The writing is lacking, full of weird prose and empty plotholes. But the comedy and worldbuilding is amazing. I think I enjoyed it? I'm not really sure what to think, except that I liked what the book was about but not how it did it...

I did not like the pacing of this book. It felt like there wasn't enough explanation for what was going on. The writing was not entrancing.

This book is not similar to the movie 'Atonement' and that's probably a good thing. Some action, some fantasy, and characters that really grow on you.

This book was weird but in a good way? I don't know it it makes any sense because the story should have not but it did. Everything was sooo chaotic but that what made it great


3.5 stars

Remnants of Atonement was a book I wanted to read because I had heard it had a realistic LGBTQ+ relationship that didn't suffer from the usual toxic tropes, and the relationship is beautiful, but the surprise quality of this story is the world building. This is true high fantasy, but easy to digest and highly entertaining for a younger audience. A truly fantastic introduction into the fantasy genre for younger readers wanting to dip their toe in, and that's why I'm giving it five stars.

A quick but explosive read. Gripping from page 1 right up until the ending. One to recommend. 4 stars from me. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Really really struggled with this one. Although I’ve managed to get through the whole thing I’m still a little mystified as to what the book is actually about. I can see why some people would relate to the MC and buy into her story, I just couldn’t bring myself to find any strong interest in her or the story.
I think this one is an acquired taste and unfortunately just isn’t for me.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. It was listed as young adult and while the behavior of the characters was juvenile the rest of the content not so much. I don't know how I feel when twilight and hunger games survive the apocalypse but not decent trauma therapy, Sigh. .

Remnants of Atonement is a fascinating book about a bunch of messy characters, none the least the main character herself, Kilco.

It was almost a relief to see a character who made mistakes, who did the wrong thing, who tried really hard but sometimes didn't hit the mark. Kilco as a character is honest in a way that I don't see very often. Part of that is due to what appears to be a personality disorder (which is portrayed very well), and part of that is just Kilco. The relationships that she forms with her friends are complicated and messy and uncertain and I loved every part of watching them grow and fall apart.

The plot itself is interesting, although it took a while for me to understand what the book was about, and this pacing was my only real issue. For the first half of the book, it meanders through several focus points at a reasonably slow pace. It's not boring by any means, but I couldn't understand what the *point* was. I enjoyed watching Kilco acclimatise to camp, I enjoyed watching her get to know the Shield and Ilya, but it felt like not much was happening. However, when things hit their stride at about halfway through, they didn't stop for breath until the end.

Despite the pacing issues, I'd definitely recommend this book, and am eager to see what happens next with Kilco and her friends.

Fantasy, gothic, weird/absurd. It all sounds right up my alley, but I couldn’t get into this story. It was difficult to follow at times and maybe that’s because I wasn’t fully invested in the main character. I wanted to like this story more than I actually did.

I was captivated by this fantasy story. It softly drew me in and wouldn’t let go. A story of family, friendship, self doubt, crankiness, monsters (some very cute), racism and misunderstanding. Longest book of my reading year - 12 hours reading on my Kindle (normally for books are 3 to 7 hours). But I loved every minute I spent with the characters in this world. Although you can read this as a stand alone, there is a lot of the story still to be told - can’t wait to find out how much more Kilco trouble gets into. Thank you to Georgia McKenna and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This is a weird book. I'm really not sure what to think of it, so it's getting three stars for now. Some of the jokes and references are hilarious, and I love the subversion of classic YA tropes. However, the pacing is off and I just wasn't as engaged as I wanted to be. This is a LONG book, and it didn't start picking up for me until around 25-30%, which is quite an investment.

The description of this book sounded amazing. I wasn’t able to finish this around 29%. I struggled with following the story line.
I received this eARC from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion.
Thank you.

An epic tale of love and betrayal, a far-future world of magic and intrigue. Kilco is an ordinary girl who finds herself in a love triangle for the ages, all while battling evil and her own insecurities. The story is intricate and laced with humor.

