parents, abandonment, threatening life so they would obey you , mention of losing someone, it's all there and the book it's not the kind that is full of banter.

The story follows their adventure to glow up and find the way to stay alive in different circumstances as yes being a hue has its disadvantages like the efforts shall be triple but the result won't be enough.

Camilla isn't some heroine who suddenly had a glow up and level up her character and chase isn't someone to shy away from his purpose, it tends to make it more real than romance genre.

Overall It's a really good story and i absolutely loved it but I gave spice 2 cause i don't need it at all, I could go with the whole story without even romance. Even though it has romance but I still would have loved it even if it didn't had any.

It's definitely a must read book💒

The magic system was super interesting and unique. It was a highlight for me in this story. I liked all the characters and their development was done well. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read an early copy.

What did I like about Until We Shatter? The biggest selling point for me was the very unique magic system. It stands out from every other magic system I've read. Magic is divided into seven colors, and every full-blooded magic user (shade) has one of them. The children of a magic user and a non-magic, like our main character, Cemmy, are called hues, and they have unique dilutions of that color. Another thing that I enjoyed was that I was actually surprised by several of the book's twists and appreciated that I could look back and see that they were hinted at subtly. I also enjoyed the main character, Cemmy, 's budding relationship with Chase; it felt like an obvious direction to take the story, but obvious in a way that made it easy to root for.

What didn't I love? The book's premise is a heist, and while that is true, it isn't the story's primary focus. More focus is spent on the main character working through (or not rather) her trust issues and learning about her magic. The problem with that heavy focus was that other relationships besides Cemmy and Chase felt like afterthoughts. Instead of getting found family vibes, I felt like it worked in the opposite way, wherein the beginning of the book told me, rather than showing how close she and her friends all were, "like family!!!" but as the book progressed, I was less and less convinced of that.

While I thought the magic system itself was unique and exciting, the color naming system for explaining magic, as well as some of the terminology "shattering," "shades," and "and hues," all felt very immature. The story suffers from complex political and religious tensions that are not fully realized or explained, resulting in a unique premise that unfortunately fell flat for me and made it hard to buy into the world.

Bottom line: I enjoyed parts of the book, but as a whole, it could have been longer with more world-building. The characters and relationships felt underdeveloped to me. That said, I think it will find its audience, and it kept me interested enough that I thought it was worth the read.

Who's it for? If you're looking for a Young Adult book with a really unique magic system, this may be for you. However, if you're easily frustrated with incomplete world-building or adolescent characters, I would skip it, as these characters are 19-year-olds who deal heavily with themes of jealousy and trust.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for the eARC; all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an early e-copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book! I loved the world-building and the magic system. The found shades and hues abilities and limitations very interesting. The concept of the Gray and the in-betweens were a little confusing at first, but once I got into the book I picked it up pretty quickly.
I loved the eclectic cast of characters. Cemmy is a wonderfully complex main character. I love how her, Cassiel and their group of friends are morally-grey but still relatable and easy to root for. The heist plot was very fun.
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read more from this author :)

What a great book and what a great plot! I loved the idea of the protagonist being „forced“ into becoming a thief, because of her mothers illness.
I loved reading this book, feeling like I‘m a part of it and just enjoying.