I really ended up enjoying this book! The magic system was definitely complex, but unique! The characters were well written and likeable! It was full of action, political intrigue and hints of romance! I look forward to reading more books from this author!

I've just finished reading, and I'm a mixed bag of feelings right now.

The Pros:
The writing. No question, Kate Dylan is a beautiful writer - a perfect mix of action and prose with poetic descriptions.

Unique worldbuilding. Yup, this world is like nothing I've read before, however...

The Cons:
The world is so complicated! There's a LOT of info dumping and exposition to explain the magic systems and I struggled to take in a lot of it. Maybe it would have been easier if you were reading it in a physical format so you could flip back pages, but on an E-reader it was tough.

The chemistry, or rather, the lack of it between characters. Sorry.

Overall, it kept me hooked enough to finish it, and there were parts that sparkled, but not one of my faves.
I will however be looking out for the author in future.

DNF very early on due to the narration by the main character. This book was not for me as I thought.

I loved Until We Shatter! The writing and the plot are amazing. It reminded me a little of Renegades by Marissa Meyer because of the way the world was divided in both books—heroes and anarchists in Renegades and the church and the council in this book. If you loved the Renegade series, this one would be right up your alley.

A few reviews and comments claimed that the magic system was complicated, but this was not the case for me. I agree that there was a lot of information at the beginning, but I am grateful for it as it made it easier to understand the rest of the book.

The division of shades (full magic) and hues (half magic) was quite intriguing. I really loved the plot. The magic system and the worldbuilding were a little confusing, but the concept felt very fresh and unique. It was giving fantasy + dystopian. Although the plot was amazing, the characters fell flat. I wish they were more fleshed out. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, but I love the diversity the author portrayed in the book.

I couldn’t get into the storyline of this book at all, it was an intriguing concept but the execution and writing style was not for me.

This heist, found family book is everything I expected. The premise and story were enjoyable, but the magic system was a bit confusing at times.

— 3.5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Until We Shatter is an exceptionally unique YA Fantasy standalone featuring an epic heist, colour magic and an expansive world filled with a well-established conflict and political system. Unfortunately for me I found this book to feel too “large” in its world as the first 15-20% felt like a lot of information dumping to mentally absorb in order to understand the lore of the world. There was a lot to take in and I actually wish this story had been expanded into a duology as opposed to a mere-300+ page standalone. There was so much plot and character exploration that could have easily been explored across two books, and I think that this would have helped the story to feel more progressive and less of a rush to get to the finish.

This was my first book by this author and it definitely won’t be the last! I was utterly compelled by the characters and their backstories. The history of the Hues and the life-long struggles that they have faced. There was a lot of depth to be explored not only within our main character Cemmy, but also the side supporting characters too. Love and loyalty run deep within this group and it was entertaining to watch them grow and learn within the worst possible situation.

Newcomer Chase was met with mistrust and ease which is entirely understandable due to the circumstances. I loved how he came across as a “can I/can’t I” character as I was constantly second-guessing his intentions and whether he was a character to be trusted. I adored his relationship progression with Cemmy and how he made sure to challenge her at every single turn. Their dynamic was explosive to begin with, however it was comforting to watch that develop into a mutual form of trust.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and ultimately I only felt let down by its length. It felt too ambitious to cram so much wonderful potential into a standalone, and I truly believe that this would have better thrived as a duology or as a trilogy.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC to read and review.

Until We Shatter is a unique and fast paced fantasy, with color-based magic, political intrigue, religious fanaticism, an a bit of romance.

Cemmy is a Bronze - she can phase into the Grey and manipulate objects. But doing so is dangerous - is the Church or the Council find out she is a half-shade, they'd take her out on the spot. And if she stays too long in the Grey, she risks using up her magic and shattering. But with her mother falling ill, Cemmy has no choice but to take the risk and whatever jobs she can, because a thief who can work in the Grey is a skill few others possess. But when she's brought into a job that seems impossible, she has no choice but to see it through, no matter the cost.

