I don't have a lot of good to say about this book unfortunately. I found a lot of it rather contrived, the main character incredibly annoying, and also I called two of the big twists more than a hundred pages before each was revealed. I'm just glad to be done reading this.

I really struggled with the first half of this book, because it felt like a very basic fantasy YA book. The main character uses her powers to steal to take care of her sick mother and gets caught and forced to help out with a heist. As we go along some more is revealed such as abilities related to the different colors of magic, and also her previous relationship with a teammate and new feelings with Chase. There is a twist towards the end that I liked, but it's not one that you'll never see coming. Overall if you like books like six of crows and a tempest of tea, I'd recommend.

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I had to DNF at 50%.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I just couldn’t continue. This book was very fast paced, which made it difficult for me to keep up with what was going on. The magic system was interesting, but I wish it was a bit more explained. I think because it’s a relative small fantasy book, the magic system, characters and the worldbuilding weren’t as fleshed out as they should.

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

One of the things I did loved reading in this book was the depth and complexity of the relationships between the characters. It got me on my feelings more than once, and I say that as the highest compliment, because lately it hasn’t been easy for a book to do so.
But, to be honest, the pacing of the book was not for me. It did grab my attention the last 20% of the story, and that is why I rated it 3 stars, but I didn’t enjoyed the magic system very much and the thinking process of the characters was too teenagery. Overall, I was underwhelmed and it was difficult for me to get through the book and not DNF it.

The story throws you right into the action. The female main character is about to break into the governors house to steal something so she can buy medicine for her dying mother. She really gives you the impression of being a loyal person who would do anything for the people she loves until she betrays her friends the moment she gets into a bad situation. But while it hits the fan we get info dump after info dump about colours and hues and magical powers connected to them and the only way to not be confused at any new detail is to just not think about it. I dnf’d after 50 pages because the book couldn’t manage to pull me in and didn’t spark any interest in the characters. This also seemed like a younger YA even though the mc is 19.

I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley. I am fully in the middle at 2.5 stars with how I feel about this book. I liked it but I didn’t at the same time. The plot is decent and had potential. There’s too many things that are confusing about the book for it to be good though. The magic system is interesting but extremely confusing. Magic users are called shades and are different colors based on their abilities. Their abilities aren’t clearly explained which got very confusing toward the end especially when people were using more than one color magic. To make it even more confusing there are Hues who are half shade half not and they have different yet similar abilities to the Shades. There are too many poorly explained colors to understand the magic system which makes a book where magic is a major part of it confusing.

I started out very interested in the concept of a color-based magic system, however, at the end of this book I felt like the overall premise felt too weak for my liking. This is correctly being marketed on Goodreads as "young adult" as it certainly reads like it. Heavy on the fantasy and action, almost nonexistent on the romance. Queer and Deaf representation.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC. I really enjoyed this book. The magic system based on colours was fascinating, although a little complicated at first, and the plot revolving around a heist was intriguing. The characters sometimes felt a little flat but that didn't afect the story too much cause I was already invested. I think that you should definitely give Until We Shatter a try.

This is a fun, action-packed YA fantasy. The worldbuilding is pretty immense at times, with a unique magic system, but Kate Dylan's prose keeps the reader engaged. Cemmy is an easy character to root for, and I liked the bi representation and that the friendship arc was developed as prominently as the romantic storyline.

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

DNF. This book just really not for me unfortunately. I think it will end up being popular with people that love YA fantasy

Although this was one of the books i was most excited to read this year, i found it to be quite disappointing.
there was a lot of info dumping that made me feel like the author really wanted the readers to know she did her homework - which isnt bad necessarily i just think it wasnt well implemented. i wish it was sprinkled in whenever we needed the information as opposed to just paragraphs of information we dont even need for the particular scene. But the ideas were interesting which is what made me rate it 3 (enjoyment wise it would be probably 2.5). I think its also important to state that i was reading it at the same time as way of kings and i think it probably made me realise i liked it less than i would if i was reading it without comparing.

it it by no means a bad book, just didnt live up to what i feel like it set out to do.
I also followed and watched so many of the authors insta vid about this book and talking about how everyone she gave this book to is rating it high and talks about the emotional damage and i think it set up wrong expectations because i truly couldn't feel it? that being said, reading is extremely subjective and I am glad people have enjoyed the book so far!

I wouldn't mind continuing with the series but i think for me it would be only if some of my friends tell me its worth the time investment.

I love the concept in this book of the In-Between, along with the color coded magic system and the existence of a shadow reality.
Sadly I still struggled to get through this book, even though the writing style is really really good and a good heist always gets my attention.

I am all for throwing the reader in the middle of the action and trusting them to catch up with the concept and worldbuilding later. However, I need some kind of hook to reel me in - either intellectually or emotionally. And even though these hooks are there on paper (an unjust, oppressive world, personal tragedy, lives at stake, deadly secrets...), nothing has really reached me. Even the found family that is shown later felt somewhat detached (although I really appreciate the diversity and rep).

The world and magic system were super intriguing, though also somewhat too complicated for such short a book. There's orders and churches and colors and Shades and Half-Shades and typics, and I kinda lost my grip on it.

