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Chrysalis and Requiem
Fox & Wit Book Box April 2024 Feature
Indie Ink Award Nominee 2024
At Adraredon Academy, fervent passion, contemporary companionship, and forbidden desires intertwine with tall gothic spires, ancient halls, and centuries of history. Veaer Rosell can't imagine a better place to satiate her craving for beauty, knowledge, and art.
Yet senior year shatters her illusion of tranquillity and civil intellect when she witnesses the headmaster's daughter murder another student and is confronted by an unthinkable choice: avenging her fallen peer or taking this secret to the grave, one way or another.
But fate laughs at Veaer's expense when the headmaster's daughter requests her aid. Driven by an all-consuming thirst for answers, Veaer becomes an untimely partner in solving a murder they both know the answer to, unaware of the intricacies that come with learning the bigger picture and playing with death.
Chrysalis & Requiem is a haunting thriller of tragic obsession and relentless grief, weaving two young, queer women in a spiral of clandestine violence and illicit love.
Indie Ink Award Nominee 2024
At Adraredon Academy, fervent passion, contemporary companionship, and forbidden desires intertwine with tall gothic spires, ancient halls, and centuries of history. Veaer Rosell can't imagine a better place to satiate her craving for beauty, knowledge, and art.
Yet senior year shatters her illusion of tranquillity and civil intellect when she witnesses the headmaster's daughter murder another student and is confronted by an unthinkable choice: avenging her fallen peer or taking this secret to the grave, one way or another.
But fate laughs at Veaer's expense when the headmaster's daughter requests her aid. Driven by an all-consuming thirst for answers, Veaer becomes an untimely partner in solving a murder they both know the answer to, unaware of the intricacies that come with learning the bigger picture and playing with death.
Chrysalis & Requiem is a haunting thriller of tragic obsession and relentless grief, weaving two young, queer women in a spiral of clandestine violence and illicit love.
310 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2024
19 people are currently reading
1395 people want to read
About the author
Quinton Li
9 books151 followersQuinton Li (they/them) is an award-winning non-binary author of spiritual, queer, and evocative narratives that represent underrepresented identities. They are the author of Tell Me How It Ends, and Chrysalis and Requiem, and the editor and curator of Devout: An Anthology of Angels. Their poetry can be found with Panorame Press, Messy Misfits Club and Iris Youth Magazine. Find more at quintonli.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
did-not-finish
February 6, 2024Thank you SO much to the author for sending me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really am so grateful to have been sent this ARC. This book sounded so up my alley: a dark academia with tragic sapphic romance! And certainly the vision for this book is still deeply appealing to me.
However, the story at hand was unfortunately so flooded with grammatical issues that it was impossible to discern, much less to appreciate the vision. I am much more lenient with indie and self-pub books in regards to elements that could be chalked up to editing mistakes (I’m well aware indie and self-pub books are not provided the same amount or quality of resources as tradpub books and refuse to judge them the same) but when the problems are at a level that inhibits the storytelling, I very much have to take issue. And in this case, most of the sentences had such extreme structural issues from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint that it severely affected the work. Not to mention the writing regularly contradicts itself. Whole paragraphs will be spent establishing a truth of the world just for that truth to be directly contradicted in the following sentence. I’ve seen a few reviews on here say “I was too dumb to understand the writing” or “I can’t figure out why the writing doesn’t sound good to me? Is it my fault?” and I’m here to say: No love, you weren’t. It isn’t. You’re not the problem here. The writing wasn’t too dense to comprehend, it was just incomprehensible.
I do absolutely love all of the themes and characters and magical elements that have been brought into these pages. If there is one success in this story, it is the bringing together of this unique collection of elements. Academic atmosphere, romantic queer obsession, murder, angels, ghosts, butterflies, etc., Quinton has captured an incredibly singular and fascinating realm of ideas.
But unfortunately, none of these elements worked together and instead all felt haphazardly dropped into this world. There was no command or control here in the crafting. Motivations were lacking, stakes were unearned, and themes and motifs floated in the atmosphere without any rhyme or reason. There was a clear attempt at referencing the dark academia genre, while missing its most pivotal thematic tether: commentary on academia. Without it, all those elements just drifted out to space in nonsensical orbit instead of offering grounded support to the story being told. It also very clearly tried to reference the high emotions and violent chaos of Shakespearean or even Greco-Roman tragedy, but again, without tying those elements down via earned and intentional moments or understanding how to utilize those elements as a narrative tool. Motifs and themes from well-known genres exist for a reason, and it’s important to make sure that if you’re using those motifs and themes, that you have an understanding of how they work together and what they accomplish. But sadly this was a book that certainly knew what it was in conversation with, but didn’t know how to have a conversation with it.
This is something that has also been brought up by some other reviewers, but this book seems to be set in a fantasy world that the author’s first book also takes place in. Which is fine, I love when authors do that! But there was little to no reason why this book should’ve been in the same world, and with the lack of world-building or explanation present in this story, the fantasy elements just felt like dead weight.
I do hate to have such a disappointing report from this book. The cover is absolutely stunning, the marketing has been INCREDIBLE, and the story really does seem like something worthy of a better execution. I do hope somewhere along their career, whether it be sooner or later, Li has the opportunity to rework this book. There’s something really promising here. But several rounds of scrutinous editing are definitely needed before this hidden gem can really shine.
DNF at page 125
I really am so grateful to have been sent this ARC. This book sounded so up my alley: a dark academia with tragic sapphic romance! And certainly the vision for this book is still deeply appealing to me.
However, the story at hand was unfortunately so flooded with grammatical issues that it was impossible to discern, much less to appreciate the vision. I am much more lenient with indie and self-pub books in regards to elements that could be chalked up to editing mistakes (I’m well aware indie and self-pub books are not provided the same amount or quality of resources as tradpub books and refuse to judge them the same) but when the problems are at a level that inhibits the storytelling, I very much have to take issue. And in this case, most of the sentences had such extreme structural issues from both a technical and aesthetic standpoint that it severely affected the work. Not to mention the writing regularly contradicts itself. Whole paragraphs will be spent establishing a truth of the world just for that truth to be directly contradicted in the following sentence. I’ve seen a few reviews on here say “I was too dumb to understand the writing” or “I can’t figure out why the writing doesn’t sound good to me? Is it my fault?” and I’m here to say: No love, you weren’t. It isn’t. You’re not the problem here. The writing wasn’t too dense to comprehend, it was just incomprehensible.
I do absolutely love all of the themes and characters and magical elements that have been brought into these pages. If there is one success in this story, it is the bringing together of this unique collection of elements. Academic atmosphere, romantic queer obsession, murder, angels, ghosts, butterflies, etc., Quinton has captured an incredibly singular and fascinating realm of ideas.
But unfortunately, none of these elements worked together and instead all felt haphazardly dropped into this world. There was no command or control here in the crafting. Motivations were lacking, stakes were unearned, and themes and motifs floated in the atmosphere without any rhyme or reason. There was a clear attempt at referencing the dark academia genre, while missing its most pivotal thematic tether: commentary on academia. Without it, all those elements just drifted out to space in nonsensical orbit instead of offering grounded support to the story being told. It also very clearly tried to reference the high emotions and violent chaos of Shakespearean or even Greco-Roman tragedy, but again, without tying those elements down via earned and intentional moments or understanding how to utilize those elements as a narrative tool. Motifs and themes from well-known genres exist for a reason, and it’s important to make sure that if you’re using those motifs and themes, that you have an understanding of how they work together and what they accomplish. But sadly this was a book that certainly knew what it was in conversation with, but didn’t know how to have a conversation with it.
This is something that has also been brought up by some other reviewers, but this book seems to be set in a fantasy world that the author’s first book also takes place in. Which is fine, I love when authors do that! But there was little to no reason why this book should’ve been in the same world, and with the lack of world-building or explanation present in this story, the fantasy elements just felt like dead weight.
I do hate to have such a disappointing report from this book. The cover is absolutely stunning, the marketing has been INCREDIBLE, and the story really does seem like something worthy of a better execution. I do hope somewhere along their career, whether it be sooner or later, Li has the opportunity to rework this book. There’s something really promising here. But several rounds of scrutinous editing are definitely needed before this hidden gem can really shine.
