Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for accepting my request to read and review this one early!

Honestly I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this, a sci fi but six of crows / darker shade of magic vibes? Sign me up!

Let me start by saying I did enjoy this book, and I’m nit writing a whole bunch of negatives in order to say I rated it low, I actually rate it a 3.5 out of 5 which is a fairly decent rating in my opinion.

Okay so my thoughts:

1. I wasn’t fully connected to the characters of the book. To some degree they all felt one dimensional, and while it made the book likely easier to read, it meant I wasn’t exactly emotionally attached or on the edge of my seat. I just felt like the protagonist Cemmy wasn’t relatable, and her decisions were not ones I would make.
2. I felt like the book was too short. I’m never usually someone to say this but I did feel like elements of this were ultimately rushed.
3. I wasn’t a fan of the magic system of this world, in fact I just struggled to understand it at all to be honest. There was definitely a fair bit of info dumping.

Comparing your book to six of crows and a darker shade of magic does lend itself to assuming greatness.

I did however, really enjoy the authors writing. And for the alone I will definitely be adding this author to my future “keep an eye out” list!

My expectations for YA are definitely higher these days especially due to having mostly grown out of it, but I will say that a lot of the rings I had an issue with I think could be solved with an edit through and some extra passages and detail. Overall I did have a good time.

*Actual rating is 4.5 stars*

Until We Shatter is a standalone fantasy featuring a magical heist and an interesting magic system. Set in a world split between magic users called shades and anti-magic normals, the inbetweeners - called hues - belong to neither faction. Cemmy is a hue, who becomes part of a heist to retrieve a powerful magical relic from the most secure non-magic place in the entire city. With a sick mom she has no choice, but with fellow hue Chase around the job has its perks.

The magic system is based on colours, and a person's colours determine their magical abilities. Since the hues are half magic and half normal, their magic has a connection to its parent colour. It’s a really interesting magic system of abilities and skills that you have to read yourself to fully understand. But one thing I’m gonna say about it, is that it puts a heavy emphasis on in-betweens. It’s a cool magic system, and I wish there were a few more pages to fully explore it.

When it comes to the characters, they’re the embodiment of the found family trope. First you have Cemmy, a very skilled thief who’s determined, sarcastic and caring but is hindered by her own doubt and fears to reach her full potential. She’s the kind of character you can’t help but root for, even if she came across as a bit shallow at times. Her little gang of misfits are wonderful, and includes both queer and disability representation. I honestly wish that we could have seen more of them, as I would love to see the friend group become more fleshed out. The one character besides Cemmy who is fleshed out is the love interest Chase. He’s a complex character, and there were times where I wished we could have gotten a couple chapters from his POV just to get an idea of his actions and thoughts.

I really enjoyed the book, even with its flaws. But I think the book could have benefitted from being longer. As a standalone, there’s only just so much you can cram into 320 pages.

I received an E-ARC thank to NetGalley and Hodderscape, this book was such an entertaining read, the story felt refreshing as I never read or seen a world with magic based of colors I really enjoy the magic system and the plot was really interesting mostly towards the end every plot twist had me broken, sad, and the end personally left me fulfilled as I’ve read that a person who truly love you love you for who you are including imperfections and the fact that both characters are able to acknowledge it and still decide to have happiness made me feel warm, the fact that both were victims of corrupt system both working to help each other while sabotaging each other this story really had me hooked. I would recommend this book!

“When power is afraid, you can always trust it to make the most morally bankrupt choice.”

“I am the violence the world made of me.”

Dylan has moved out of YA sci-fi into fantasy! There are similar ingredients that previous fans will already know and love: unlikely team ups; grey morality; challenging the system, and non-stop action. But this time Dylan’s built and set it all up in a brand-new world, complete with power hierarchy and colour-based magic system, in a compact 300 page novel. No mean feat, and it is at times tricky for the reader to get to grips with the details of what Colour can do what, but it pays off providing you can remember. It doesn’t necessarily have the extra complexity and political depth or length that you might expect of an adult novel so still feels YA to me, but there are some fun twists and turns. Dylan manages to cram a fair bit of character development into not a lot of space (although I would’ve loved more expansion on the rest of the cast!) and I will basically always love a heist story, so this was very enjoyable for me.