I’m confused a bit by the ending of the book, which is frustrating since it’s over 700 pages, but I know there is a sequel, so I’m hoping it gets wrapped up in the 394 pages to come. There’s certainly no shortage of things to wrap up, and I’m interested to see how it ends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

DNF because sadly, I just couldn't get into it :(

Remnants of Atonement is about... well that's difficult to say and that was definitely one of the appeals for me. It was pitched as absurdist and surrealist. And apparently gothic too? As the daughter of a renowned physician, Kilco Escamilla has to make it through her shifts while many weird things happen. (I am doing my best with summarizing but this is just how difficult it is to grasp).

There could be many factors as to why I didn't like it. Perhaps I'm not in the right headspace or it just isn't for me.

But I've been thinking and I think there are other reasons as well, mainly that I don't think the hook was strong enough. Apparently, there's this fake miracle cure that wasn't fully resolved. Based on the writing, it was definitely played up to be a big deal but the scene wasn't heightened enough for that. There wasn't enough context for us to care.

I feel that it would have been a better opening chapter if there was some sort of thing to hold onto. Not a character to latch onto or an aspect of the world I'd love to see expounded on or a magic system I'd love to see the intricacies of. For a gothic book, there wasn't any of that atmosphere or imagery to speak of (I found out it was gothic when I looked at the GoodReads). Neither did the opening (the part meant to set the tone) have any sort of absurdity that it promised. It was also difficult to pin down the author's voice; it felt more like someone still about to find themselves than someone who knew who they were.

And from then on there wasn't much reason to go on, except perhaps for the MC's mother Dr. Kira Escamilla. She's sassy and unconventional and knows what she's doing. And there was this whole dynamic of Kilco feeling the pressure of having to live up to her mother's reputation. But even that wasn't enough mileage to hold my attention.

The story goes on with no hint of what to look forward to. Its supposedly unique world remains in the background. There were efforts to unfold the world before our eyes. To show how crazy and absurd it could be. But the absurdity here in Remnants only muddles the narrative and the world instead of allowing of enhancing its plotlines.

There are stories that embrace their absurdity, that knows it has elements that don't traditionally go together. But they're executed so well that the reader is able to see that the narrative makes "sense." Even Everything Everywhere All at Once, with all its hotdog fingers and fanny pack nunchucks, has a strong narrative, never sacrificing its best parts for the sake of trying to be absurd.

That is all. Best of luck to McKenna. I hope they grow and try their hand at an absurdist narrative again.

This book was far too busy and it soon became very confusing and I soon lost interest. It promised so much and for me did not deliver.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

A bit too chaotic for me. This book just wasn't the right genre for me. I didn't manage to finish this as I just found it dull.

I’ve read and enjoyed all types of fantasy over the years and the premise behind this one sounded fun. However, I just couldn’t get into it. I found the book to be to chaotic for me and it was difficult to understand what the plot was actually meant to be. I did find myself warming to the main character as I read through but I didn’t have any real interest in any of the others or in what was happening.
It’s labelled as Teens and Y A and I’m sure that this will appeal more to a younger audience who are almost certainly more the target audience than I am.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @36%

This is a tongue-in-cheek absurdist fantasy book told from the perspective of our main character, Kilco. Kilco is an apprentice physician working under the supervision and training of her mother, a renowned physician.

However, after 36% (of a 700+ page book) I didn’t connect to any of the characters, I didn’t find the character motivations believable, and the type of humour just didn’t land for me. In particular I found the main character incredibly unlikable and a bit dull. In my opinion, the main character dragged her feet through anything happening in the story, and came across as reluctant without any motivation for anything. This is clearly aimed at a YA audience (I would say around 14-15 years old), and I’m no longer in that target audience.

Although this book didn’t work for me, I think it would appeal to people who enjoy juvenile humour and a modern dialogue. Essentially, if you’re looking for a book where modern-day teenagers are plonked into a fantasy setting, this will probably work well for you.

If you find the use of exceedingly modern dialogue and language in a high fantasy setting to be jarring, then this one might not be a good fit for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not good. Not too bad either. It´s like I kind of liked it but if you asked, I wouldn´t want to read it again.
It´s tagged as YA but to my surprise (and I quite enjoyed this), when you begin reading it doesn´t feel like YA at all. Or maybe it´s just my thing.
I liked the MC, though I sometimes felt too overwhelmed by her crush on the ML. Also, it was difficult for me to be actually engaged in the story because I felt the plot dragged for long and it wasn´t until after a while that things started to actually move. But well, we got there eventually.