I wanted to love this book, but eventually I found myself rushing through it. I'm sure though that I will try more books by the author, because it's apparent she can write and plot like hell - just this book wasn't for me.

3/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @hodderbooks for the eARC!

#UntilWeShatter #Netgalley #Bookstagram #Heist

𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗪𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 • 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝘆𝗹𝗮𝗻
★★★.𝟱

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁
- YA fantasy
- Heists
- Unique world building
- Bisexual MC
- Deaf side character
- Sign language rep
- Found family

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
This was such an interesting YA fantasy that worked towards an epic heist, one so epic that it’s capable of starting and winning a civil war. I liked the world building and the magic system though I think it could have been shown more straightforwardly and cohesively. From what I understand, there were typics who followed the Church, Shades with powers who follow the Council, and Hues, a byproduct of Typic/Shade procreation and one that is hunted.

The protagonist, Cemmy, is a Hue. And possibly the most emotionally angsty hue at that. I thought she was tenacious, but also really self-absorbed. She was unwilling to trust anybody, unwilling to listen to anybody, and entirely unwilling to see reason most of the time. If I had to pull off a heist with her I would genuinely double cross her because she is a liability 😂.

I liked the found family in this book however it did seem more monotone than vibrant. Cemmy hid so much from them all that I felt like the bonds were tenuous at the best of times. It’s not the first time a good book has been thwarted by a frustrating main character, and it surely won’t be the last for me. I’m glad I read it and I think many people will enjoy this.

𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.”

This was unfortunately a DNF from me. I was so excited to read it but I just couldn’t continue. First of all, this is a very fast paced book. Everything was going so fast that it was difficult to keep up with everything that was going on. The magic system was complicated, I wish we had more time at the beginning of the book to learn and experience the magic with the characters. The world-building, magic system and characters all fell flat.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital ARC.

I feel so bad but I'm going to dnf this at 35%.

I liked the synopsis of this book so much and I was overly excited to read it. I mean a magical world, a half shade who became a thief for her mother.

Why I ended up dnf'ing it:
- I found the MC lame. I expected a badass character. In the beginning as I found out how she kept an eye on her friends I was so impressed. She gave me the 'Would die for family and friends vibe'. Then I found out how she is the reason someone died, I felt sympathy towards her. But then I saw how easily she gave up the safety of her friends to save herself, that was already a huge RED flag for me. Also her friends were also lame, how can they handle a betrayal so easily, not even a little bit of anger towards the MC.

That is the main reason that I stopped. If I don't care about the character (s), if I despise the MC. I don't see the point to continue reading this.

Thank you so much netgalley and Hodder Publicity.

The worldbuilding was overwhelming and the characters weren't well developed but the writing was good

Thank you Hodder & Stouton, Kate Dylan and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely LOVED the entire magic system in this world, but having it be rushed in a 300 page book was overwhelming and confusing. This really could've benefit from being a longer novel or with the help of a glossary at the start of the book.

I already really liked Dylan's writing style, as I could not put this book down once I got over the info-dumping. There were high stakes but again, because the book was cut so short I didn't have enough time to really connect to all of the side characters and some events didn't get me as hard as was most likely intended. Still a really good adult fantasy debut and I'm curious to see what else the author will have in store for us in the future!

Definitly pick this up if you want an action-packed, standalone adult book about magical heists!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an advanced eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the book and DNFed it at 14%.

I attempted to read a few chapters, but I found myself losing interest and skipping paragraphs or checking my phone. The main character's narrative felt juvenile and reminded me of a 10-year-old's journal entries.

For example:

"That choice was mine, by the way."

"Thirteen seconds, Cemmy. You're in or you're out?"
"Make a decision here, Cemmy."

Additionally, there was a significant amount of info dumping at the beginning of the book, which made it confusing and difficult to follow. It was unclear whether the author was explaining the magic system or describing a specific event.

Overall, while I wanted to enjoy the book, it unfortunately did not resonate with me.

This is the first book I've ever DNF’d, and it wasn't an easy decision. I really tried to push through, but after four days and only getting to 49%, I had to call it quits. The story just didn’t make sense, and I felt it was important to write a review because my issue wasn't about personal preference or technical problems—it was about the book itself.

I honestly had no clue what was going on in the world. The little bits I did get were so confusing. For a book that’s only 300 pages, there was way too much info-dumping with almost no explanation. It felt like I was being told “this is how it is” without any real connection to the story, and it just kept repeating without ever being fully explained.

The characters were so underdeveloped that every time one was mentioned, I had to stop and think about who they were, and even halfway through, I still didn’t know anything about them, aside from a little of Cemmy and Chase. Maybe a bit about Novi being Cemmy’s ex, but beyond that, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about her.

I think I get what the author was going for, but it just didn't come together for me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish it.

This was very well done and I was quite impressed with the pacing, the magic system, and how fleshed out and considered the world-building was. This isn't what I would consider to be romantasy, as the romance is sort of a second sub plot to the core of the story, but I was so engrossed by the world-building and the betrayals and twists and turns that I didn't find myself wanting.