Gorgeous worldbuilding full of very visual descriptions - you may well enjoy this if you are ab anime fan as it had that feel. An immersive and enjoyable story.

I found this book to be quite difficult to get in to at first as the author does emerge us quite quickly in to the world. The writing was very descriptive but I did find myself getting lost in the pages at first due to it being a brand new world for me to learn

I enjoyed the slow burn romance between scarlet and shadow and I’m always a sucker for representation in modern literature so this did pave well for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book.

The Last Soldier of Nava is steeped in mythology and had moments where I found of studio ghibli vibes when it came to the world and its creatures.. I adored the idea of an immortal solider, battling with her past actions whilst being unable to recall them all, and I found Shadow to be a complex and intriguing character. The political intrigue within the court and how this played out within the plot was interested and kept me reading.

I was sent this by the publisher knowing nothing about it but I enjoyed this book. It was so rich in lore and mythology that I had a really fun time with it and would be willing to read more of the authors books in the future.

The Last Soldier of Nava completely swept me away. From page one, I was hooked. The writing is sharp, the world feels alive, and the characters? Absolutely unforgettable. Yejin Suh nailed that mix of epic storytelling and intimate emotion, the kind that makes you lose sleep just to read one more chapter. The Korean mythology inspiration made the world feel fresh and wildly immersive. Honestly, this wasn’t just a good read, it’s the kind of book that cements Suh as an auto-buy author for me.

The Last Soldier of Nava started off strong, with an intriguing premise. A thousand years ago, the city of Nava flourished in the land now known as Ik-Song. It was ruled by the Bearer of the Moon and the Bringer of the Dawn, light and dark keeping one another in balance. Until the Moon Bearer grew power hungry, creating a dangerous weapon known as the Soldier. The City fell and the Dawn Bringer was lost.

The Last Soldier of Nava has a lot of promise, the premise was good, giving us ancient myths, as well as reincarnated memory. The added in political theme with its history made for an intriguing read.
The novel itself was written well, the pacing for me was a little slow, I persevered but I couldn't connect.

Unfortunately, I started reading this and realized that I am not the target audience for this book. While I believe there are a lot of people out there who will love this book, I couldn't finish it. There are aspects to this story that are not enjoyable for me.

This was a fantastic read! I enjoyed the characters, and although I found it a little slow to start, it really picked up and I found myself unable to put the book down. Shadow was a really cool character and probably my favourite, and I loved seeing her friendship (and more) with Scarlet- although I was worried what Scarlet would say or do when she found out Shadow’s secret! I think it all worked out in the end and I’d love to read more in this universe.

3.25 stars
The Last Soldier of Nava starts with a compelling premise: reincarnated memory, ancient mythos, and political intrigue set in a land haunted by its own history. Yejin Suh’s writing has a lyrical, immersive quality, and the story opens strong with rich lore and a dark, morally tangled world. But while the foundation is promising, the execution sometimes falls short of its ambition.

Shadow, a soldier reborn with memories of her violent past, and Scarlet, the sister of the saint she once killed, are set up as enemies on a collision course. Their dynamic has real narrative potential—revenge and regret, power and vulnerability—but their shift from adversaries to allies (and eventually more) lacked enough buildup to feel fully earned. Their slow-burn romance had moments of tension, but I wanted more emotional depth and chemistry.

The world of Ik-Song and the mythology of Nava are fascinating, but the story often leans on telling instead of showing. Terms like “remades,” “deadzones,” and even some elements of character backstories are introduced without sufficient grounding or context, leaving the reader to fill in too many blanks. The result is a world that feels vast and intriguing—but underexplored.

Side characters felt thinly sketched, and several plot elements, especially near the end, became confusing rather than revelatory. The final act, in particular, left me scratching my head. There’s a sense that something big and meaningful is happening—but the clarity and emotional payoff just weren’t there.

That said, Suh’s prose is evocative, and I appreciated the ambition behind this story. If there’s a follow-up or expansion of this universe, I’d be interested to see where it goes—hopefully with more room to breathe and dig deeper into the world and its characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one really intrigued me but unfortunately I couldn't get into it and it kept losing my interest. could be because I was trying to read it while I'm busy with med school starting but for now it's a DNF. maybe i will try again in the future when I have more time

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a copy of The Last Soldier of Nava. I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice and cozy read and I really liked the description and expansion of the magic system and the world. Really easy to read and follow.

Unfortunately I didn't find myself enjoying this, although I think that could be to do with the headspace I find myself in currently. I will definitely try again in the future.

I was so looking forward to reading The Last Soldier of Nava! I typically love fantasy books, especially young adult fantasy books, that stem from Korean mythology but this one didn't creep into my heart the way I expected which I'm kind of sad about. I desperately wanted to be obsessed with this book.

It was complex, it was interesting but it was just missing a bit of whimsy I think.

It was still well written and the author should be proud. It's a good book, I enjoyed reading it.

I have to ask though... what was that ending about? I don't know if the author is overestimating how smart I am or what? I have absolutely no clue what the ending means or symbolises. If someone could explain it to me like I'm a five year old, I would appreciate it.

I love love LOVE Shadow as a character, it was so fun and intriguing to follow her story. Shadow was deep, flawed and layered but I still think that the character development was great, it must've been a challenge given the complexities of this character.

Overall, I liked it. I didn't LOVE it, but I did like it.

This is a very generous 3 because there were aspects of this book I did like.

