Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Teen, and Entangled Publishing for this advanced copy. You can pick up Reign of the Talon on February 11, 2025.

Though I'm a huge fan of Sophie Kim's other book, The God and the Gumiho, I found this trilogy didn't hit quite the same way for me. I picked up the first book and thought I would breeze through the rest because I've loved her writing and characters previously. But I'm afraid Last of the Talons didn't hook me, and I found myself slogging through to the end. I'm softly DNFing this series, but I might feel differently someday and pick it back up again. If you loved the first book, I'm sure you'll love Reign of the Talon as well,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I enjoyed this book quite alot. The book moved quickly. The setting and characters kept me in story and I love a book that pulls me in

Will definitely recommend this series

“Reign of the Talon” by Sophie Kim is a gripping, action-packed fantasy that hooks you from the very first page and doesn’t let go until the last. The world-building is richly detailed, pulling readers into a vibrant, complex universe where power struggles, ancient secrets, and mystical forces shape every moment.

What truly stands out in “Reign of the Talon”
is Kim’s ability to craft memorable characters. The protagonist, with her fierce determination and growth throughout the story, is both relatable and inspiring. Her journey is one of self-discovery, and readers will find themselves rooting for her every step of the way. The supporting cast is equally compelling, each character bringing something unique to the narrative, from their complex motivations to their vivid personalities.

The pacing is perfect, with each chapter offering twists and turns that keep the suspense high. Kim masterfully balances intense action sequences with deep emotional moments, creating a story that’s both thrilling and thought-provoking. The stakes feel incredibly real, and the reader is drawn into a whirlwind of conflict, alliances, and betrayals that keep you on the edge of your seat.

What makes “Reign of the Talon” so special, however, is its underlying themes. Sophie Kim weaves in powerful reflections on power, identity, and sacrifice that resonate long after the final page. The way the narrative explores these themes adds depth to what is already an exciting fantasy adventure.

In short, “Reign of the Talon” is a must-read for fans of high fantasy. Sophie Kim has created an exhilarating and emotionally charged story that will captivate readers from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a new fantasy series to dive into, this book should be at the top of your list.

I really loved reading this book and I can not wait for more by this author!! I flew through this book because it was that good. The author did an amazing job keeping the plot interesting without it getting boring or slow. I will be recommending this book to all of the family and friends.

It's been awhile since I've had to review a book for a publisher instead of just myself, but the publisher of Reign of the Talons reached out to me to review the finale of the Talon trilogy, and since I reviewed the first two books and absolutely adored them, I was glad to accept.

As the end of a trilogy, I'm a bit hesitant to go into a brief synopsis of the book. But I think it's safe to bring up that this is a story that takes place in a world pretty different from our own, but seeped in Korean folklore. The gods, their stories, and names have their origins there. As do the monsters and not-so-monsters alike. You should probably read the synopsis of the first book, Last of the Talons, somewhere else if you're interested when I'm through.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. It was exactly what one hopes for in the finale of a trilogy. The characters remained compelling, tensions remained high, pacing wise appropriate for the direction the story took, there are things to be surprised about, and most importantly of all, it was necessary for this third book to exist. Not every trilogy can boast the same.

I remained completely enthralled with Lina and Rui from start to finish. Kim manages to show us new sides of every single character without bogging the story down. In fact, seeing these new sides is an absolute must that brings us to the conclusion of their stories. Readers of the previous books will know that things ended pretty rough in the second volume, and the third book jumps right back in at full speed. It's emotionally charged and passionate and fierce. And these are exactly the things that made me fall in love with these books and these characters in the first place. My heart clenched with theirs, I felt their agonies and sorrows, and it was a joy being with them from start to finish. Kind of a weird thing to say, I know.

I will admit that since I read the first book in the series, that these books have felt mature for their YA categorization. They aren't necessarily going to be suitable for the younger readers in that marketing bracket—the book warns of this openly at the start with a pretty robust content warning and that warning should be taken seriously. But I'll mention a few of the basics here for anybody who hasn't read the previous books and who sees this review and maybe wants to give them a try. This series is bloody, full of death, has minimally (I think?) descriptive sexual content, murder... I think you get the idea. Also snakes. Definitely skip if you can't handle fictional and very creepy snakes.

This book and series as a whole aren't going to be for everyone. The content warnings that I mentioned above are strewn throughout all three books. The main character is an assassin after all. However, this is one of the most passionate, spunky, and raw books that I've ever read. And if that's something that you're interested in, then this book and series are very likely for you.

