Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

DNF @ 50%

This book seemed promising but unfortunately it just did not come together. A lot of elements felt like a mish mash of other YA tropes, and the story and worldbuilding lacked cohesion. I think with more editing, or perhaps just better planning and execution, this book could have been much better.

‘𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠,’ ‘𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑦–𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔.’ 😭

I can honestly say I enjoyed getting lost in the world of The Last Soldier of Nava! Yejin Suh pulls us into a realm deeply rooted in Korean mythology & now I definitely want to explore even more books in this genre!!

The writing was fab & I liked the pacing of the story. We’re met with some tender sapphic moments between Scarlet & Shadow which had my whole heart. I just wished there was more character development & more exploration of Nava’s lore because it was SO interesting to read.

Thank you @rachelquinmarketing & @harpervoyager_uk for the beautiful gifted copy!!✨

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunatly, a DNF for me. I think this book will find its audience, but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. In addition, I would have loved more introduction of the world and its history at the beginning of the book.

We're getting dropped deep in the Korean mythology and worldbuilding right away. This book doesn't joke around.

Further on we're getting a sapphic slow-burn and enemies-to-lovers romance between the FMC Shadow and the antagonist Scarlett.

So theoretically this story should have worked for me.

In actuality though, I was mostly confused and tried to grasp the worldbuilding and failed. It's complex, I'm sure it's well-formed, but it would have been nice to be taken by the hand and lead into it.

It's a story of rebirth and prophecy, and raises the question how much you're responsible for your deeds in a former life.

However, I tried and failed to immerse myself. I liked the chemistry of the romance, but in the context of the book it was not enough to take away my feeling of being lost.

It's still a great premise, and I'll happily give it 3/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @harpervoyager_uk for the eARC!

#TheLastSoldierOfNava #Netgalley #Bookstagram

The Last Soldier Of Nava by Yejin Suh is a Korean mythology inspired sapphic fantasy that I am always up for.

💚 Here’s what I loved about this book:

- This is an action-packed book with fierce females. So yes please!
- Loved the court intrigue. A lot of it is manipulation of people in power.
- Lush world building with magical characters. The scenes with a huge catfish and whales as rides are some of my favorite.
- That cover is to die for. I have included more images without filters so you can appreciate it better.
- The whole dynamic of light and shadow is very intriguing and ties in with how nature works.
- Loved the slow burn romance between the MCs
- It’s a standalone fantasy.

💔Here’s what could be better.

- I found myself confused and lost a fair few times.
- There are secenes and elements which did not really relate to the story. I still don't understand the significance of animals in the dungeon.
- The last bit was over too soon. I wanted more dragon time 🐲
- I felt the secondary characters were not given enough attention. I would have loved to read more about Crow and Yo-Han.

In all, this was a good fantasy and I would love to read more by the author in the future. 💜🌸

3.5 ✨

This was a very interesting book that delves a lot into Korean mythology, creating a unique and engaging world filled with fascinating magic.

Shadow is an immortal soldier who upon being awaken again, kills a beloved saint. She tries to live a normal life, hiding from anyone who might know about her past, but the Moonbringer, her immortal father, wants her back under his control. She's captured by his new prodigy, Scarlet, the sister of the woman Shadow killed, who will do everything in her power to find out who killed her sister.

I thought this book was a little hard to get into at first. It's really usual for most fantasy books, you need to understand the world before you can really get into the story. But this book came with a lot of mysteries within the plot, and while I was excited to find out what would be the resolution, it made it slightly harder to understand what was going on. Once the book sets the world a little though, the story becomes extremely enjoyable. It's easy to get invested in the palace intrigues and the characters are enjoyable so it's easy to root for them.

Shadow is such an interesting protagonist because even though she's this immortal weapon, she feels like just a lost young woman who doesn't want to be what other people made her. Scarlet though is certainly my favourite. When we meet her she seems so cold and unfeeling, and as Shadow gets to know her, we get to see the real person hiding behind that mask.

I'm immensely curious whether this book will become a series, because I think it works as a standalone but I would happily be pulled back into this world for more adventures

A really well written standalone! Both the plot and the world is super engaging, and I became really invested in the main characters! Now I just want to research the myth this is based on!

I really enjoyed the story and thus found it very hard to put down. I did find the romance aspect one of the least compelling parts of the story and it felt a bit forced when they finally kissed and admitted their feelings for each other. I also found shadow's own motivations a bit uncompelling as well as her father's motivations too and I wish their past and origin was explained a bit more. here were also a few things in the book that didn't quite add up or make sense but overall I really enjoyed the book so I didn't mind that it was lacking in some aspects.

The cover is stunning. The premise is intriguing, and this is my first Korean mythology, so I had high hopes, but I struggled to get into the plot, making it tough for me to finish. DNF-ed after 25%.

