Special thanks to Entangled: Teen for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: Despite my first attempt at reading this being unsuccessful, I’m glad to say that the second time’s the charm and I found myself enjoying this more than I expected to. Kim offers a lot in this upper YA fantasy debut—plenty of stabby action, deaths, found family moments, rebellion, deception, and a forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance. That said, much of the characters, relationships and world-building was kept on a surface level and at over 400 pages long, I think we could’ve got a lot more development! Overall though, this wasn’t a bad debut and I’m curious to see how Kim evolves as an author throughout the series and what happens next with Lina and her thirst for vengeance!

Last of the Talons is told from Lina’s POV and the story is set in two main locations: the human realm and the Dokkaebi realm. I’m a sucker for all types of Asian mythology in a fantasy setting so I knew, in this respect, this book would have something for me to enjoy. This story is infused with Korean mythology and I loved learning about the different deities, Dokkaebi, monsters, lore and how mythology influenced the Dokkaebi realm of Gyeulcheon. Even though, as I mentioned earlier, the world-building was very surface level and Gyeulcheon wasn’t as well-developed as I think it could’ve been, it was enough for me to imagine this picturesque magical kingdom. I was intrigued by the Dokkaebi and found myself wishing more of them would feature in the story but I hope we get more of that in the second book. The writing and plot were rather straightforward although it could’ve done with some editing and while the plot was a bit outlandish, I was able to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy the story. That said, I think this could be a perfect “starter fantasy” for those who are not familiar with the genre and want to try it more but don’t want to be overwhelmed by world-building.

Although there’s only one POV, we learn more about Lina through flashbacks when she was an assassin for the Talons, a powerful gang that owned the city of Sunpo. I’m not normally a fan of this style but it worked for this story and kept me on my toes with dread and anticipation having already known what’s going to happen to them. It also helped paint a clear picture of Lina’s rage and why she is driven by it to the point of recklessness. She has endured so much loss and hardship from an early age and she found renewed hope for herself and her baby sister Eunbi when she was taken in by the Talons. She’s ruthless, cunning, stubborn and prideful, as well as a cutthroat assassin feared by all who cross her path, but now she is weighed down by guilt over the loss of her Talon family and it’s no wonder that these emotions keep her going. However, being driven by such rage meant she tended to be rash, to act first and think later, and it closed her off to anything else unrelated to her mission. IMHO, it made her a weak one-dimensional character and sadly, I found it impacted all aspects of the story, as she lacks any sort of curiosity beyond fulfilling her goal in any way possible. I found myself getting quite frustrated by the missed potential there… As a reader, I had so many questions about the other characters and their motives, especially Rui and what he was (and still might be) hiding from Lina. I feel like there’s so much bubbling just beneath his surface and I desperately wanted her to probe more rather than just accepting everything at face value! 😂

Coming to the romance, I have to say that I honestly didn’t mind it! Again, it’s a bit underdeveloped but I genuinely enjoyed the interactions between Rui and Lina. It’s filled with teasing taunts and barbs and there’s a vicious playfulness with many “kill me if you can” moments that they both thrived on. Sure, it might not be the healthiest dynamic (lol) but as they try to one-up each other, there are plenty of close encounters that allow each other brief glimpses of a more genuine side. I’m very curious to see what becomes of this budding romance and I would love more moments where they show their vulnerability, especially Lina, so I hope we get to see that in the sequel!

Perhaps it sounds like I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I said I did but at a certain point, I found myself simply enjoying the ride and the vibe and didn’t let myself get too bothered by the elements I found lacking. I still have so many questions that I hope the second book gives us answers to and I’m excited to dive back into this world especially since where we left off, our characters are feeling more vengeful than ever!

Have you read Last of the Talons or is it on your TBR?

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