This book had a rough start for me. To be fair, I think in part I struggled with the pdf arc where I couldn't adjust the font size. On my tablet, the size and formatting was horrible and it took the first 100 pages or so to get used to it. I'm sure it'll be better in print as royal hardbacks are larger than my tablet.

Anyway, this book has a fast start, right into the action, and keeps up that fast pace throughout the book. This did mean the book doesn't take a lot of time explaining things, which meant most magic was introduced in the middle of the action, and in the beginning I struggled with all the colors, understanding the concept of the gray and especially what an In-Between was.

I really appreciated the training scenes a little later on, and from that point on I had a good grasp of what was going on and how everything worked, and from what point I really started enjoying the book.
Difficult as the magic system was at first, I do think it's really creative. Perhaps a bit much for a short, action packed book, but I did end up enjoying it.

The world building excelled in the magic system, the rest of it was minimal. An important adversary of the MC's is the Church, who believe magic is bad and must be purged, but beyond that I couldn't tell you what the Church believes in. Other states beyond the main city are mentioned, but we don't know much. I don't think it needed much more worldbuilding than was present, bt I would have liked knowing a little more about the Church beliefs.

The plot was the strongest aspect of this book. Fast paced, action packed, and an interesting story with some twists I didn't see coming. Cemmy is a Hue, an illegal half Shade with less magic but unique abilities different from what full shades can do. She and her other Hue friends survive as thieves, but get roped into a big heist by Chase, another Hue who works for a not very trustworthy Shade. Cemmy and the friends are not so excited about this as they believe it's too dangerous, but have little choice but to go along, and for a long time Cemmy and Chase don't fully trust each other. I won't say much, but the lack of trust does have consequences and is a flaw for both these characters.

To clarify, because this book is tagged as lesbian, the MC is bi and one of her Hue friends is her ex girlfriend, but the main romance is between Cemmy and Chase (m/f). It's not super prominent, but if you're looking for a main sapphic romance, that's not in this book.

I liked the characters. They're not super developed, it's a plot book more than a character book, but I do think it's clear how Cemmy and Chase's flaws influence the story and I really liked learning the reason behind Chase's scheming and lies in the end.

I would recommend this mainly for the fast paced, action packed heist story and unique magic system. It's labelled as crossover YA/adult, I think, and I'd say this is accurate. The MC's are about 19. It's appropriate for a teen audience, but I think it's still suitable for a younger Adult audience.

Unfortunately, I DNF at 20%.

The magic system was a little over complicated and felt like homework. I kept forgetting what everything meant. Because of this, I reached for it less and less and of course because of this I would forget what everything meant every time I did try and read it again.

I'm sure this will absolutely find it's intended audience.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I truly liked the concept of this book.

The magic system was very interesting, but it did take me a while to get used to and understand it. I think it was a little too overcomplicated for a stand alone novel of this length. Though I did really enjoy learning more about the world and the magic together with the main character.

The entire cast of characters was great and I liked the dynamics between them, even though, besides the main character, they could have been developed a bit more to get to know them better and form a connection to them.
Saying this, the romance between the main character and the love interest was lacking some sort of chemistry for me, and I would have actually preferred one of the other characters to be the main love interest.
The struggles of the main character felt reasonable and I could totally understand her actions throughout this book.

I was intrigued by the plot itself. Especially towards the end, when everything started to gain speed, I couldn’t bring myself to put this book down. There also was a great plot twist that I didn’t see coming.

For me, I think it would have been a good choice to let the plot gain speed a little earlier and develop some of the characters further, instead of focusing on an overly complicated magic system.

In conclusion, this book was definitely worth a read, with an interesting magic system and likable characters, that both just lacked a little bit of development and foundation.
I will keep my eye out for forthcoming releases by this author :)

i had to dnf this very early on - there is so much infodumping going on that it's just very confusing. the world just doesn't make sense to me and i think it's pointless to read a fantasy book where i don't understand what's going on. this is really unfortunate as i loved six of crows and i hoped this would live up to it.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc

The prose was beautiful. However. The Magic system lost me. I never found myself becoming attached to the characters. And as someone who usually doesn’t inspect stories too deeply to find plot holes, there were quite a few.

