Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim

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Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim
Talon #1
Published by Entangled: Teen on September 27, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Representation: Korean protagonist and cast
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina—the Reaper of Sunpo—is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdom’s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…

Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her life—if she kills him first.

Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina's swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister...all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.

Because one way or another, she'll take Rui's heart.

Even if it means giving up her own.

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Trigger & Content Warnings: death, death of a loved one, violence, blood and gore, murder, addiction, drug abuse, physical abuse, PTSD

Last of the Talons was honestly one of my most-anticipated releases of this year; the moment I found I was granted the eARC, I ran around in Clo’s DMs screaming excitedly. Sophie Kim’s debut novel, and the first in the Talon series, has everything I would enjoy in a book: enemies to lovers, Korean mythology, and failed assassination attempts! The last one is not concerning at all when taken out of context.

From the moment I opened up the book, this was one of those where I knew I would love it. Last of the Talons was overall a fun read for me; there’s plenty of sass and banter from Lina and Rui, and I loved seeing their relationship progress throughout the book as they got to know each other. I also liked their backstory, especially the flashbacks featuring Lina’s sister, Eunbi (the absolute cutest from the few scenes she’s in).

The world-building was intriguing and immersive, taking inspiration from Korean myths, and Kim’s writing was very engaging, with beautiful lines and quotations. With each chapter, I was interested in reading the next one and finding out what would happen next to the characters until the very end, and it left me wanting more.

Last of the Talons was also one of those books that, by the time I finished the book, it ended up being an unfortunate disappointment when looking back. But since it’s the first in a series, this could work perfectly in the long run, and I’m just very conflicted, so I hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot. Ratings are hard.

While I loved the world-building and writing style and the side characters, in addition to the mains, it was overall slow-paced. While there’s a relatively solid backstory for the characters that left me emotional at times, the transition from present to flashback was disorienting, rocky, and a little surface-level.

We don’t get to know the Talons (at least the people Lina spends a lot of time with) all too much, and it sounds like being a part of them was a huge and formative part of Lina’s life that it feels a bit lacking not to have more beyond what leads up to her becoming a part of the Blackbloods. I also wished we saw more of Rui’s council because they feel like Important Side Characters™. Since the book is mainly in Gyeulcheon, it feels like there were missed opportunities because they float around easily forgotten.

Additionally, there’s a lot of telling rather than showing. We get told a lot that Lina is known as the Reaper of Sunpo, a name she chose when she became a part of the Talons: someone who is grim, violent, and a ruthless killer. But we don’t get shown this, though it’s hinted at during Lina’s multiple failed assassination attempts on Rui. We find out early on that she’s treated poorly by Konrarnd Kalmin, though, so while it would’ve been nice to see her live up to her nickname, it also would’ve been unlikely. And considering this is the first in a series, it’s not the biggest of deals for me (but it might be for others).

Last of the Talons is very much a set-up novel, which I personally find a struggle to read (though I appreciate them). But I was very much invested in the entire story and enjoyed myself a lot while reading this because each of the chapters had a slow buildup that ultimately left me wanting more. Despite my qualms with the execution, this promises a more exciting and fun sequel, and everything that I didn’t enjoy so much here could fit well with the rest of the series.