DNF at page 125
December 30, 2023
1.75 ★
this was... an experience. the last 12% was definitely interesting, but whether that made up for everything else, I can't really say.
plot - ★★★☆☆
the plot would have been okay if the characters weren't so ridiculous. veaer witnesses the girl she's in love with murder someone and battles with the moral choice of speaking up vs protecting her crush(?) lover? obsession? an interesting premise, and would have worked nicely, in theory, especially without the fantasy aspect. how it was executed, however? repetitive, frustrating, and the fantasy aspect was downright nonsensical.
worldbuilding - ★★☆☆☆
this was actually super interesting but it was so half baked. like i said before, the mystery would have worked just fine without the fantasy aspect. however, if the fantasy part was explained and well incorporated into the story, this could have been a three star book. it's incredibly unique, something to do with angels and queer people (specifically trans and nonbinary people) and i wish that was explored more. i understand there's another book within this universe, which i will be looking into, but this is not part of that series, and it was not said anywhere that the other series should be read before chrysalis. i didn't know there even was another series before personally searching up the author's bio. therefore, if that universe is going to be written into this, i feel like a better explanation into the magic system needs to be offered.
characters - ★☆☆☆☆
i don't think i liked a single character in this book. i absolutely despised the two mains, veaer and elise. elise is vapid and has no personality outside of being pretty, the object of veaer's obsession, and "the princess" (this i don't understand—it's stated that the reason for this title is that her father is... the headmaster? of their school? which would be fine as a pet name, but she is. literally. referred to as a supposed princess. at least 30 times. in this book. full title and all). elise being equivalent to white bread isn't really her fault—she doesn't have a pov and everything we know about her comes from veaer's corniest monologues. she really does have potential, and she's my favorite character, as much as one can have a favorite character in a book like this. now, onto veaer. ve is even more vapid than elise, if you can imagine it. i feel like someone should let you all know, a lesbian being a doormat for a woman is only slightly less embarrassing than a het woman being a doormat for a man, and actually, with the way ve was going, she might have surpassed that too. as for the side characters, they're quite literally nothing. they bring even less to the table than veaer, if you can imagine it. sometimes if the main characters are awful, you can ignore it because of a standout side character. not here. there isn't a single redeeming character at all. perhaps adair?
writing - ★☆☆☆☆
oh god, the writing. the writing was. awful. abhorrent. atrocious. grating. this was so difficult to read, and not because of complexity of the language. veaer's inner monologue, the dialogue, everything was so indescribably bizarre. well no, perhaps the dialogue was salvageable, but everything to do with veaer makes me want to rip my hair out. i've read better writing on ao3.
1.75 ★, because that one scene with adair actually killed me. and because veaer made up for her stupidity in the end. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.
this was... an experience. the last 12% was definitely interesting, but whether that made up for everything else, I can't really say.
plot - ★★★☆☆
the plot would have been okay if the characters weren't so ridiculous. veaer witnesses the girl she's in love with murder someone and battles with the moral choice of speaking up vs protecting her crush(?) lover? obsession? an interesting premise, and would have worked nicely, in theory, especially without the fantasy aspect. how it was executed, however? repetitive, frustrating, and the fantasy aspect was downright nonsensical.
worldbuilding - ★★☆☆☆
this was actually super interesting but it was so half baked. like i said before, the mystery would have worked just fine without the fantasy aspect. however, if the fantasy part was explained and well incorporated into the story, this could have been a three star book. it's incredibly unique, something to do with angels and queer people (specifically trans and nonbinary people) and i wish that was explored more. i understand there's another book within this universe, which i will be looking into, but this is not part of that series, and it was not said anywhere that the other series should be read before chrysalis. i didn't know there even was another series before personally searching up the author's bio. therefore, if that universe is going to be written into this, i feel like a better explanation into the magic system needs to be offered.
characters - ★☆☆☆☆
i don't think i liked a single character in this book. i absolutely despised the two mains, veaer and elise. elise is vapid and has no personality outside of being pretty, the object of veaer's obsession, and "the princess" (this i don't understand—it's stated that the reason for this title is that her father is... the headmaster? of their school? which would be fine as a pet name, but she is. literally. referred to as a supposed princess. at least 30 times. in this book. full title and all). elise being equivalent to white bread isn't really her fault—she doesn't have a pov and everything we know about her comes from veaer's corniest monologues. she really does have potential, and she's my favorite character, as much as one can have a favorite character in a book like this. now, onto veaer. ve is even more vapid than elise, if you can imagine it. i feel like someone should let you all know, a lesbian being a doormat for a woman is only slightly less embarrassing than a het woman being a doormat for a man, and actually, with the way ve was going, she might have surpassed that too. as for the side characters, they're quite literally nothing. they bring even less to the table than veaer, if you can imagine it. sometimes if the main characters are awful, you can ignore it because of a standout side character. not here. there isn't a single redeeming character at all. perhaps adair?
writing - ★☆☆☆☆
oh god, the writing. the writing was. awful. abhorrent. atrocious. grating. this was so difficult to read, and not because of complexity of the language. veaer's inner monologue, the dialogue, everything was so indescribably bizarre. well no, perhaps the dialogue was salvageable, but everything to do with veaer makes me want to rip my hair out. i've read better writing on ao3.
1.75 ★, because that one scene with adair actually killed me. and because veaer made up for her stupidity in the end. thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.
![Profile Image for Yves V.H. [Slow reading].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1710076694i%2F170151541._UY200_CR5%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
March 20, 2024
DNF at 16%
I cannot finish it. I can't 😭 I usually reach at least 30% before deciding if I should DNF a book or not but this one...I can't push through. I'm having difficulty trying to connect with any of the characters.
I've read a rebiew that says, This is why we don't judge a book by its cover. And I agree on this statement for this book. The cover really caught my attention but that's the only good thing I could say about it. I mean, it is beautiful. I remember even describing it as immaculate.
The jump from year 3 to year 1 to year 3 confused me because I do not understand why there's a need for it (probably in the future chapters but still).
The writing...It didn't help at all. I feel like I am reading. Well, yeah, of course I am reading but it is MAKING me read. I hate it when a book can't make me visualize the scenarios. I can't imagine what the characters look like or what they are doing or their surroundings at all. I feel like I am just stuck in their head where there is nothing. I need a book that helps me visualize a movie and not just read.
I am so sorry. I am very thankful for the eARC from Netgalley and the publisher but I really can't push through. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily
I cannot finish it. I can't 😭 I usually reach at least 30% before deciding if I should DNF a book or not but this one...I can't push through. I'm having difficulty trying to connect with any of the characters.
I've read a rebiew that says, This is why we don't judge a book by its cover. And I agree on this statement for this book. The cover really caught my attention but that's the only good thing I could say about it. I mean, it is beautiful. I remember even describing it as immaculate.
The jump from year 3 to year 1 to year 3 confused me because I do not understand why there's a need for it (probably in the future chapters but still).
The writing...It didn't help at all. I feel like I am reading. Well, yeah, of course I am reading but it is MAKING me read. I hate it when a book can't make me visualize the scenarios. I can't imagine what the characters look like or what they are doing or their surroundings at all. I feel like I am just stuck in their head where there is nothing. I need a book that helps me visualize a movie and not just read.
I am so sorry. I am very thankful for the eARC from Netgalley and the publisher but I really can't push through. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily
January 30, 2024
I received an arc for this book from netgalley, and I honestly just feel really stupid when I read it? I've had to dnf at about 16% and I have to put it down for now because I don't want to give this book crap if it's just me being in a mood? I'm 3 starring it for now just to try and be fair. But when I get back to it and read the whole thing, I will readjust if needed.
But I find the language used... very grating to read? It's hard to explain but it feels unenjoyable?? I have never felt this way about words on a page before so I'm unsure on how to process. And I know this is reeeeeeeeeeally nit picky but I hate the word "princess" 🤢 and when I read that word, it makes me feel like cheese grating my own skin off, and I saw someone else mention in their review that the word princess is used a tonne through this book which is insta-ick for me.
This is my honest opinion, I feel bad, I'm sorry? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But I find the language used... very grating to read? It's hard to explain but it feels unenjoyable?? I have never felt this way about words on a page before so I'm unsure on how to process. And I know this is reeeeeeeeeeally nit picky but I hate the word "princess" 🤢 and when I read that word, it makes me feel like cheese grating my own skin off, and I saw someone else mention in their review that the word princess is used a tonne through this book which is insta-ick for me.
