Chrysalis and Requiem
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Average rating2
15
Ratings2
Average rating2
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.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book could've been so much more, so much better but it fell flat for me.
I think to start the structure in the first few chapters was way off, the world building was very choppy and wasn't established in a way that could be built upon. It just felt very thrown together especially information that is used throughout the book like the senti and caemi. The pacing was also a bit off, it was kinda hard to follow this story because it would slow at times making it harder engage with it.
Unfortunately, the characters also just didn't do it for me, they felt incredibly one dimensional. Veaer's motivations and obsession for staying by Elise's side were confusing and not established in a way that made sense, at least to me.
The writing was okay, there were times I would highlight a sentence that I thought was well written and beautiful. But, there were other times I was scratching my head trying to make sense of it. There were other times that I found myself cringing at the writing. There was just a lot of inconsistencies with the writing that made this book hard to read because I just didn't know what was going on in the story. The inclusion of the angels made the story a bit more interesting than the first half but also again, the events that follow after that especially with Elise's “development” just had me standing in utter confusion.
I really wanted to love this book, reading the synopsis had me excited to read this book. But it just was incredibly difficult to follow along and I was hoping to get to that point where it all clicks together as is the case sometimes in books. Yet that never happened, I started the book confused and finished the book....even more confused.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
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.