The last book in this series was non stop action, war, plotting, betrayals, strength, love and determination. A lot goes on and whilst I did find after the first two ‘events’ it got a little repetitive I am very happy with how things wrapped up. I even shed some tears.
This series was such a great read. A true enemies to lovers filled with Korean folklore, mythical beings and realms and a true test of fate vs love. There is a romance with no spice. Highly recommended! Super underrated. What a series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for an eARC for this book.

reign of the talon picks right back up from the major ending of the second ending, and thoroughly I would say I was interested in this book more than I would care to admit. I wasn't supposed to read this until later when my exams were over, but I just couldn't help myself and decided to have a dose of mythology I was craving so hard yesterday.

the book delved into multiple person of views so far.. and it's a relief to me they weren't as boring as I originally thought they would be. I've disliked multiple pov's of side characters as long as I can remember, so when I enjoyed them, it was like a huge accomplishment for me.

I enjoyed this book, I would recommend the series💕 goodbye to these characters. I actually enjoyed them.

Thank you so much to Sophie Kim for sending me an early copy!

Wow. I'm sitting in here in shock still reeling from the ending of this book. My mind is processing not only Reign of the Talons, but Lina's journey as a whole from Last of the Talons to now. I fear I need to take a look inside Sophie Kim's brain because never in a million years would I have imagined this series to go in the direction it did when I first started this series.

I stumbled across Last of the Talons in fall 2022 on NetGalley, and immediately fell in love with this knife-to-throat, cat and mouse, enemies to lovers fantasy. Lina and Rui captivated me from their first scenes. Their fiery chemistry, sharp banter, and taste for danger made me become quickly obsessed with them. In Wrath of the Talons, I could start to see the stepping stones Sophie put in place for this plot to expand beyond just a young assassin trying to kill a Dokkeabi emperor and save her sister. This book ended with the one of the most painful, shocking cliffhanger I've read, and I was genuinely at a loss for how we could recover from where Lina and Rui end up. This feeling continued in Reign of the Talons, with Sophie opening the book with the most depressing chapters 🥲. I cried so much reading the first half of this book. It was truly one of those "it'll get worse before it gets better" situations LOL.

The third person storytelling really allowed me as a reader to see all the moving pieces in this story. We have several characters telling the story in Reign of the Talons, each with their own motivations and characters arcs. Lina's chapters were definitely my favorite. Watching her embark on her own healing journey to find herself after everything she endured in her nineteen years was very beautiful. All of her scenes with Eunbi made me cry so much!

Rui's chapters were definitely the most nerve-wracking to read. I found myself reading one paragraph and then closing the book for some time because I was so nervous about things going wrong. Iseul's chapters were also super fun to read. She definitely quickly became one of my favorite characters. Her diva-like, sarcastic personality brought a perfect amount of comedic relief. I also love that we got she got her own romantic subplot in true second-couple storyline fashion in a Kdrama.

About 70% into the story, there is a huge plot twist that I honestly didn't see coming, but makes perfect sense given the world and mythology that Sophie is drawing on. I let out such a dramatic, audible gasp while reading this scene. All I want to know now, is if this scene confirms the existence of the Sophie Kim Cinematic Universe. As the book progressed, I started to see where Sophie was taking Lina's journey. It's not at all where I expected her story to go when reading Last of the Talons, but it made perfect sense for who Lina has become in book 3. The ending of this book is perfectly like a Kdrama, but it's been making me feel so empty inside. It feels so wild to reflect back on this series and think of how far Lina and Rui have come from their bickering in Book 1. Sophie Kim is truly a master storyteller, and I cannot wait to dive into her future books! (Thank you so much for writing one of my favorite fantasy series!)

The Talon's series concludes with one large question hanging over Lina. Can you kill a prophecy?

Read if you like:
-Female Rage
-Epic Showdown
-Prophecy
-Red Thread of Fate
-Found Family

I am in awe of Sophie Kim. This series is amazing! I can't recommend it enough! What started as a story of a bargain between an assassin and a Dokkaebi Emperor grew into something so epic that completely absorbed me. If you like fantasy, you need to read this series.

I was tearing up at the end.

I really need to commend Sophie Kim for her incredible plotting. She put so much thought and care into everyone's character arcs and the worldbuilding, including the lore with the gods. On a random note, I especially ADORED the romantic subplot on the secondary couple -- they might have stolen the show for me at times -- and I couldn't stop laughing at certain parts of it (the gumiho was so funny). My heart broke with Kang though, and what he did; I really couldn't forgive him for it, and it hurt because I genuinely liked him in previous installments. And yet both Chan and Kang were extremely well-written characters, because even though they did things that were pretty horrible, you could understand their motivations. Argh. The entire book was filled with so much angst and despair and I felt like I was breaking inside. T_T

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!!!! What a great and epic conclusion to the series.