This is my honest opinion, I feel bad, I'm sorry? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
June 3, 2024
This had great ingredients, from a underground cult to obsessive love, but it wasn't cooked well. So it didn't really ate—apologies for whatever I just did here. Basically, the characters were the best part with the morally grey personalities and it had strong elements like a sapphic angst and dark academia vibes. But since it tried to do to much, the final story fell flat.
January 9, 2024
3.75 stars
this feels so different and weird to anything ive read before, and i loved it from the characters the crazy ass culty storyline and the twisted lesbianism of it all. now you couldn't pay me to explain what happened in the first 10% of this book as i genuinely have no idea but once they were over the story and plot pick up to give you a breathtaking light academia (imo) with murder, conflicting feelings, a main character obsessed with beauty and the princess who's the epitome of that beauty that is blinded by needing to be loved and to feel enough that she goes to extremes. some moments had me holding my breath, the romance was chef's kiss, i love me toxic twisted lesbians!!
one thing about me is that im a whore for religious imagery so i was eating all of it up and am all around so glad i got the arc for this book
this feels so different and weird to anything ive read before, and i loved it from the characters the crazy ass culty storyline and the twisted lesbianism of it all. now you couldn't pay me to explain what happened in the first 10% of this book as i genuinely have no idea but once they were over the story and plot pick up to give you a breathtaking light academia (imo) with murder, conflicting feelings, a main character obsessed with beauty and the princess who's the epitome of that beauty that is blinded by needing to be loved and to feel enough that she goes to extremes. some moments had me holding my breath, the romance was chef's kiss, i love me toxic twisted lesbians!!
one thing about me is that im a whore for religious imagery so i was eating all of it up and am all around so glad i got the arc for this book
February 7, 2024
I truly wanted to love this book. The minute I read the premise I knew I wanted to read it. Queer dark academia? That will always get me excited and I was basically foaming at the mouth when I got approved to finally pick this up.
Was it a good book? Yes.
Did I go into this with high expectations and was left a tad disappointed? Also yes.
What I did love was the characters, themselves. They are perfectly written for a book with this theme and atmosphere. I also loved the shifting timeline that gave us more of an insight into the characters.
I honestly think this book would’ve been great if it wasn’t fantasy because in my opinion, it was that aspect of the book that fell flat for me.
However, I had fun with this book and I’m interested to read other works by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Was it a good book? Yes.
Did I go into this with high expectations and was left a tad disappointed? Also yes.
What I did love was the characters, themselves. They are perfectly written for a book with this theme and atmosphere. I also loved the shifting timeline that gave us more of an insight into the characters.
I honestly think this book would’ve been great if it wasn’t fantasy because in my opinion, it was that aspect of the book that fell flat for me.
However, I had fun with this book and I’m interested to read other works by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 26, 2024
2.5 stars rounded up. I'm disappointed in my reaction to the book, as I wanted to love it much more than I did. There are some really interesting dynamics and concepts at play. However I ultimately failed to follow and connect with the story as it unfolded in the way I had hoped to.
I've recently read another of Quinton Li's works "Tell Me How It Ends" and I did find I enjoyed "Chrysalis and Requiem" more and felt some real noticeable growth in their writing with this one, though as a reader I would like to see this continue to improve moving forwards.
This book captured my interest during many of the high-stakes, tension-building moments. I would say that towards the end of the book, events became more cohesive and gripping. The beginning of the book was a bit more scattered and difficult to follow, particularly the timeline of scenes and the mental state of each of the characters. I found it difficult to make sense of certain aspects such as the repetitions of 1,2,3,4 and finger tapping during times of stress, or flashback thoughts or memories that are interjected during unrelated conversations and scenes.
One positive thing I will say about this author, is they handle character differences smoothly and with great skill. Gender, sexuality and disabilities are portrayed and discussed on page with consistent respect and appreciation. This is something I love and you rarely see done well. I share a love of tarot with the author also and to see it so abundantly featured within their books is wonderful. There were references to biblically accurate angels which is a bold thing to include, seeing as they are kind of terrifying. You can tell the author's interests shine through in their work and their passion for certain subjects is easy to see. I think for those that have not read any other work by Quinton Li, there's likely to be some confusion for readers about Chrysalis and Requiem's magic and people, such as the differences between Caemi and Senti as I don't recall it being explained much within this book.
Overall, I am glad I gave the author's work another go by reading this book and I hope to see them continue to improve their writing style in future. I would love to see some short stories set in this world so that they can hone their writing skill and story creation before diving into another ambitious and complex project such as another novel. Their ideas are always impressive, it's the execution that does not translate so well into a great reading experience.
Thank you Quinton Li and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I've recently read another of Quinton Li's works "Tell Me How It Ends" and I did find I enjoyed "Chrysalis and Requiem" more and felt some real noticeable growth in their writing with this one, though as a reader I would like to see this continue to improve moving forwards.
This book captured my interest during many of the high-stakes, tension-building moments. I would say that towards the end of the book, events became more cohesive and gripping. The beginning of the book was a bit more scattered and difficult to follow, particularly the timeline of scenes and the mental state of each of the characters. I found it difficult to make sense of certain aspects such as the repetitions of 1,2,3,4 and finger tapping during times of stress, or flashback thoughts or memories that are interjected during unrelated conversations and scenes.
One positive thing I will say about this author, is they handle character differences smoothly and with great skill. Gender, sexuality and disabilities are portrayed and discussed on page with consistent respect and appreciation. This is something I love and you rarely see done well. I share a love of tarot with the author also and to see it so abundantly featured within their books is wonderful. There were references to biblically accurate angels which is a bold thing to include, seeing as they are kind of terrifying. You can tell the author's interests shine through in their work and their passion for certain subjects is easy to see. I think for those that have not read any other work by Quinton Li, there's likely to be some confusion for readers about Chrysalis and Requiem's magic and people, such as the differences between Caemi and Senti as I don't recall it being explained much within this book.
Overall, I am glad I gave the author's work another go by reading this book and I hope to see them continue to improve their writing style in future. I would love to see some short stories set in this world so that they can hone their writing skill and story creation before diving into another ambitious and complex project such as another novel. Their ideas are always impressive, it's the execution that does not translate so well into a great reading experience.
Thank you Quinton Li and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
January 9, 2024
"Grief shows us our love left behind. And sometimes we won't want to let go, because our grief is proof that this person was in our life and mattered then and matters now."
2.5 rounded up to a 3.
Conceptually, Chrysalis and Requiem is very Youngblood meets Seven Faceless Saints meets Jennifer's Body: a queer, dark academia story in a fantasy world with religious cults and women obsessed with each other to the point of murder. Conceptually, Chrysalis and Requiem had so much potential, and in reading it, you can see exactly the places where this could've been an amazing book.
Unfortunately, where this fell short was in the actual execution: the writing, the characters, the plot, everything in between the grand and wonderful ideas that sparked Chrysalis and Requiem. At every turn that I found something I loved about Chrysalis and Requiem, there was something that absolutely ruined it. I think one of the biggest instances of this for me was that, in the first part, there's a shifting timeline which could've been utilized so differently. You start in Year 3, having no idea what's happening, and then go back to Year 1, hoping to get that back and forth of "this is where we started, and this is where we are." But there's maybe... three, four scenes of Year 1 in this book total, and none of them actually add anything to this book. They're pointless and poorly utilized, and honestly, if Li had kept more of that shifting timeline throughout Chrysalis and Requiem, it would've made this book so much better.
The other thing about Chrysalis and Requiem is that it takes place in a fantasy world, where there are different species and types of magic - and yet, that is talked about so little in this story that the random reminders of it feel out of place. This could've taken place in a normal college in our world, and it wouldn't have made a difference. The magic in Chrysalis and Requiem is so incidental, and it was like the author could neither commit to making this a fantasy book or straight fiction. On top of that, you have the religious cult at the centre of this book, which only makes no sense, but also isn't explained. Is the religion they're serving real? Maybe? No? What's the background? Why are there angels? What's the lore of this universe? Couldn't tell you.
But really, the crux of this book - and I think the major driving force behind Li writing it - is Veaer and Elise's relationship. Obsessive WLW romance? Absolutely, 10/10, sign me up. I love unhinged and possessive queer relationships. But that's not what Li gave us. Instead, it's made completely plain and clear throughout the entire book that Veaer's interest in Elise is completely one-sided, and the big plot twist at the end is just that. Were we supposed to think that Veaer and Elise loved each other equally? For most of this book, it reads like Elise forgets Veaer even exists, let alone tolerates her.