2.5⭐️

If you like books that info dump for more than 10% of the beginning of the book & no real talked of the characters, then you will enjoy this book. Unfortunately for me, it left me bored & not engaged with the book. I need to have equal parts information & building the story to catch my attention. It just lacked depth & just felt like I was being told things instead of living in the story.

While there was a lot of information being thrown out, nothing really made sense. Which I’m sure some of it would have made sense if I didn’t decided to DNF the book. It just felt like the book was giving so much information about the magic that it could have used a dedicated magic chart. But from what I was seeing from others, there are a lot of plot holes.

In the defense of the book, maybe it was just not the right time for me to be reading it. So I may eventually give it another chance but nothing was pulling me in.

Thank you NetGalley & Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book review 📚
Until We Shatter by Kate Dylan
⭐⭐⭐

This is a tricky one. There were some aspects that were absolutely amazing and it really could amount to something. But there was just to much going on! Trying to enjoy a read should not be this complex.

I think the book would have been an easy 5 star if it wasn’t so “messy” and confusing. There is definitely the potential there but it requires some work going forward

Thanks so much for the arc!!!

I dont even know how to begin but it was such an epic journey. Kate really did a brilliant job with the world building and the twists and turns! I could not put it down .....

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc!

Ended up dnf'ing.

The lack of organization just threw me off and I didn't find myself connecting to the world, magic system, or characters.

I will try to look into the author's other work, since this is the first thing I read from them, but this just wasn't the book for me.

Hmm this didn't quite work for me. A quick read and I did enjoy the writing style, but I wouldn't liken it to Six of Crows. The magic system which was intriguing was also overly complex, not very well explained and full of holes. The fmc was irritating, selfish and self absorbed. The found fam didn't get enough detail or depth and these were the guys I was most interested in. The 'baddies' were pretty none existent which was weird. The heist was a small part of the story. Kind of feel like it needed to be longer, less of the fmc, more of everything else. And sapphic, I wish it had gone that route which felt more realistic and had so much more tension than the 'romance' did get.
I didn't hate it though and will definitely check out more from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley and Hodderscape for the arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

A queernormative cast of chaotic individuals all coming together to pull off a heist using their specific magical abilities. What could go wrong?

A group of magic-using individuals plan to pull off a heist in the midst of a city on the brink of collapse as ideologies clash and tensions rise between the Church and the Council of Isitar, the city in which the story takes place. Those that use magic (Shades) are outlawed in the Church districts, crime has arisen, and for Cem, our protagonist, there exists opportunities to make the money she needs from crime to support her ill mother. As a Hue, the child of a Shade and “regular” person, Cemmy’s existence puts her in danger. And when a job goes wrong and she’s captured by an antagonist looking to steal something valuable, Cem’s need for money and the threat to her and her friends’ lives drives her to accept.

This was an interesting premise, a complex world which felt believable and also was influenced by a topical and resonant class debate between full-blooded Shades and half-blooded Hues. The magic system felt fresh, something I’d not necessarily read about which is always a feat in fantasy! It was very complex at the beginning, and could have benefitted from a glossary to help readers get to grips with all the weaknesses and rules that were followed. However, I felt that the magic system itself had tangible risk, it was a dangerous and complex power not to be entered into or used lightly, which again gives the plot higher stakes, and lends an element of believability to the narrative. Too often protagonists and antagonists don’t have limitations on their reserves of magic, so it’s always good to see a system that has drawbacks, that can - and does - hurt those who use it. Plus, it’s refreshing to see an antagonist that does not have the power needed to accomplish the goal, which again makes the system more believable.