This is a Korean mythology-inspired sapphic fantasy which follows Shadow’s story - a young woman who possesses shadow magic, who has recently been reawakened.
Her past life is made up of fractured memories, and all she wishes for is to be free of the tyrannical father-figure who raised her as a weapon to drown worlds.
But all is not what it seems in a court of corruption and greed, and Shadow is enamoured with her father’s new prodigy Scarlet, who appears solely focused on unmasking her own sister’s murderer…
The blurb for this book really drew me in, and the story started off strong as it drew on some wonderful lore, but I personally felt it could’ve had more world-building, and needed to be longer to really do the premise justice.
I would’ve liked more details on the ‘deadzones’, and I was super intrigued by so many characters that I just felt were missing more of their backstories.
I enjoyed the push-and-pull romance, and the writing style was lovely, so I’m looking forward to reading more of the story.
All of this is not to say that I don’t recommend reading, I only express that for me personally, I needed more from this first instalment!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollinsUk for the ARC.

Unfortunately I had to DNF the book after 40%.
I first requested it due to it being Romantasy and a sapphic romance but it just couldn’t hold my attention, the world building was confusing and I was avoiding continuing it.

Maybe I’ll give it another chance further down the road.

I have to admit that my main reason to request a review copy through Netgalley was the cover. I loved the atmosphere, I loved how curious it made me. And since Magpie granted me a copy and the release date was getting closer, it was time to dive in.

It's clear that this book and I didn't click. Something about the book just didn't work for me and I can't completely put into words what. I'm gonna give it a try though. The main issue was that I was confused throughout the entire book. I had a hard time understanding the world, the characters and their goals and motivations and the kind of story I was actually reading. I couldn't grasp the direction, I couldn't understand why this story was told.

I think it's the writing that just didn't work for me. Maybe it's because I don't see anything while reading. I just feel. And while reading this book I didn't really feel anything. I also had issues connecting with the characters. Even after finishing the book it still feels like I don't really know them. Everyone is hiding so much, everyone is keeping so many secrets. I don't know much about their desires and wants and their unique personality traits.

Maybe I should have not finished this book at some point, but there was also enough to keep me reading. I liked the concept of the magic. I liked the hidden identity of the heroine of the story. I liked the political banter. At times I didn't understand what was going on, but I kept on hoping that at some moment things would just click and everything I read before that would make sense. However, it didn't happen. Even after finishing the book, I still don't really get what I've been reading.

However, I'm sure a lot of people will like this book a lot better than me! I'm pretty sure that this review says more about me than about the objective quality of the book. If you think you'll like it, give it a go! After all, I did keep on reading, didn't I?

Thank you HarperCollins and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review of this book.

The Last Soldier of Nava has all the ingredients of a powerful fantasy with rich worldbuilding, a unique magic system and a badass female warrior lead. The story hints at deep emotional undercurrents and complex character relationships, especially in the slow-burn romance, which was a highlight for me - it's hard to get wrong. Shadow and Scarlet's chemistry felt satisfying and well-matched, even if I didn't fully connect with them on a deeper level.

I do feel like much of the emotional weight and world complexity felt implied rather than fully explained on paper. Another 50–100 more pages to flesh out the world and the characters would have helped this story so much. Especially Shadow, who had a lot of potential but left me wanting more. Key concepts like “remade” weren’t clearly explained, which made it hard to fully immerse myself in the world, despite enjoying the mythology-inspired roots.

The ending also left me confused, as if the story wrapped up before it was ready. I generally enjoy Asian mythology reads, but this one didn’t deliver emotionally the way I'd hoped.

3.5 The setting for the book was a really unique landscape and the worldbuilding was complex. However a little too complex at times for the first 25% I did find myself having to flick back and remind myself who people were or what terms meant. However once the story got going it was exciting and fun, I loved the dynamic between Shadow and the Keeper. The ending as well still has me thinking, Overall a good read but does take a bit of time to understand and get into.

Thank you netgalley for the e ARC.

I was drawn in by the premise of this book being a sapphic fantasy inspired by Korean mythology. I do think at times that the pacing of this book did struggle, especially near the end. I did love the romance in this though, it really helped me stay invested. I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers though, bonus points if they want something queer.

Unfortunately this was a dnf at 50% in for me. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style or the plot however I’m sure others may love it if transitions from YA upwards

I am very sad to say that I cannot rate this any higher than a 2 / 5 stars. When I originally came across this book on goodreads and saw «Korean mythology inspired sapphic fantasy», I was sold already. I love stories inspired by real-world mythologies, and having it also be sapphic is nothing short of a dream come true. So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw this book up on Netgalley, requested it, and got approved.