I enjoyed this book a lot! The magic system was totally unique and unlike anything I'd read before. The writing style is easy to fall into, very conversational, which made reading this a fun escape. I enjoyed Cemmy's character - she is bi and we see her relationship with Novi, her friend and former lover, and Chase, a reluctant ally on this job who helps her explore her magic. She has reasons to be scared of using it, but she is more powerful than she realizes. Seeing her growth was great, and I enjoyed the relationship with Chase. I will say this book was a tad slow to get into for me - the worldbuilding at the beginning is a lot to get through, but it is so interesting and unique with the color magic that I had to keep going. It was worth it because the heist and seeing Cemmy work through her challenges along with Chase was worth it. This is a bit of a slow burn, and as a YA is not explicit, so the romance is more swoony than spicy. Overall, this was a fun read, and I really enjoyed this book!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton | Hodderscape for the advanced copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

I love Kate Dylan.

Once again, this author has exceeded my expectations. After her 2 sci-fi novels, she's delved into fantasy and I CANNOT WAIT for more in the future.

Until We Shatter is a standalone YA epic heist fantasy with colour magic, lots of action and so many twists and turns that it'll make your head spin.

There is a an info-dump at the beginning to explain the world/magic system which isn't my favourite way to learn a new world and so I appreciate if some people may find it difficult to grasp the concept at the beginning.

Overall, I think that Kate Dylan delivered a wonderful story with just enough of all the fan-favourite fantasy elements to make a compelling, entertaining and emotional story.

This book started out hard to get into. There was so much written that you sort of had to just push through to get to the part of the job for things to start getting interesting. There were good parts that I was like okay let’s go! Then others that I just feel like didn’t flow well and therefore causing things to seem lagging. I did like the two main characters and the journey they have to take as part of this job and how they each grow as characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed the interesting magic system in this book. It was a little difficult to get my head around first, but after sticking through the first few confusing chapters I quickly got a grip on how things worked. The main drawback for me personally was how frequently certain things were repeated. Because at least one past event was mentioned so many times, it essentially spoiled one of the main plot twists as it was really hammered down in a way that felt like "you better remember this! It might be important later" and resulted in the big reveal becoming easily predictable.

Romance Fantasy with a heist plot.

The story is told by our main character, Cemmy, who lives in a world of Shades - those who can use magic - and Typicals - those who can't - and Hues - children of typics and Shades.
And Cemmy, like every Hue, needs to hide and scheme to stay safe.
One dangerous job lands Cemmy and her friend at the mercy of a dangerous Shade and a Hue he is controlling. Soon, they are forced to join and make a plan to steal a well, a really important thing.
The writing in this book is very pretty.
I really enjoyed the romance - angsty, a bit dramatic, really fun, although a bit fast.
I highly recommend this book! I had a great time!

I was excited for this book because I've seen it around a lot and it sounded exactly like something I would love but unfortunately, it wasn't for me. The characters didn't work for me, nor did the magic system what was quite overwhelming and there were plenty of plot holes, as well. The writing style was nice though and I'm sure there'll be plenty of people who will enjoy this.

ARC Review: Cemmy is a thief and might have lucked into making it (stealing it) big finally. Her mother is deathly ill and they're behind on rent. Thankfully Cemmy has some magical powers to assist her in this heist, so things should be a breeze. <i>Unless</i>...

2.5 rounded down. This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. Immediately, the reader is hit over the head with lore dumps that try to explain the political structure of the world we live in. I think there's been a trend lately where YA authors (and Adult authors) feel the need to hand hold their audience through the book instead of trusting that they can read between the lines and interpret the meaning behind words. That is what I felt was happening here.

Additionally, there wasn't really a need for that as the political structure was incredibly simple to the point that it felt cartoonish. The world essentially boiled down to: Church bad and hates magic, Magic Council bad and hates magic users not under their thumb, Rogue Magic Users bad. The most egregious was the Church, which held no apparent beliefs other than, "We must be shimmering with gold and rid the world of all magic." There was no nuance in any of the sects we are introduced to and only surface-level historical world-building.