I think part of that is owed to the fact that there isn't a single solidly fleshed-out character in Chrysalis and Requiem, and that includes our main characters. For all of the internal monologue we hear from Veaer, we know so little about her, and even though part of her backstory is supposed to be a big bomb drop, it's just a completely random piece of lore that isn't even brought up until halfway through the book. The rest of the characters seem to do extreme things without any sort of motivation, and in a lot of places, their characterizations are just unrealistic: being called into the headmaster's office to be disciplined by both him and his son, who is also a fellow student of yours? Yeah, that makes zero sense. Every character is just so pigeonholed into a role and a type in this book that they read more like a list of character tropes than real people.
For all of this, though, there are so many parts in Chrysalis and Requiem that were really, really good. My favourite character is Tychon, without a doubt: having his ghost lingering throughout the book is very Shakespearian, and the visions Veaer has of him are so beautifully described. They're absolutely the best parts of the book, and they lend so much not only to the plot, but to Veaer's character. Along with that, Li's descriptions of the trans body as heavenly creation were absolutely beautiful, and left me a little speechless. There are a lot of banger lines in Chrysalis and Requiem, and really, I think Li would make an excellent poet.
Unfortunately, those really amazing parts aren't enough to make up for the rest of this book. Chrysalis and Requiem reads more as a first draft rather than a finished product, and I think with some rearranging and fleshing-out, this book could truly be something spectacular. As it is, however, it's just alright.
**Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
2.5 rounded up to a 3.
Conceptually, Chrysalis and Requiem is very Youngblood meets Seven Faceless Saints meets Jennifer's Body: a queer, dark academia story in a fantasy world with religious cults and women obsessed with each other to the point of murder. Conceptually, Chrysalis and Requiem had so much potential, and in reading it, you can see exactly the places where this could've been an amazing book.
Unfortunately, where this fell short was in the actual execution: the writing, the characters, the plot, everything in between the grand and wonderful ideas that sparked Chrysalis and Requiem. At every turn that I found something I loved about Chrysalis and Requiem, there was something that absolutely ruined it. I think one of the biggest instances of this for me was that, in the first part, there's a shifting timeline which could've been utilized so differently. You start in Year 3, having no idea what's happening, and then go back to Year 1, hoping to get that back and forth of "this is where we started, and this is where we are." But there's maybe... three, four scenes of Year 1 in this book total, and none of them actually add anything to this book. They're pointless and poorly utilized, and honestly, if Li had kept more of that shifting timeline throughout Chrysalis and Requiem, it would've made this book so much better.
The other thing about Chrysalis and Requiem is that it takes place in a fantasy world, where there are different species and types of magic - and yet, that is talked about so little in this story that the random reminders of it feel out of place. This could've taken place in a normal college in our world, and it wouldn't have made a difference. The magic in Chrysalis and Requiem is so incidental, and it was like the author could neither commit to making this a fantasy book or straight fiction. On top of that, you have the religious cult at the centre of this book, which only makes no sense, but also isn't explained. Is the religion they're serving real? Maybe? No? What's the background? Why are there angels? What's the lore of this universe? Couldn't tell you.
But really, the crux of this book - and I think the major driving force behind Li writing it - is Veaer and Elise's relationship. Obsessive WLW romance? Absolutely, 10/10, sign me up. I love unhinged and possessive queer relationships. But that's not what Li gave us. Instead, it's made completely plain and clear throughout the entire book that Veaer's interest in Elise is completely one-sided, and the big plot twist at the end is just that. Were we supposed to think that Veaer and Elise loved each other equally? For most of this book, it reads like Elise forgets Veaer even exists, let alone tolerates her.
I think part of that is owed to the fact that there isn't a single solidly fleshed-out character in Chrysalis and Requiem, and that includes our main characters. For all of the internal monologue we hear from Veaer, we know so little about her, and even though part of her backstory is supposed to be a big bomb drop, it's just a completely random piece of lore that isn't even brought up until halfway through the book. The rest of the characters seem to do extreme things without any sort of motivation, and in a lot of places, their characterizations are just unrealistic: being called into the headmaster's office to be disciplined by both him and his son, who is also a fellow student of yours? Yeah, that makes zero sense. Every character is just so pigeonholed into a role and a type in this book that they read more like a list of character tropes than real people.
For all of this, though, there are so many parts in Chrysalis and Requiem that were really, really good. My favourite character is Tychon, without a doubt: having his ghost lingering throughout the book is very Shakespearian, and the visions Veaer has of him are so beautifully described. They're absolutely the best parts of the book, and they lend so much not only to the plot, but to Veaer's character. Along with that, Li's descriptions of the trans body as heavenly creation were absolutely beautiful, and left me a little speechless. There are a lot of banger lines in Chrysalis and Requiem, and really, I think Li would make an excellent poet.
Unfortunately, those really amazing parts aren't enough to make up for the rest of this book. Chrysalis and Requiem reads more as a first draft rather than a finished product, and I think with some rearranging and fleshing-out, this book could truly be something spectacular. As it is, however, it's just alright.
**Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
did-not-finish
February 2, 2024try as I might the book just didn't keep me intrigued enough to continue
March 20, 2024
3 stars 🖤 arc review!!!
To start I got a free physical copy of this book and what a pretty book it is!!?
Ok review;
To start with the things I like, I liked the obsessive morally grey character build of the mc I know a lot of other people don’t but I do like that. I do think the main relationship did jump out of nowhere but it’s a pretty short book so the pacing was always going to be fast.
I liked the side characters too I just wish we got more time with them I think they had really good base lines and would love to have seen them more in the book!!
My main fault was just I was confused on what was happening half the time, now I am dumb as hell but it did jump around a lot again I think mainly to the fact the book was pretty short I think it needed to be more in depth and a lil slower in pace to really flow with the story, I did like the ending again think it should of been longer but do think it did tie the story together quite nicely but doesn’t escape the fact I had no idea what was happening in the middle. The angels and magic really needed to be explained because I don’t think it ever truly was and I was going through the book not been able to figure it out so pls explain magic to me like I’m 10.
To start I got a free physical copy of this book and what a pretty book it is!!?
Ok review;
To start with the things I like, I liked the obsessive morally grey character build of the mc I know a lot of other people don’t but I do like that. I do think the main relationship did jump out of nowhere but it’s a pretty short book so the pacing was always going to be fast.
I liked the side characters too I just wish we got more time with them I think they had really good base lines and would love to have seen them more in the book!!
My main fault was just I was confused on what was happening half the time, now I am dumb as hell but it did jump around a lot again I think mainly to the fact the book was pretty short I think it needed to be more in depth and a lil slower in pace to really flow with the story, I did like the ending again think it should of been longer but do think it did tie the story together quite nicely but doesn’t escape the fact I had no idea what was happening in the middle. The angels and magic really needed to be explained because I don’t think it ever truly was and I was going through the book not been able to figure it out so pls explain magic to me like I’m 10.
February 8, 2024
ARC provided by publisher— Victory Editing— in exchange for an honest review
This,, was a difficult read. Oh man, that was a close dnf but I pulled through in the end. The last 60ish pages, sick! cool! I love a girl going religiously insane! The rest of the book- girl what are we doing. How did it have so many words and yet,, nothing comprehended in my brain. The characters felt so one dimensional and reading about the main characters constant love for the love interested for about 270ish pages despite there being obvious that more important things could be and were happening was,, a moment for sure. Goodbye few hours of my life that I can never get back. Lots of potential though, don’t get me wrong.
This,, was a difficult read. Oh man, that was a close dnf but I pulled through in the end. The last 60ish pages, sick! cool! I love a girl going religiously insane! The rest of the book- girl what are we doing. How did it have so many words and yet,, nothing comprehended in my brain. The characters felt so one dimensional and reading about the main characters constant love for the love interested for about 270ish pages despite there being obvious that more important things could be and were happening was,, a moment for sure. Goodbye few hours of my life that I can never get back. Lots of potential though, don’t get me wrong.
April 9, 2024
1.75/5.0
Where to start....I think it was full of good ideas, but the execution was not...good. Which is a huge disappointment as I even pre-ordered the ebook.
The grammar was so confusing at some points, that it made a lot of sentences hard to even grasp. There are also contradictions in the narrative.
