Book Review
Title: Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim (Talon Book 1)
Genre: Fantasy, Folklore
Rating: 3.75 Stars
The opening to Last of the Talons was interesting as we are dropped right into Shin Lina taking part in a heist to steal a tapestry from the Temple of Ruin. Shin Lina is working with a crime lord named Kalmin because he is threatening to kill her sister, Eunbi if she refuses. The temple is in the region of Sunpo, a place that is inhabited by mortals and immortals known as Dokkaebi, who she is trying to steal from. She finds the tapestry and takes it back to Kalmin but can’t shake the feeling that nothing good will come from taking it.
The pacing the first 100 or so pages wasn’t great since a lot happens and very little is explaining or even shown in detail to us which was quite frustrating. After stealing the tapestry and taking it to Kalmin, Lina is ordered to take it apart for the gems which Kalmin is planning to sell and she does but we see she is a prisoner in Kalmin’s care after the death of her own gang, the Talon’s. We don’t know who killed the Talons or why, but it seems that they wanted Lina, the Reaper of Sunpo to work for them. During a deal for some of the gems, Lina encounters a Dokkaebi but he doesn’t do anything to her. However, she soon learns that Kalmin was taken by this Dokkaebi who turns out to be the Dokkaebi emperor, the Pied Piper. Asina gives Lina 30 days to bring Kalmin back or she will kill Eunbi, but she doesn’t have to wait long since the Pied Piper comes for her to. In his realm, he explains he is fascinated by Lina and makes a deal with her where she will kill him in 14 days or he will kill her and Kalmin, which would also result in Eunbi’s death. Lina accepts knowing she doesn’t have another choice but she knows she lacks the power and ability to kill a Dokkaebi but she is going to try.
She is staying in the Dokkaebi realm during this time, but she needs to recover her strength since she has been starved and beaten repeatedly by Kalmin, taking away most of the strength she had when she was with the Talons. Lina is beginning to learn more about her opponent in this game, but she is overly rash and ruled by her emotions which goes against her identity as an assassin, in my opinion. She now has two failed attempts on Rui’s life, both failed because she didn’t learn anything about Dokkaebi and how they differ from humans. However, she has learnt of a rebellion in the kingdom and is planning to use them to help her kill the emperor, which is the most sensible plan she has come up with so far. She might also have found a way into the rebellion with Jiwoon if my instinct about him is correct.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, we do see some more kind moments between Rui and Lina, but it doesn’t overshadow what hangs in the balance for the Reaper, her sister’s life. Despite this she continues to be haunted by memories of her past and the death of her friends, it seems that the Blackbloods took the Talons sponsor and in response Lina was sent to kill someone, possibly Kalmin and failed which is why the Talons were killed and herself imprisoned, which would make sense but we don’t know for sure yet. Also, despite having a lot of elements I normally enjoy, I wasn’t loving the book because nothing is really happening besides this cat and mouse game between Lina and Rui but the reason behind why hasn’t been revealed to us, so it doesn’t make much sense now. Lina having officially joined the rebellion learns that there is an enhancer that can be made that will give her the strength of a Dokkaebi, allowing her to overcome the biggest difficulty in killing Rui. However, she soon begins to admit to herself that she is undeniably attracted to the man she is trying to kill and that might cause some issues in the second half.
So far, I was a little bored with the book as the pacing up to Lina joining the rebellion was off and a lot of the main motivations haven’t been explained or explored at all. The only thing that might be able to redeem this for me is more action and maybe a spicy romance between enemies. While Lina needs to wait for Jiwoon to finish the concoction she needs to take down Rui, her relationship with the emperor is beginning to change. When Rui uncovers her addiction to halji, he freaks out without much reason, but it soon becomes clear that he is attracted to Lina, the same way she is attracted to him. However, he also knows more about her activities than she thought although it remains unclear whether or not he knows about her working with the rebels and cautions her. In on of their outings, we see the pair have a passionate makeout session which leads me to hope we might get some spicy scenes later or in the next book but Lina remembers what she has to do despite now knowing she doesn’t want to kill Rui but she needs to to in order to save her sister and find a way to free herself from the Blackbloods once and for all, but also to fulfill her promise to the rebels.
The biggest issue I had with the book was for most of it, it doesn’t know what it wants to be. At the beginning, it seems like a revenge story, which then morphs into a fantasy romance and then to a much darker kind of story in the end. The action also doesn’t kick in until the ¾ mark which left me bored and waiting for nearly 300 pages. The ending, however, did really make up for the issues I had, packed with betrayal, backstabbing and a little bit of metamorphosis but I still can’t give it 4 stars or higher because of how unsure it was. I am looking forward to the second book which seems to be pitched a revenge story, bringing Lina’s story closer to a conclusion.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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