The characters were flat and Cemmy, the main character, was dumber than bricks. There are moments that, if the reader had any semblance of an attachment to the characters, would have been incredibly moving. Unfortunately those big moments were kind of just meh.

I think the heist plot and the magic system itself were both interesting, which led me to finish this book. I've seen some comments saying that the magic was hard to follow, and I get it there's a lot of colors involved but I didn't find that to be an issue. There's a moment where the characters get more info on the magic they wield, and from that point on the "twist" at the end was pretty predictable.

My main gripe with this book is that there's no connection to the characters. In a story like this that centers on found family, that's the one thing that the story <i>must</i> have. The plot and the "how will this all work out" question will keep you reading but unfortunately this is overall a forgettable read.

Thank you NetGally and the publisher for the ARC.

3.0

I found myself wanting more from Until We Shatter. I thought the plot was great but the execution could have been better. Across 330 pages Dylan attempts to pack in a heist, romance, magic system, hundreds of years of history and political strife. There was honestly too much going on, and so certain areas displayed a lack of development. Character development was lacking, Cem was the most developed as she should be as the main character but the others found themselves merely payers on her stage, even when they were supposed to be second leads. The history/world building could have been better, a bit more on the origin of the church and council I felt that the history we were given was very surface level and used more as a plot device then anything else.

The positive aspects were of course Dylan's writing, there's not really a dull moment, we move from action to action to action which helps the book maintain it's fast pacing. It's also a standalone, so there's nothing else to focus on but the contents of this one book. Which caused other problems, it was too short. Until We Shatter could have been pushed to 400 to perhaps get in that character development that was lacking Cem was annoying and she never really got better. She's told to do one thing her entire life and it's not even that big of thing and the first thing she does when taking charge of her life and mind you this was at the last 20% was do the exact opposite? I just questioned why I was reading this. It didn't help that at the end of the book nothing changed. Had the situation be better or worse I would have been fine, but the fact that I put up with Cem being an annoying protagonist and I was left unfulfilled at the end of Until We Shatter really got to me.

Thank you, Hodder & Stoughton, Netgalley and Kate Dylan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

3.75 stars

Books about heists with a found family are just *chef’s kiss*. This was my first book by Kate Dylan; honestly, I am not disappointed. Her color-based magic system was unique, and although it came off as a bit info-dumpy in the beginning, it made sense and was easier to get into the rest of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though I remain a fan of Kate Dylan, I must admit that I grow weary of heists and found family themes, I know we all adored (?) Six of Crows and want to replicate its success, however, things like found family need time and compatible characters to develop and heists need to make sense. lol. It requires very delicate movements to balance these along with a strange and complex magic system and romance, that delicacy was sadly lacking here. And I really could not find any joy in the POV of the MC. Thusly, this book was sunk!


Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The main overall problem with this book? I was aware I was reading it. From the magic system to the characters, beats, etc., I could almost see the outline through the writing. Do this so there’s no choice but for character A to act this way, do that so character B is rendered useless, and so on.

The only good thing is probably the writing, and even that had its moments of needless melodrama and trying too hard to be deep. Perhaps if I cared about anyone it wouldn’t read as such, though. This is to say that the characterization fell flat. I didn’t care about anyone, least of all Cemmy, the main character. I spent the last 20% of the book actually rolling my eyes, and getting annoyed when she displaced blame and responsibility like other people’s actions should keep her from behaving like a supposed adult.

There was no chemistry between Cemmy and Chase, neither between Cemmy and Novi, who she had a situationship with. I didn’t believe the so-called family the group had created for themselves either, which is rare for me. If you do that decently, odds are I’ll at least like the book.

As for the magic… Well, what to say? Inorganic and forced. I didn’t believe for a second this was an actual universe where this kind of magic existed for at least 400 years. You read that right—four hundred years.