Don't even ask me what the first 15% or so was about. The ending got a bit better but it's not worth putting myself through 9 hours of indigestible reading
I really wanted to like this but sometimes things to go the way you planned or wanted to...
Where to start....I think it was full of good ideas, but the execution was not...good. Which is a huge disappointment as I even pre-ordered the ebook.
The grammar was so confusing at some points, that it made a lot of sentences hard to even grasp. There are also contradictions in the narrative.
Don't even ask me what the first 15% or so was about. The ending got a bit better but it's not worth putting myself through 9 hours of indigestible reading
I really wanted to like this but sometimes things to go the way you planned or wanted to...
January 3, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC for this book.
I feel like this book had everything I could've ever wanted. Fantasy? Dark academia? Sapphics? All my jam. At first, reading style felt magical, I could see watercolors flow as I read. However, as the book went on, I feel like the author has lost their spark and it started becoming dull. The characterizations were quite interesting in the beginning yet as it went on, they became plain. I also had trouble connecting some things. Sometimes it was too much info dump, sometimes such few. It needed more balancing out. I kept going between overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
Such a good idea, yet the execution could have been improved.
I feel like this book had everything I could've ever wanted. Fantasy? Dark academia? Sapphics? All my jam. At first, reading style felt magical, I could see watercolors flow as I read. However, as the book went on, I feel like the author has lost their spark and it started becoming dull. The characterizations were quite interesting in the beginning yet as it went on, they became plain. I also had trouble connecting some things. Sometimes it was too much info dump, sometimes such few. It needed more balancing out. I kept going between overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
Such a good idea, yet the execution could have been improved.
January 21, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for supplying this ARC!
Well... that was something. Two stars. I considered 1.5. Chrysalis & Requiem has an insanely interesting premise, with excellent intertextuality, and a great dark academia vibe. The last ~15% of this book was by far the most interesting, and read far smoother than many earlier chapters. I also adored the representation of queer and trans folk in this book, so big ups on that! Despite that, I did have several issues reading this book.
The writing was indistinct, confusing and chaotic. While I recognize this writing style was likely a purposeful choice to exhibit the chaos of grief and mourning, it ultimately worked against Li. The writing style that often focused too much on the philosophical rather than the scene contributed greatly to the confusion I felt trying to keep pace with this book. Settings were unclear, and character dialogues left me constantly flipping back pages to understand what I was currently reading about. It was ultimately made worse by the convoluted world-building, plot, and characterization. I think this book had a fantastic plot! A cult forming in the underbelly of a prestigious academy with toxic wlw? Yes please. But it was let down by characters that I was ultimately uninterested in, who were without clear motivations and purposes. Major plot points only occurred for the sake of occurring, rather than being prompted by the characters actions. The naming and magic systems of the characters were also a primary source of my confusion. A lot of the names felt like keyboard smashes, and then there was Elise?, ultimately it needed a lot more clarity. Likewise, the magic system wasn't explained in the slightest- and while I appreciate the lack of exposition, it resulted in a horrifically overwhelming feeling while reading this book. Ultimately, Chrysalis & Requiem requires serious reflection and editing to improve the clarity of the narrative arc.
After seeing many people feel the same about this book, I hope Li onboards the feedback and applies it successfully. I would love to read this book again after it's officially published to see the changes, and hopefully, be less confused the second read around.
Well... that was something. Two stars. I considered 1.5. Chrysalis & Requiem has an insanely interesting premise, with excellent intertextuality, and a great dark academia vibe. The last ~15% of this book was by far the most interesting, and read far smoother than many earlier chapters. I also adored the representation of queer and trans folk in this book, so big ups on that! Despite that, I did have several issues reading this book.
The writing was indistinct, confusing and chaotic. While I recognize this writing style was likely a purposeful choice to exhibit the chaos of grief and mourning, it ultimately worked against Li. The writing style that often focused too much on the philosophical rather than the scene contributed greatly to the confusion I felt trying to keep pace with this book. Settings were unclear, and character dialogues left me constantly flipping back pages to understand what I was currently reading about. It was ultimately made worse by the convoluted world-building, plot, and characterization. I think this book had a fantastic plot! A cult forming in the underbelly of a prestigious academy with toxic wlw? Yes please. But it was let down by characters that I was ultimately uninterested in, who were without clear motivations and purposes. Major plot points only occurred for the sake of occurring, rather than being prompted by the characters actions. The naming and magic systems of the characters were also a primary source of my confusion. A lot of the names felt like keyboard smashes, and then there was Elise?, ultimately it needed a lot more clarity. Likewise, the magic system wasn't explained in the slightest- and while I appreciate the lack of exposition, it resulted in a horrifically overwhelming feeling while reading this book. Ultimately, Chrysalis & Requiem requires serious reflection and editing to improve the clarity of the narrative arc.
After seeing many people feel the same about this book, I hope Li onboards the feedback and applies it successfully. I would love to read this book again after it's officially published to see the changes, and hopefully, be less confused the second read around.
January 24, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review!
I was so excited about this book. It sounded tailor made for me, with queer characters and angels and dark academia vibes. It was a collection of tropes and scenes that I've absolutely eaten up in other books. Unfortunately, though, they just fell flat in this one for me.
I couldn't get attached to Veaer. I didn't understand her obsessive fascination with Elise at the beginning, which seemed to be simply because Veaer needed a project to research. As Elise became more manipulative and toxic throughout the book, it was easier to understand Veaer's continued attachment, but the genesis of her obsession was totally foreign to me, which made Veaer less compelling to me.
I also felt like the whole magic system with the patrons, caemi, and senti took away from the story more than they added to it. I can't think of a single aspect of the plot that could not exist without the caemi/senti system. Additionally, the biblically accurate angel mythology was super interesting! However, it felt out of place in a world with a completely different religious system---what were the angels worshipping, if not the patrons? If they were worshipping the patrons, why were they biblically accurate? I think angels are super fascinating, but completely removed from any biblical context they lose a lot of their meaning and symbolism.
The vibes of this book were cool, though. The descriptions of the school were fun and there were some genuinely beautiful paragraphs of writing. I liked the dark academia aspect, but I feel like this book just tried to do too much, and it didn't really work for me.
I was so excited about this book. It sounded tailor made for me, with queer characters and angels and dark academia vibes. It was a collection of tropes and scenes that I've absolutely eaten up in other books. Unfortunately, though, they just fell flat in this one for me.
I couldn't get attached to Veaer. I didn't understand her obsessive fascination with Elise at the beginning, which seemed to be simply because Veaer needed a project to research. As Elise became more manipulative and toxic throughout the book, it was easier to understand Veaer's continued attachment, but the genesis of her obsession was totally foreign to me, which made Veaer less compelling to me.
I also felt like the whole magic system with the patrons, caemi, and senti took away from the story more than they added to it. I can't think of a single aspect of the plot that could not exist without the caemi/senti system. Additionally, the biblically accurate angel mythology was super interesting! However, it felt out of place in a world with a completely different religious system---what were the angels worshipping, if not the patrons? If they were worshipping the patrons, why were they biblically accurate? I think angels are super fascinating, but completely removed from any biblical context they lose a lot of their meaning and symbolism.
The vibes of this book were cool, though. The descriptions of the school were fun and there were some genuinely beautiful paragraphs of writing. I liked the dark academia aspect, but I feel like this book just tried to do too much, and it didn't really work for me.
January 25, 2024
I am having a difficult time articulating how I felt about this book. I was, at the begging, a bit bored and very confused with the world building but that got a bit better as I kept reading, however, it did felt lacking which is honestly sad to say considering how interesting the premise about angels and death was. One of the main reasons this is not getting a 5 stars even though I actually had a great time reading this, was the character of Elise, and maybe she was meant to be written this cryptic but at times she read like an 18 teen girl and other times she read like a other worldly being which would take me out of the story at times. 3.75/5 rounded up.
Edit: Actually I changed my mind, this is closer to a three than a four.
Edit: Actually I changed my mind, this is closer to a three than a four.
January 20, 2024
1,5⭐️
[Scroll down for the English review]
🇪🇦 Menudo desastre de libro, y peor aún, MENUDA DECEPCIÓN. Cuando vi la portada y leí la sinopsis me enamoré, la premisa es muy interesante y eso es lo que más rabia me da.