I felt that the characters were mostly fun, some more engaging than others. Chase specifically was a favourite of mine given his complexity! I enjoyed the dynamic that he brought in, and the way that you’re asking questions about his backstory and motives from the moment you meet him. I enjoyed the interactions between Cem and Chase. I felt that Cem was a good lead for this story, given the trauma that she’s carrying, the guilt of her involvement with a fatal accident that carries over to her use of magic and her day to day life, and the responsibility she feels to her mother and the weight that places on her, driving her forward into the dangerous plot presented to her. She’s complex and a bit chaotic, and I like that in my FMC! The queernormative aspect of this story also really drew me in. I do however find Cem a frustrating character perspective, limited as we are to first person, in that she makes a fair amount of wrong decisions - but given that this is YA, it adds to the tension! But she was a touch frustrating.

The rest of the characters, though fun, were mostly one dimensional for me. Each side character could have done with being fleshed out, as they lacked the true depth I usually adore in YA group dynamics.

A main drawback for me was the pacing - at about 30% through this narrative it felt like the story still hadn’t progressed anywhere - Cem and Chase were still training for the looming (very dangerous) heist that needed to be carried off. For me, though the lure of a heist plot is exciting and I was intrigued by the magic system, the pacing was enough to dissuade me from wanting to really continue. I enjoyed the introduction of new characters into this motley crew of shades and hues all working to pull off this impossible heist or else, but I didn’t feel particularly emotionally invested in whether or not they pulled it off.

The complexity of the worldbuilding was great, and immersive, but came at the expense of the pacing and for me, this time, even though I’m a long time lover of worldbuilding, that impacted the motivation to see this story through.

From a plot perspective, it also was a little frustrating that a lot of the obstacles that the characters came across originated from miscommunication. I’m not a huge fan of this trope, and to see it used so heavily, or perhaps a bit more commonly that other plot devices, turned me off a little. The plot twists also seemed to develop with little preamble, which left me feeling jarred rather than concerned over the stakes.

The writing style itself is great! Cem really comes through as a narrator, which helps the story flow considering she’s such a strong presence. But for me the over use of short one sentence lines to constantly “ham up” the impact negated that and ended up making the text try to read like every single thing and thought was important - which, of course, achieves the opposite effect.

Overall, an intriguing set up, an interesting set of characters and a lovely bit of angst to enjoy! The magic system for me was the most compelling aspect of this, and it reads as a fresh take on ‘talent-based’ and categorised power magic systems which is fun! I think a lot of readers looking for an enjoyable fantasy read with a fun narrator will enjoy this. I do think however, the comparison to Six of Crows could lead to some higher expectations.

Until We Shatter is a YA fantasy standalone

The world is divided between the Shades (those with magic) and the typics (those without)

The magic system is quite complex though and the book may benefit from a summary table to make it easier for readers.

I love Cemmy and her group! I love the plot twists that I didn't see coming!

I really enjoyed the writing style of the author!

Until We Shatter is an imaginative YA fantasy about a young woman trying to survive in a world where the shadows and the church are both bent on destroying her. Cemmy is just trying to support her ailing mother and protect her friends from danger when she's forced to participate in a seemingly impossible heist that could save her and all other half-magical Hues from annihilation.

Filled with twists and turns and overflowing with romantic tension, Until We Shatter is perfect for fans of fantasy heists, found family, closed-door romance, and queer normative worlds.

I honestly can't be mean about this, however much I'd like to because this book, in essence, is not that bad. It just lacks a bit of organising, actual sense, and, oh, a better main character. (I think this would've been better if sapphic, but that's only a personal preference).

First things first, the plot literally led nowhere. The characters themselves notice that nothing has changed at the end of their adventure. So, you saved the world only to go back to being the most hated shits on the continent??? I would call this book action packed, even though the actual heist took place in the last 80 pages. Basically, the characters did some random things, apparently helpful to their goal (or rather the villain's goal????) and argued. Or kissed, as kindly reminded quiet often by Cemmy. For all the church's might, these halflings with no real knowledge of strategy fooled them so fucking easily. They fooled everyone, after all. So fucking convenient. The whole book i was like: Where's this fucking Council you keep mentioning? Why don't they do anything. They didn't have a single appearance in the book, though they should've been the ones to act, not a band of inexperienced, actual reckless chikdren. Betrayals took place, to which I honestly did not see the fucking reason. The male love interest betrayed the group, then the villain, then the group, then the villain, and so on. It felt like a thing added only to be appealing for Booktok. Again, this started nowhere and ended nowhere.