This epic finale is going to be one of my highlights of 2025 for sure! The evolution of Sophie Kim's writing style is astonishing. I enjoyed this book so much, it was thrilling from the start to the end. Definitely my fave book of the series, though I enjoyed all 3 books. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows or K-Dramas.

Sophie really knows how to write a very satisfying series!
The book was perfect and is my favourite of the 3.

This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

Fully knowing that the second book is my favorite, I say that this installment in the universe of the Talons, is a really strong and wonderful book written by Sophie Kim.

Manifesting for a good ending, I never fully thought how far Sophie could take this. But I was pleasantly surprised by the grand scheme of things.

Writing wise, the conclusion is poignant and rich in meaning and metaphors. The way Sophie Kim writes is with meaning.

I fully enjoyed it!

Sophie Kim is a genius and was already an insta buy author for me, but this catapulted her into my top 3 authors, which is no easy feat...I'll have to post a longer review once I stop staring at the wall in awe lol, but genuinely, pick this book up like yesterday because it was so incredibly enjoyable and such a treat to read!

I found Sophie Kim's work because of The God and the Gumiho, which I really enjoyed. The Talon trilogy is very different and so much more grand in scope, and I wondered how things would end and wrap up everyone's storylines.

There will be no spoilers, as this deserves to be enjoyed fully, but I will say that Lina and Rui have such wonderful character arcs. Lina, especially, comes to accept and embrace so much of herself, and it was heartwarming to see her ever present love for her sister.

The ending is perfection, the journey our characters take complete and satisfactory - I enjoy Sophie Kim's work no matter what she writes.

A nice but bittersweet conclusion to the Talons series that picks up right where Wrath of the Talon left us. I love Rui and Lina

The overarching theme of no one being all good or all bad played out poignantly through every single character. Lina's trials to reclaim herself was such an emotional journey filled with stumbles and strength. The amount of POVs and intricate character storylines Sophie had to weave together and wrap up is no small feat, and she left no stone unturned. Everyone has their reasons for their actions and all develop and evolve throughout the series (which I greatly appreciated because I LOVE Iseul - this is me begging for a full book or novella on the hunt from her POV!).

In many series only the main characters get fully fleshed out and developed, but the side characters in this are all multidimensional. The world building is very well done, and the wrap up was done in an intriguing way. If you're looking for a happily ever after I can promise you that you will have it....but not in the way you would typically expect. The story told broke me apart and slowly (and at times painfully) put me back together.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC! I am excited for this thrilling conclusion to hit shelves soon!

Just finished Reign of the Talon by Sophie Kim, and I’m in awe of this stunning fantasy adventure! The world-building is vivid and immersive, transporting me into a realm filled with danger, intrigue, and magic.

Sophie Kim’s storytelling is masterful, weaving together a gripping plot and unforgettable characters who feel so real. The heroine’s journey is one of resilience and bravery, and I couldn’t help but cheer her on every step of the way. The twists and emotional moments hit just right, keeping me hooked until the very end.

If you’re a fan of richly crafted worlds and fierce, complex characters, this is a must-read. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next!

Holy Crap! This was soooo good something about this series just keeps getting better. I don't know how that's possible. I just got sucked into the world building and the characters and it felt like I was right there ruining with them

Reign of the Talon picks up right where Wrath of the Talon ended. Lina is prisoned in her own mind while The Prophecy has taken over her body. Rui is doing everything in his power to prevent The Prophecy's agenda from coming true, though it feels like a losing battle. While Rui balances his time between trying to find pieces of Lina inside The Prophecy and actively trying to save the Three Kingdoms, Lina embarks on a healing journey of self-forgiveness. Her journey was an emotional roller coaster, and I knew from the start how the book would end. Though I predicted it early, it was still sad to see the events unfold in the last few chapters. I would love to see more in this world, especially Iseul's story. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

The prophecy continues to use Lina's body to do their bidding. Rui is desperate to get Lina back and hasn't given up hope that there is still something he can do. We get quite a few glimpses of where Lina is and how she's doing emotionally which is not great at all. The action is constant, and just when we think something is going to happen, things quickly change.

This book was such a good ending to the series. The ending was unexpected but quite beautiful. I got to know so many interesting characters throughout all three books.

Thanks to Brittany and Entangled Publishing for the e-arc!!