La trama es buena pero está horriblemente ejecutada. La mayor parte del libro no sabes lo que está pasando ya que hay escenas sin contexto aparante y la continuidad es horrenda.
Los personajes son súper vacíos, solo leemos desde la perspectiva de Veaer la cual tiene una obsesion enorme con Elise pero a parte de eso no sabría decir nada más sobre ella. Todo esto me enfada muchísimo ya que esta historia está llena de potencial, los moldes para los personajes estaban ahí el problema es que estaban vacíos.
La construcción del mundo y la magia es inexistente. Soy incapaz de comprender lo que quería hacer la autora más alla de las dos divisiones en los humanos, los Caemi y los Senti, y hasta eso es confuso y está poco explicado. Me gustó la relación de los ángeles con llegar a tu "máxima expresion" o ser y me habría gustado verlo explicado ya que tiene que ver con él género de alguna forma y parecía interesante.
Por último, lo peor de todo fue la escritura. Era casi imposible seguir los pensamientos de la protagonista y ya no por las palabras innecesariamente complicadas si no por la forma en la que estaba expresado. Era imposible seguir el hilo de la historia.
En conclusión, le doy 0,5⭐️ por la representación queer ya que es diversa y esta bien hecha.
Seguí leyendo con la esperanza de que mejoraría pero no lo hizo.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
🇺🇸This book was a complete mess, and honestly, a big disapointment. When I saw the beutiful cover and I read the premise I thought this book would be a new favourite and I'm so frustrated that it was not.
The plot is really interesting but the exectution is horrible. There were some scenes with little to no context and this affected the continuity greatly.
The characters had no personality. The whole book is narrated from the prespective of Veaer whose obsessed with a girl named Elise. That's the only thing I can say about her because that's her whole personality. The secondary characters are even worse. I'm so frustrated because they had a lot of potential.
The world building was non-existent. The only thing that's clear is the division in humans, Caemi and Senti and that is still confusing and barerly explained. I liked what the author wanted to do with the angels but like everything else it was all over the place and you couldn't understand a thing. It's a shame because they were related with gender and I thought that would be a cool exploration of it.
However, the worst thing about this book is the writing. There were overlycomplicated words to describe simple actions or emotions and the way everything was expressed was confusing. You couldn't follow the story propretly.
In conclusión, I gave it 0,5⭐️ because of the queer representation, I think it is really well done and diverse.
I kept reading because I thought that it might get better but it didn't.
[Scroll down for the English review]
🇪🇦 Menudo desastre de libro, y peor aún, MENUDA DECEPCIÓN. Cuando vi la portada y leí la sinopsis me enamoré, la premisa es muy interesante y eso es lo que más rabia me da.
La trama es buena pero está horriblemente ejecutada. La mayor parte del libro no sabes lo que está pasando ya que hay escenas sin contexto aparante y la continuidad es horrenda.
Los personajes son súper vacíos, solo leemos desde la perspectiva de Veaer la cual tiene una obsesion enorme con Elise pero a parte de eso no sabría decir nada más sobre ella. Todo esto me enfada muchísimo ya que esta historia está llena de potencial, los moldes para los personajes estaban ahí el problema es que estaban vacíos.
La construcción del mundo y la magia es inexistente. Soy incapaz de comprender lo que quería hacer la autora más alla de las dos divisiones en los humanos, los Caemi y los Senti, y hasta eso es confuso y está poco explicado. Me gustó la relación de los ángeles con llegar a tu "máxima expresion" o ser y me habría gustado verlo explicado ya que tiene que ver con él género de alguna forma y parecía interesante.
Por último, lo peor de todo fue la escritura. Era casi imposible seguir los pensamientos de la protagonista y ya no por las palabras innecesariamente complicadas si no por la forma en la que estaba expresado. Era imposible seguir el hilo de la historia.
En conclusión, le doy 0,5⭐️ por la representación queer ya que es diversa y esta bien hecha.
Seguí leyendo con la esperanza de que mejoraría pero no lo hizo.
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
🇺🇸This book was a complete mess, and honestly, a big disapointment. When I saw the beutiful cover and I read the premise I thought this book would be a new favourite and I'm so frustrated that it was not.
The plot is really interesting but the exectution is horrible. There were some scenes with little to no context and this affected the continuity greatly.
The characters had no personality. The whole book is narrated from the prespective of Veaer whose obsessed with a girl named Elise. That's the only thing I can say about her because that's her whole personality. The secondary characters are even worse. I'm so frustrated because they had a lot of potential.
The world building was non-existent. The only thing that's clear is the division in humans, Caemi and Senti and that is still confusing and barerly explained. I liked what the author wanted to do with the angels but like everything else it was all over the place and you couldn't understand a thing. It's a shame because they were related with gender and I thought that would be a cool exploration of it.
However, the worst thing about this book is the writing. There were overlycomplicated words to describe simple actions or emotions and the way everything was expressed was confusing. You couldn't follow the story propretly.
In conclusión, I gave it 0,5⭐️ because of the queer representation, I think it is really well done and diverse.
I kept reading because I thought that it might get better but it didn't.
January 16, 2024
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
I received arc thanks to Netgallery (dnf 18%)
I wasn't able to enjoy it, even though i tried.
The writing style is uneven and overwhelming.
For example whole 1st chapter is unreadable because there is to much informations and weirdly used words that it was really hard to stayed focused. I'm level B2 in eng even though it's not my native language, but lots of those words are used so badly that it didn't make sense to me. In other words It feels like raw not as finished book.
There is also this weird use of flash backs.
I received arc thanks to Netgallery (dnf 18%)
I wasn't able to enjoy it, even though i tried.
The writing style is uneven and overwhelming.
For example whole 1st chapter is unreadable because there is to much informations and weirdly used words that it was really hard to stayed focused. I'm level B2 in eng even though it's not my native language, but lots of those words are used so badly that it didn't make sense to me. In other words It feels like raw not as finished book.
There is also this weird use of flash backs.
March 14, 2024
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I got to 25% and honestly still have absolutely 0 clue what is happening. It feels like the book started already halfway through a story. Everything is so overly wordy but absolutely nothing is explained. There was a couple large events that happened including a murder but like, I have no idea why that murder was done and not in a "ooh mystery" but a "what the hell is happening and why is any of this happening" way. I can't even tell you most of what happened because I straight up don't remember so much. It's not that memorable at all and mixed with how overly wordy everything is, it's just tiring to read.
I can't even work out if the "princess" is actually a princess or if it's just a kinda creepy nickname the MC uses.
The synopsis does sound interesting though, and through the writing there does feel like there's something there. But in my opinion it just needs to spend a bit longer being worked on in all honesty.
I got to 25% and honestly still have absolutely 0 clue what is happening. It feels like the book started already halfway through a story. Everything is so overly wordy but absolutely nothing is explained. There was a couple large events that happened including a murder but like, I have no idea why that murder was done and not in a "ooh mystery" but a "what the hell is happening and why is any of this happening" way. I can't even tell you most of what happened because I straight up don't remember so much. It's not that memorable at all and mixed with how overly wordy everything is, it's just tiring to read.
I can't even work out if the "princess" is actually a princess or if it's just a kinda creepy nickname the MC uses.
The synopsis does sound interesting though, and through the writing there does feel like there's something there. But in my opinion it just needs to spend a bit longer being worked on in all honesty.
January 13, 2024
Dnfed this book, gave it 3 stars as to not 'tank' the reviews too much
Story had potential!
I got to 30% of this book and am struggling to pick it back up. The world/species of this book is very confusing and I feel like I've just been thrown into the middle of it with little to no explanation.
Story had potential!
I got to 30% of this book and am struggling to pick it back up. The world/species of this book is very confusing and I feel like I've just been thrown into the middle of it with little to no explanation.
Want to read
December 28, 2023what a cover 😍
February 17, 2024
i wish i liked this more. but there was too much i didn‘t really get and too much i didn‘t care about.
did-not-finish
May 2, 2025DNF - page 69 (21%)
(May 2, 2025)
CW: blood, murder
Absolutely GUTTED I did not like this sapphic, dark fantasy, dark academia. But the confusing structure of some of these sentences is making me feel like I don't remember how to read.
Biggest disappointment of 2025 so far.
(May 2, 2025)
CW: blood, murder
Absolutely GUTTED I did not like this sapphic, dark fantasy, dark academia. But the confusing structure of some of these sentences is making me feel like I don't remember how to read.