The start with the legend really set the scene for a deeply rich and magical story. That then just....didn't quite deliver. There was a lot of good background on certain things, the superstitions and folklore about mirrors, the dragons keeping balance, the growing deadzones, how the remaking is done/depicted.
And then a lot of it just didn't really go anywhere.

At nearly 70% I still wasn't clear on the White Ice, what a Bone Warrior was and how they could be identified by their skulls, why word 'smithereens' suddenly appears, the entirety of Ch 17. The other problem was at nearly 70%, I didn't really care to find the answer. I was engaged in the world and everything felt flat against what was sometimes a very interesting background, if not a slightly vague one.

It's tagged as a Sapphic Fantasy but the character relationship developments just felt...weird. Not forced, but not-not forced. Now admittedly the bulk of the story is on the fantasy plot, not the romance. Which given the flat nature of the characters, I'm not really sure I saw the point of including at all. Especially since I've seen people say 'enemies-to-lovers' and unless I'm seriously confused about what an 'enemy' is, that's just not the correct trope for this.

This either needed to be a larger book or two books in order to really flesh out the worldbuilding, give the characters more development to make them stand and make their interactions make sense.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This one left me with a bit of a mixed bag of thoughts. The premise was genuinely intriguing—a reincarnated immortal soldier haunted by her past, a crumbling world on the brink of collapse, and political tension simmering beneath the surface. It had all the makings of something I’d love. And while there were parts I really enjoyed, I can’t help feeling like the worldbuilding tripped over itself more often than not.

I was frequently confused about the setting and structure of the world—terms like remades, deadzones, and even certain roles and relationships are mentioned without much context. It made it hard to explain the plot to anyone else, and that’s usually a red flag for me. I kept wishing the book had taken a little more time to flesh out the rules of the world and let me sit with the atmosphere a bit longer.

That said, I still found it an enjoyable read. There’s something refreshing about a story that isn’t quite like anything else on your shelf. The Korean mythology elements and the unique magic system kept me turning pages, even when I was occasionally scratching my head. The character dynamics were also a highlight—Shadow and Scarlet are very different people, and seeing their growth (and friction) unfold was satisfying, even if their relationship development felt a little abrupt at times.

Some character arcs ended in ways that felt jarring—there’s one in particular that left me blinking at the page, wondering if I’d missed a chapter. But at the same time, I appreciated the ambition of this story. It tried to do a lot, and while not all of it landed smoothly, I’d rather have something bold and slightly messy than overly polished and forgettable.

A story with sharp edges and plenty of ambition—if the world had been given a bit more breathing room, this could have been a standout. 3.75/5

I loved this but at the same time didn’t? I struggled to get into it, even when I bought the audiobook and swapped to that. So ultimately, DNF @ 50% :( I do plan to go back to this because I think its *me* and maybe I’m not in the right mood.

A beautiful sapphic fantasy story based on Korean mythology with shadow magic, danger and a sweeping fantasy world. I loved the premise and I''d have loved to see more of this world and the mysteries within it.

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the cover and the description. While romance is a subplot in this book, the main focus was on the fantasy plot which I really loved. I feel more focus could have been put on world-building to give readers a proper understanding of the world the characters were living in. It could have worked great as a duology rather than a standalone to help with some of the pacing issues. However, overall I quite enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Thank you for the ARC!

eARC Review: The Last Soldier of Nava by Yejin Suh 🌙

This was a wonderfully weird and whimsical fantasy standalone that is inspired by Korean mythology. Again, there’s something about being thrown into a book with little to no idea of the world and its mechanics that I love for some reason. Maybe I enjoy the extra work it takes to understand the world and its characters, maybe I’m masochistic and like torturing myself trying to come up with answers that the book is most likely not going to answer for me. Either way, I still loved my time with this even though I was admittedly confused here and there. 😅

The story follows Shadow, a young woman who finds herself with little to no memory of the last 1,000 years other than she has power over shadows, is an ancient being, and killed a rather important person. She’s what I like to think of as a reluctant villain because of her past and is determined to not go back to those days. Her backstory reminds me so much of a specific character from the Marvel Universe (who I won’t name here because it will reveal too much of the plot), and it just made this character even more devastating because of her past and the thing that she has done. 😔

Her interactions with Scarlet, the primary love interest, were heated and provided great banter for the story. I liked how prickly Scarlet was compared to the more gentle Shadow. I do wish we could’ve gotten more time with the women though so that you could see the growth in feelings and warmth between the two so that it doesn’t feel as sudden when their chemistry starts to shift in the plot. 🤔

I don’t really know what else to say about this book because I don’t want to spoil it for potential future readers. I can see why some people might not like it, but if you are like me and don’t mind being shoved into a confusing world with little to no explanation as to the ins and outs of it, then I think you’d have a good time. That and the wonderful dark whimsy feelings that in it are definitely worth it in my opinion. It also reminds me of the Korean folktale of The Brother and Sister Who Became the Moon and the Sun, so if you are interested in that, then this might be a good read too. ☀️

HUGE thank you goes out to Harper Voyager UK and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest (and late) review; and to the author, Suh, for writing such a atmospheric read to get lost in. ❤️

In other words, I’m so excited to get my special Locked Library copy that I defined as a “necessity” in order to make myself feel better about getting it shipped all the way from the UK; and no, I won’t reveal how much it cost me because it’s was such a stupid thing to do three times now. . . 🙃

Publication date: June 19!!

Overall: 4.75/5 ⭐️