Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Last of the Talons

Thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Fast paced and brilliant world building! I enjoyed reading about Korean mythology and the Pied Piper story immensely! I look forward to the sequel!

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was entertained the entire time reading Last of the Talons, which was a nice change from the first book I read this year. Last of the Talons is the story of a girl named Lina, who is the last survivor of her gang called the Talons. She has no one in her life other than her little sister, who is her sole reason to survive. She is enlisted by her rival gang's leader and boss to steal an ancient tapestry that is said to belong to the old gods that very few still believe in, and Lina is one of the few remaining believers. Soon after the tapestry is stolen, her boss is kidnapped. Since she hates her boss and knows that his kidnapping was a trick to get her to save him, she does nothing. Until she is taken by her boss's lover, who gives her 30 days to get him back before Lina's sister is killed. Lina plans on getting her sister and escaping asap before she herself is taken by the same person who took her boss, Haneul Rui, the emperor and powerful dokkaebi. Rui suggests that they play a game - Lina has 14 days to kill him. If she wins, he will spare her and her boss. If she loses, he will kill her.

Major plot spoilers:

Despite being known as the best assassin in her town, Lina doesn't appear anything of the sort. Soon after she agrees to the game, she rashly tries to kill Rui. As punishment, she is forced to work in the kitchen. In her second attempt to kill Rui, she uses seduction. She successfully seduces Rui, and manages to stab him, but an immortal being cannot be killed so easily, to her surprise. Her punishment is to go to a ball with him, and she is compelled to come out of her hiding spot at the ball with his magical wind instrument. She receives another punishment for not having her last dance with him and they go sightseeing. Between these moments, Lina tries to find map her way through the palace and tries to find allies outside. She comes across the Revolution and joins them. I must say, she was very naive to believe that there were only three members and trust that their cause was really for the well-being of less powerful dokkaebis. Jiwoon, the academic she meets on her first outing outside the palace turns out to be the leader of the Revolution. He had enlisted her to find ingredients to make a potion that would give her more strength. However, he never trusts her and he catches her kissing Rui in the Black sea/ocean and takes the potion for himself. The Revolution attacks and they nearly kill Lina by stabbing her with a blade laced with poison. She manages to reach Rui before she passes out. Rui and his officials decide to give Lina the strengthening elixir to save her, and she survives. While she is recovering, she confesses everything to Rui, they confide in one another, and they agree to let go of their game. Later, Jiwoon attacks again and just before he kills Rui, Lina comes out and battles him. She is able to defeat him because she gained powers that strengthen her and allow her to form scales on her body. Jiwoon is killed and the Revolution is quelled. They retrieve Lina's little sister and agree to let her stay in the land of the Dokkaebi. Rui invites Lina to stay and she agrees to stay for a while before leaving to exact her revenge on her former boss and his rival gang.

Small romance spoilers:

The romance between Lina and Rui is fast and happens in the span of a few days. You may not like it if you're not a fan of insta love. However, the romance isn't super developed other than initial lust/attraction. There appear to be moments when Rui expresses jealousy, like when he cuts the waltz short when she is dancing with Jiwoon. It never really seems like Rui ever hated Lina. Just that she hated him, and mostly for circumstance rather than personal reasons, at least until she realizes she is attracted to him.

Another spoiler (TWs: Drug use and Addiction):

Lina is addicted to smoking a leaf that has very addictive properties. She smokes in the early chapters of the book and saves her last cigarette, which was given to her by Sang (her former love), for a moment she gets really overwhelmed in the dokkaebi realm. She is caught by Rui and he orders her not to smoke. Lina responds that one cigarette should make any difference to him if he plans on killing her anyway, which is fair. The plant is very addictive and it seems as though Lina is teetering on the line to no return. He takes it from her and stomps it out. Later, she is under surveillance because she is experiencing withdrawal, but the surveillance is shit because she manages to go into Kang's study (he is Rui's general) and steals leaves she finds there to roll her own cigarettes when she is there to look for a scale. She does eventually find the will to get over her addiction, but it is more of a tactic to seduce Rui, since she knows he doesn't like it. There may be more than that, but this is all that I can remember.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book despite the small issues I had with the book. I was very entertained and I look forward to the sequel.

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