Biggest disappointment of 2025 so far.
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Read
June 27, 2024I tried... but I couldn't do it. DNF at 15%.
January 8, 2024
A massive thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
To start off, I really wanted to love this book, it had everything I love to read: dark academia, queer rep and obsessive/crazed characters. However, it unfortunately fell flat for me. There is a real lack of world building and development to these characters and the world. I definitely see a lot of potential with this story after some reworking, but I really struggled to finish it as it is.
I do not understand the main character's reasons for the way she acts, and struggled to care about her and what she was doing. Since the book is written in Veaer's POV, there was very little done to make me like the love interest Elise, and she was incredibly one dimensional throughout. A lot of times scenes felt overly melodramatic, and I found it hard to keep focused on what was happening due to the excessive flowery language. The pacing also felt weird, with some aspects being overly explained and others not explained at all, I often felt very confused over what the author was trying to draw my attention to.
I think with some work this could be an excellent story, but as it stands right now, it was not my favourite.
To start off, I really wanted to love this book, it had everything I love to read: dark academia, queer rep and obsessive/crazed characters. However, it unfortunately fell flat for me. There is a real lack of world building and development to these characters and the world. I definitely see a lot of potential with this story after some reworking, but I really struggled to finish it as it is.
I do not understand the main character's reasons for the way she acts, and struggled to care about her and what she was doing. Since the book is written in Veaer's POV, there was very little done to make me like the love interest Elise, and she was incredibly one dimensional throughout. A lot of times scenes felt overly melodramatic, and I found it hard to keep focused on what was happening due to the excessive flowery language. The pacing also felt weird, with some aspects being overly explained and others not explained at all, I often felt very confused over what the author was trying to draw my attention to.
I think with some work this could be an excellent story, but as it stands right now, it was not my favourite.
December 28, 2023
Thank you for reading (or considering) Chrysalis and Requiem!
This speculative thriller against a dark academia backdrop is my sophomore novel and I'm excited for it to be my first sapphic dark academia release. I've had these characters since I was 14 years old and now they get to be in a book of their very own.
I really appreciate all the support and adds towards this novel. I've been able to do really cool things for this release such as physical arcs, using netgalley, expanding my author network, speaking about it at an international writers' festival, and even (spoiler just for you) be part of a 2024 book box to deliver my first ever hardcover edition of a book I wrote (stay tuned for the announcement!)
Please heed the following content warnings:
This book contains references and themes to alcohol/drug use, blood, confrontation to abuser, death), emotional abuse), escalating violence, gaslighting/manipulation, gore, lifechanging injury, murder, corpses, nightmares/visions about traumatic events, panic attacks, paranormal/occult content, PTSD, self-harm, sexual content, suicide ideation, and trauma.
Thank you, again 🦋
This speculative thriller against a dark academia backdrop is my sophomore novel and I'm excited for it to be my first sapphic dark academia release. I've had these characters since I was 14 years old and now they get to be in a book of their very own.
I really appreciate all the support and adds towards this novel. I've been able to do really cool things for this release such as physical arcs, using netgalley, expanding my author network, speaking about it at an international writers' festival, and even (spoiler just for you) be part of a 2024 book box to deliver my first ever hardcover edition of a book I wrote (stay tuned for the announcement!)
Please heed the following content warnings:
This book contains references and themes to alcohol/drug use, blood, confrontation to abuser, death), emotional abuse), escalating violence, gaslighting/manipulation, gore, lifechanging injury, murder, corpses, nightmares/visions about traumatic events, panic attacks, paranormal/occult content, PTSD, self-harm, sexual content, suicide ideation, and trauma.
Thank you, again 🦋
March 12, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @ 20%
I really really tried my best, but I could not continue with this book.
The whole premise of the synopsis sounds really interesting, but reading it play out is just terrible. I'm not sure how to fully articulate it, but the best I can describe is watching a play with really bad actors, and an even worse script.
I know this book is an ARC so the editing wouldn't be complete, but there were so many moments of weird or awkward phrasing that I can't believe that this book has even been edited at all. If the writing style is a deliberate choice, I don't know what the intention for it would be, unless it was to make the reader confused or frustrated.
I also kind of resent the characters. I have a pretty high tolerance for annoying characters, IMO, but in this instance, I found myself getting legitimately miffed at them, which is made worse by that fact that I don't think the author intended for them to be annoying. I get the sense that the main character is supposed to come off as intelligent and morally grey, but she does not show it; her introduction where she breaks into whatever restricted part of the school does not indicate any kind of brilliance or planning, and her reason for going to all the trouble of doing so is to, I don't even know, creep on her crush? And the fact that she calls her "princess" gives me the ick. I could understand if she was saying it in a mocking or ironic way, but she seems dead serious about it, which is just awful, especially since she's supposed to be 16 or 17, and not a kid on the playground. And I didn't get to read much about her LI, but the bits that I did were just cringe, the way she talks is like the author wants us to think that she's a mysterious brilliant philosophical person, but her dialogue is so lacking that she reads like a try-hard who wants to sound smart but isn't.
Another issue is the worldbuilding. I hadn't realised from the synopsis that this book was set in another world, but even so, the author introduces way too many brand new concepts, without even explaining them. Like, I didn't even know that the main character wasn't human until a few chapters in, and the author barely explains what kind of creature she is before moving on. (Apparently her species has vibrant hair in a variety of colours, and she has a wolf persona thingy, and sometimes has wolf ears and a tail, which leads me to believe she is a furry.) There are also a bunch of new made up gods, which are cool, I like made up gods, but the author doesn't explain them much, just mentions them and moves on. Which there's nothing wrong with; presumably they will be explained later. But the pacing moves so fast that there is so much new unexplained information, which just makes it exhausting to read.
The worst part of this book is that I sense a better book somewhere in it; this book has a lot of the trappings of a really good story, a dark academia magic school in an alternate realm inhabited by different creatures who worship a variety of gods, a shocking murder, a sinister conspiracy, an—enemies? They seem more like acquaintances or something— to lovers romance between two morally grey leads.
DNF @ 20%
I really really tried my best, but I could not continue with this book.
The whole premise of the synopsis sounds really interesting, but reading it play out is just terrible. I'm not sure how to fully articulate it, but the best I can describe is watching a play with really bad actors, and an even worse script.
I know this book is an ARC so the editing wouldn't be complete, but there were so many moments of weird or awkward phrasing that I can't believe that this book has even been edited at all. If the writing style is a deliberate choice, I don't know what the intention for it would be, unless it was to make the reader confused or frustrated.
I also kind of resent the characters. I have a pretty high tolerance for annoying characters, IMO, but in this instance, I found myself getting legitimately miffed at them, which is made worse by that fact that I don't think the author intended for them to be annoying. I get the sense that the main character is supposed to come off as intelligent and morally grey, but she does not show it; her introduction where she breaks into whatever restricted part of the school does not indicate any kind of brilliance or planning, and her reason for going to all the trouble of doing so is to, I don't even know, creep on her crush? And the fact that she calls her "princess" gives me the ick. I could understand if she was saying it in a mocking or ironic way, but she seems dead serious about it, which is just awful, especially since she's supposed to be 16 or 17, and not a kid on the playground. And I didn't get to read much about her LI, but the bits that I did were just cringe, the way she talks is like the author wants us to think that she's a mysterious brilliant philosophical person, but her dialogue is so lacking that she reads like a try-hard who wants to sound smart but isn't.
Another issue is the worldbuilding. I hadn't realised from the synopsis that this book was set in another world, but even so, the author introduces way too many brand new concepts, without even explaining them. Like, I didn't even know that the main character wasn't human until a few chapters in, and the author barely explains what kind of creature she is before moving on. (Apparently her species has vibrant hair in a variety of colours, and she has a wolf persona thingy, and sometimes has wolf ears and a tail, which leads me to believe she is a furry.) There are also a bunch of new made up gods, which are cool, I like made up gods, but the author doesn't explain them much, just mentions them and moves on. Which there's nothing wrong with; presumably they will be explained later. But the pacing moves so fast that there is so much new unexplained information, which just makes it exhausting to read.
The worst part of this book is that I sense a better book somewhere in it; this book has a lot of the trappings of a really good story, a dark academia magic school in an alternate realm inhabited by different creatures who worship a variety of gods, a shocking murder, a sinister conspiracy, an—enemies? They seem more like acquaintances or something— to lovers romance between two morally grey leads.
