Ratings5
Average rating3.6
In a world where magic is illegal, eight criminals led by rebellious Larkin are sent on a mission to rid their realm of an ancient evil lurking beneath the surface. Descending into a world full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her crew must use their forbidden magic to survive. As they fight in the shadows, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon, Larkin and Amias realize that their destinies are intertwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason. But as the beasts grow in number and her band is picked off one by one, Larkin is forced to confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return. Lovers of dark, high-octane adventure will be enthralled by this genre-bending YA fantasy standalone, perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Leigh Bardugo.
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I voluntarily read and reviewed ARCs of these books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
DNF @ 33%
I really wanted to like this one. I honestly thought I would, too. There is a magic system, there are criminals on a mission to save the world, and the potential of character death. And yet, the book wasn't catching my attention.
I was actually kind of liking Larkin, but some of her decisions or actions just were hard to believe. The whole premise is that they are being forced underground to find a man, who should be dead, and kill him for the Queen, who hates their kind. Yeah, there are reasons to help the Queen, but the dude underground is like them and would probably help them overthrow the Queen, so... I didn't understand why the Queen would send empaths to deal with a dangerous empath and why the “criminals” (calling some of them criminal is such a stretch...) weren't wondering if maybe there is a better life than servitude.
Perhaps this would all be explained later on, but I needed it to keep my interest.
I would have also liked to know more about the magic system– how does it work and what can it do. I did get to a creepy moment, but we hadn't gotten to like the characters enough for me to care. In fact, I was still mixing up some of the boys. And then there were little tidbits thrown in about the lore, which I would have liked to know, but I just didn't care about anything by that point.
I will say the darker moments are pretty dark and the concept is fantastic. I really wish I could have liked it.