As to the characters, I wanted to strangle Cemmy so bad. She was the shittiest, winning bitch I've ever read about. Thinking herself the it girl one moment and then the other going to cry on our love interest's (who's also a stranger and the one threatening their lives) shoulder about the guilt she feels after continuously fucking up. That was her whole dynamic. Fucking up and then bringing some smart idea to 'solve' the problem. There is nothing to her character. Absolutely nothing. What seems to baffle me is how she steals so fucking much and despite that, she's not able to pay for anything? Girl, either you're robbing the wrong people or your town is fucking poor. Don't even get me started on her mother. Such a pain in the ass. After your daughter takes care of all the bills (this is disputable) by stealing, of which you were aware, you dare confront her about it once you're better as if you're some righteous bitch. The male love interests had potential, but ended up being a confusing, typical fantasy guy. Nothing actually special. He wanted to appear so cool, changing sides like that. If we're to talk about the rest of them, there's literally nothing to say. They were filler characters with bland personalities we didn't even get to discover. Novi was the one to attempt something close to a nicely done character, reason why I'm glad she's got someone better than Cemmy.

I WOULD'VE BEEN SO HAPPY IF THIS WAS SAPPHIC!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA. THE CHEMISTRY WAS MAKING ME COMBUST AND YET SHE CHOSE THE BORING GUY.

Lastly, I would like to hand the award for the most confusing and senseless plot to this book. The magic was, safe to say, a huge mess. The actual full-bloods seemed to be weaker than the halflings and the whole system was a mess I barely got the hang of. You could say the same thing about every part of this book. It feels like an overthinker spilled their thoughts on paper. Instead of being a balanced book, there always seemed to be a battle between who should be dominant. It was either too much plot, or too much world building or too fucking much character analysis. The more you advance, the more confused you get. As I said, the ideas are nice and unique, and yet it's clear the author was excited, I'd say a bit too excited to give them to us.

The reviews I read seemed to praise the writing and I cannot disagree with that more. For me, the plot, no matter how many holes it had, was the best feature of the book. It was really intriguing to read about their powers manifesting (that until I got to the actual heist, which I skimmed a bit cause damn if it wasn't just the characters trying to become martyrs).

I'm saddened, truly, because this book, this world especially had so much potential and the author's love for the story was noticeable throughout the book. I don't regret reading it, but coming from a reader who likes to analyse everything, this was a headache.

I think there will definitely be some very specific type of readers who will enjoy this. The potential is absolutely there.

Stay with me here…

I have to be honest, I started this book months ago and just couldn’t get into it. I stopped reading after the first chapter and that was that.

Except that wasn’t that. At all.

I tried again a few days ago and what do you know, I was instantly into it and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I found that I had to really concentrate to keep track of the storyline and stay on top of what was happening, particularly once ‘the council’ and ‘the church’ were introduced. I worked hard to figure out who / what was good and / or bad.

Overall, the characters are very likeable and there was more than one ‘gasp out loud’ moment and enough twists and turns to keep me hooked. I was instantly drawn into liking Chase, even though he’s initially introduced as a ‘bad’ guy. Cemmy, the main character, I found frustrating but still likeable and was definitely rooting for her.

On the whole, a very enjoyable book and I would recommend to others who are into this genre.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review and I wish Kate Dylan success with the release.

Until We Shatter by Kate Dylan is a super exciting heist fantasy. The story is all about Cemmy, a thief who’s always in danger. When her mom gets sick, she has to pull off a risky heist to steal a powerful relic from a shadowy realm. She teams up with Chase, a mysterious and dangerous guy, to make it happen.

The book for its fast-paced action, has a cool magic system and the characters are fun, easy to root for, with some romance and a sense of found family thrown in. It’s a great mix of action, magic, and a bit of love.

If you like heist stories with a lot of excitement and magic, this one’s for you!