Release Date: September 27, 2022
Series: Talons #1
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Description
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.
My Thoughts
There are many things to love about Last of the Talons and a few things that keep it from reaching its full potential. The book is more of a fantasy romance than a fantasy with romance in it; all other storylines fall second to the bubbling heat between Lina and Rui. That worked for me, frankly. They’re both such compelling characters that I didn’t really care what they were doing as long as I got to see them bicker/flirt. In fact, one of my favorite scenes was them just having a conversation in a field of wildflowers. It’s a quiet moment where personal truths are shared but not much happens in terms of action. It reminded me so much of that scene in the Howl’s Moving Castle movie where Howl takes Sophie to his secret meadow.
Read the rest of this review at Tor.com.
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