June 3, 2024
Intriguing in concept, rushed and flowery to a nearly incomprehensible degree in execution. I bumped up my rating to a 2 stars because thought the ending portion redeemed it, albeit not by much. So many things happened without much flow or proper development to connect them. The fantasy elements certainly didn’t help, they were either nonsensical(in the case of the caemi) or unclear(in the case of Tychon’s ghost, and the secret society/cult making people ascend to angelhood). Some of the concepts were interesting, and there were the starts to some genuinely intriguing or great story elements—like Adair’s relationship to Veaer, and the moral conflict central to the plot. But so much of this was just vibes. There’s so much writing for the sake of writing that’s meant to be profound and falls flat. It’s sold as dark academia, but it’s missing the academia critique, so there’s just a bunch of pretty, creepy gothic imagery. What on earth was going on with the butterfly imagery/metaphors?? They kept popping in and out. And what about when they were supposedly in Veaer’s chest cavity, despite her being alive?!?! Was that metaphorical????
I also think this being placed in the world of Tell Me How It Ends without that context being given to the readerbase beforehand(this is sold as a standalone on the author’s Instagram) hindered the worldbuilding. Different terms and kinds of magic weren’t given much explanation. It’s even unclear when this takes place?! Because it’s clear from the last names that this is about the descendants of the TMHIE cast, there’s even statues of them important to Adraredon’s history, so how far in the future is this??
The characters were flat as paper. I barely gathered enough traits to be able to call Adair a “favorite”. The dialogue is frequently robotic, not a single thing outside of their attendance of and activities inside the academy is known about these characters, and Veaer’s characterization is essentially built around her obsession with Elise. (And I know this isn’t a characterization issue but, god, the run-on sentences. They were so frequent it sometimes stressed me out.) Which in the beginning, is completely impossible to pinpoint a reason for. She barely knows this girl, doesn’t have many emotionally significant or vulnerable scenes with her, and basically only knows that she’s pretty and powerful. Also that she murdered her friend. But because of this, Tychon’s murder, and Elise asking Veaer to “help figure out his death” was basically the only thing that drew them together.
Also, what the hell was going on with Tychon’s ghost??? His motives were super unclear. Did he still care for Elise after death because he was kind of in denial? Why did he choose to haunt Veaer?? Did he hope she’d seek justice?? What were his emotions about any of this?!?!?!?!
I was hoping to find this better than the reviews made it out to be, but this felt too much like a draft. If this had gone through more rounds of editing, I think it could be a gripping, creepy story. It feels weird to be so harsh about an indie, but there were genuinely so many technical and story issues that made it difficult to enjoy this.
I also think this being placed in the world of Tell Me How It Ends without that context being given to the readerbase beforehand(this is sold as a standalone on the author’s Instagram) hindered the worldbuilding. Different terms and kinds of magic weren’t given much explanation. It’s even unclear when this takes place?! Because it’s clear from the last names that this is about the descendants of the TMHIE cast, there’s even statues of them important to Adraredon’s history, so how far in the future is this??
The characters were flat as paper. I barely gathered enough traits to be able to call Adair a “favorite”. The dialogue is frequently robotic, not a single thing outside of their attendance of and activities inside the academy is known about these characters, and Veaer’s characterization is essentially built around her obsession with Elise. (And I know this isn’t a characterization issue but, god, the run-on sentences. They were so frequent it sometimes stressed me out.) Which in the beginning, is completely impossible to pinpoint a reason for. She barely knows this girl, doesn’t have many emotionally significant or vulnerable scenes with her, and basically only knows that she’s pretty and powerful. Also that she murdered her friend. But because of this, Tychon’s murder, and Elise asking Veaer to “help figure out his death” was basically the only thing that drew them together.
Also, what the hell was going on with Tychon’s ghost??? His motives were super unclear. Did he still care for Elise after death because he was kind of in denial? Why did he choose to haunt Veaer?? Did he hope she’d seek justice?? What were his emotions about any of this?!?!?!?!
I was hoping to find this better than the reviews made it out to be, but this felt too much like a draft. If this had gone through more rounds of editing, I think it could be a gripping, creepy story. It feels weird to be so harsh about an indie, but there were genuinely so many technical and story issues that made it difficult to enjoy this.
April 6, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This book had all the ingredients to make it a new favorite: sapphic romance, dark academia, biblically accurate angels, cults, nonbinary/trans rep... alas, what it did with those ingredients was a wild ride, but like the kind that you want to get off of as soon as possible.
The two main characters were god-awful. And not in the way where they're so evil that you love to hate them. They were just completely empty vessels filled only with obsession (Veaer) and hunger for love (Elise) Their chemistry was NON-EXISTENT. For the life of me, I cannot understand Veaer's crazy obsession with Elise after seeing her literally murder someone else, and the fact that that element of the novel was not believable made everything else just that much less believable. Veaer is an absolute doormat of a character that seems to just exist to be a love interest for Elise, and that could be excusable in a side character, but she's the MAIN CHARACTER.
I also do not understand much of anything about the world of this story. There are terms thrown around like Senti and Caemi (Caemi gave me heavy furry vibes, so do with that what you will), but the differences between these races (species?) aren't explained at all. I am left with so many questions. Why do people care about the four heirs so much? Why do caemis seemingly have less rights than Senti? Who has magic and who doesn't? How do you know what kind of people have magic? How do the caemi and senti ascend to angels? What kind of education do most people need to thrive in this world (clearly arts/magic but like what about math and shit)? Additionally, the "dark academia" vibe fell very flat because the school just seemed to be a backdrop for the story. I was hoping for more academic rivalry/classics references as I come to expect when that genre is mentioned.
The shifting timeline also didn't make sense. I find myself wondering what the flashbacks to years 1 and 2 add to Veaer's character at all, especially since there weren't many of them at all.
Now despite all that I disliked about this book, it has some points that are its saving grace and that got it to 2 stars instead of just one. Tychon's character and his transness being connected to divinity was incredible. Veaer's visions of Tychon as a biblically accurate angel were very interesting. I really loved the connection this novel made between trans bodies and heavenly/angelic bodies, and if that aspect were more heavily included, I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Alas, this saving grace was a mere spot compared to the rest of the book, so its inclusion was not enough to make me enjoy this book in its entirety.
Publication date: March 16, 2024
This book had all the ingredients to make it a new favorite: sapphic romance, dark academia, biblically accurate angels, cults, nonbinary/trans rep... alas, what it did with those ingredients was a wild ride, but like the kind that you want to get off of as soon as possible.
The two main characters were god-awful. And not in the way where they're so evil that you love to hate them. They were just completely empty vessels filled only with obsession (Veaer) and hunger for love (Elise) Their chemistry was NON-EXISTENT. For the life of me, I cannot understand Veaer's crazy obsession with Elise after seeing her literally murder someone else, and the fact that that element of the novel was not believable made everything else just that much less believable. Veaer is an absolute doormat of a character that seems to just exist to be a love interest for Elise, and that could be excusable in a side character, but she's the MAIN CHARACTER.
I also do not understand much of anything about the world of this story. There are terms thrown around like Senti and Caemi (Caemi gave me heavy furry vibes, so do with that what you will), but the differences between these races (species?) aren't explained at all. I am left with so many questions. Why do people care about the four heirs so much? Why do caemis seemingly have less rights than Senti? Who has magic and who doesn't? How do you know what kind of people have magic? How do the caemi and senti ascend to angels? What kind of education do most people need to thrive in this world (clearly arts/magic but like what about math and shit)? Additionally, the "dark academia" vibe fell very flat because the school just seemed to be a backdrop for the story. I was hoping for more academic rivalry/classics references as I come to expect when that genre is mentioned.
The shifting timeline also didn't make sense. I find myself wondering what the flashbacks to years 1 and 2 add to Veaer's character at all, especially since there weren't many of them at all.
Now despite all that I disliked about this book, it has some points that are its saving grace and that got it to 2 stars instead of just one. Tychon's character and his transness being connected to divinity was incredible. Veaer's visions of Tychon as a biblically accurate angel were very interesting. I really loved the connection this novel made between trans bodies and heavenly/angelic bodies, and if that aspect were more heavily included, I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Alas, this saving grace was a mere spot compared to the rest of the book, so its inclusion was not enough to make me enjoy this book in its entirety.
Publication date: March 16, 2024
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