Also I guessed most of the plot from around the 20% mark, and predicted every beat thereafter, even though the author clearly tried hard to make this book seem twisty. The whole thing felt pointless to boot. Cemmy says so herself in the end, and another character has to sort of convince her otherwise—this also read like a direct line to the reader.

I don’t particularly recommend this book to anyone, unless you want to read a standalone fantasy with a color-coded magic system, insufferable main character, and delayed heist (last 20%) that proves less hard than promised.

Huge props to the cover illustrator Jeff Langevin and designer Natalie Chen. It looks absolutely incredible.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Dylan and Hodderscape for the chance to read and review this book.

2.5 Stars
One Liner: Will depend on how you like the FMC

Cemmy’s life is always under threat. The only safe space for her is the In-Between, the Gray where neither the Council nor the Church can kill her. With her mother’s health failing, Cemmy becomes a thief. However, her latest project lands her and her friends in bigger trouble.
Cemmy has to work with Chase (and others) to steal an ancient relic hidden by the Church. One wrong step could kill them and the path is filled with twists, landmines, and dead ends. Can she do it?
The story comes in Cemmy’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
With a cover and premise like that, I couldn’t resist requesting the book knowing it is YA. Serves me right I suppose!
The author’s note is at the beginning, which I appreciate. It helped me understand the story to an extent. We also get a short list of the colors and their magic but a detailed list would have been helpful. This magic system is kinda complex without a reference.
We know how important the beginning is for any book. This one has a great first page until the MC starts to talk to herself too often and provides too many details at once. The first two chapters were heavy, slow, and annoying. Instead of making me feel for Cemmy, I ended up being irritated by her. Easing some weight off these chapters should provide a smoother reading experience.
Too much data about the magic system (especially when the initial chart isn’t enough) made it a laborious read in the first quarter. I was constantly pairing up colors to determine where the Hues fit and all that. I’m a go-with-the-flow kind of reader. Still, it wasn’t easy.
The Council and Church part was a little easier. It is similar to religion vs. politicians, church vs. nonbelievers, etc., thingy. Think of something set in ancient Europe. That should give you an idea.
Some of the side characters are cool. I like Novi; she is spunky, sassy, and a no-nonsense person. Eve and Ezzo are nice. The other girl is also nice. Though we are told there’s a found family trope, the dynamics aren’t really there. Also, lies, secrets, and repetitive wrong decisions are used to advance the plot.
Chase, is well, supposed to be the hero. He tried. I have to admit that the poor guy tried to be the kind of hero readers would appreciate – morally gray with hidden secrets, a sad past, powerful, handsome, etc. I did like him okay.
If you haven’t guessed by now, my issue is with the narrator and heroine, Cemmy. Thank god, her self-talk reduced considerably as the story progressed but it was too much in the beginning. I can see why it was necessary but, honestly, that girl cannot carry this plot on her whiny shoulders. Girl’s bi, so that’s the queer angle. For more than half the book, she has a thing for someone but suddenly feels attracted to the MMC. However, this ‘romance’ didn’t feel organic nor did they have much chemistry.
There are dark elements here. Some of it can make you squeamish. That said, older teens should be able to read it. The ‘romance’ is not detailed either.
There are a few plot holes, which raise some questions about the whole thing. I wish there was more detail about the world-building, the magic system, and the hierarchy in general. The ending is more HFN, which does align with the overall vibe.

To summarize, Until We Shatter has an ambitious plot that rests on an angsty teenager and a group of ‘misfits’. You will like it better if you connect with the FMC.
Thank you, NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton (Hodderscape), for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance reader copy.

The premise of this book and its magic system were very interesting yet the story was lacking.
I have found that with the authors other book that there was a lot of potential and too much filler. We don’t get a good introduction and description of the magic system and then the world building also felt rushed.

I think a lot could have been done with this story to make it a more engaging read.