Let’s start with the two selling points that first got me interested in this book; I don’t know anything about Korean mythology, so I won’t comment on that, but I will talk about the sapphic aspect of the book. ‘The Last Soldier of Nava’ is essentially an enemies-to-lovers romance between Shadow, who is also the protagonist and POV character, and Scarlet. Shadow kinda accidentally killed Scarlet’s sister - Scarlet knows it was ‘the soldier’ who killed her sister, but does nit know that the soldier and Shadow are the same person. But even without that knowledge, Scarlet spends the first half of the book hating Shadow.
The issue with this romance storyline, however, is that there is almost 0 indication that any kind of attraction between these two characters exists. I get that with an enemies-to-lovers setup you have to slowly build up that relationship for either end of the trope to be believable. And while the enemies part was fine, the lovers aspect never really reached that believability threshold. It is around 55% through the book, when Shadow first begins to show signs of any kind of romantic interest in Scarlet. I mean, it was clear from the beginning that Scarlet was going to be the love interest, based on the blurb and the simple fact that this is not the first romance story I’ve read, but that was the first instance where the text itself indicated that this was in fact the case. Only introducing the romantic attraction halfway through the book on its own is not an issue though. The issue is that it was combined with a very slow and clumsy build-up that never once felt organic or believable, and never managed to get me emotionally invested in the story. There is a big love confession moment at one point, where Scarlet tells Shadow «I’ve never met anyone else like you, in all my life», and it left me completely cold.

This is part of a larger issue of unearned moments that show up time and again throughout this book. Repeatedly, the reader is told things about a character, a setting, a relationship, etc. that was in no way set up by the writing up until that point. In one instance Scarlet is told by a side character that she is «incapable of love» and «a weak imitation of [her sister]» whose memory she dishonours every day. The way it is written makes it clear that this moment is supposed to have an emotional impact on the reader, but it doesn’t because up til that point we were never shown that this is even remotely true or something Scarlet struggles with.
In another instance Scarlet describes the landscape around them as choking and suffocating everything underneath, and gardens as «bare imitations of real nature». And again, if this was in anyway implied or shown previously, it might have hit emotionally. But none of the previous descriptions of the cities and countryside around them ever evoked a picture like that, so it just ends up feeling hollow.
There’s also the fact that Shadow originally lived in a city called Nava that was destroyed a long time ago, which is kinda implied to have been almost a utopian society. Shadow repeatedly mentions Nava, and that it was somehow better than what the present-day can offer, and yet we never actually learn much of anything about the place. Nostalgia, especially the kind that ignores all of the bad things about the past so that you can enjoy thinking of ‘the good old times’, is a great topic to include in a fantasy book. But the readers actually needs to know stuff - however distorted by time it may be - about the place in order for this to work. Just saying ‘this place used to exist and it was better than now’ doesn’t cut it.

Additionally, there are a bunch of weird style choices that didn’t much help improve the story either. There are so many instances of direct speech being interrupted by non-speech halfway through for no apparent reason. I’m not doing a good job of describing this so I’ll just insert an example: «‘Then what do you want? I had thought you came here,’ the Emperor said, ‘to ask about your sister.’» Why is «the Emperor said» inserted in the middle of the speech bubble, completely disrupting the flow of the text?
I was also frequently re-reading paragraphs because I thought I’d missed a sentence, only to realise that no, the passage was just written really weirdly, so that it felt as if a sentence was missing.

There’s more I could talk about, from the final battle being so low-key and underwhelming that I didn’t even realise it had happened until like 2 pages later, to the incredibly weirdly pace at which essential world-building elements were introduced, but this review is already way too long.
There are interesting elements in this book, and theoretically the story sounds really interesting, but the execution is just… not great. I will be keeping my eyes open for future works from this author, because this is her debut novel and I have high hopes that she will improve, given time.

I really wanted to love this, I’ve been on the hunt for more and more sapphic fantasy (especially mythology inspired!), but unfortunately it just didn’t quite hit the mark for me! I don’t think I followed the story and the world building all that well. The bits I understood, I really did enjoy and generally I liked the overall plot but there was too much where I was so lost! I also thought the romance kind of came out of nowhere. I knew it was going to happen as this had been pitched as sapphic and by a certain point there was no other character that could be a romantic interest for Shadow, but I didn’t see any romantic development and it just didn’t seem real for me. There was much more to the plot than the characters which is probably why I felt like this!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

While this was certainly a beautifully written book inspired by Korean mythology, and started off extremely strong, I feel almost as if it could have done with a few more things fleshing out.

I really enjoyed the characters of Shadow and Scarlet, and liked the slow burn romance aspect. It definitely felt natural as the story progressed and I have no complaints at all!

The thing that fell slightly flat for me was a lack of explanation for some elements of the story - I'd love to have known more about remades and deadzones, more about the back story, more about some of the side characters so the reader might care about them properly. Essentially, more detail, more description, more showing us why to care about certain situations and characters.

Other than that one complaint, a pretty solid book with a unique and intriguing world.

The story and setting was really enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the second half of the book.
The first half was quite slow and the writing style unlike anything I've ever read which took me a while to get used to. I much prefer more upfront descriptive writing styles while this left more for the reader to fill the "gaps".
If you like translated fiction writing style then you might enjoy this.