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Teal's Reviews > The Last Sun

The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
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bookshelves: crime-mystery-thriller, ebook, fiction, sff, tarot, lgbtqi, m-m, read-in-2018, series, reviewed, favorite-characters

I wanted to love this. I should have loved this. Why didn't I love this?

Somehow it just didn't come together smoothly -- the story felt chunky, like transitions weren't well-integrated, maybe? I don't know how to explain it -- obviously. I wasn't happy with how the tarot angle was managed. I didn't fully buy into the worldbuilding. And it didn't help that at the time I'd just read a truly awesome urban fantasy, Saint of Dead Gods, which made this suffer by comparison.

I had no intention of continuing with the series, but recently I changed my mind, because a) a couple of my friends love it, and b) the author seems like a really nice guy who's attracted a group of enthusiastic fans... so why not give it another chance? I decided I'll borrow book 2 if/when it shows up at my library, and hope it hooks me the way this one failed to do. And since this review has ended up being 99.9% content-free, let me direct you to Linda's review instead.
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Reading Progress

May 6, 2018 – Shelved
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: to-sample
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: crime-mystery-thriller
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: ebook
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: fiction
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: sff
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: tarot
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: lgbtqi
May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: m-m
October 29, 2018 – Started Reading
October 29, 2018 –
0.0% "My library -- my teeny tiny little volunteer-staffed local library -- bought this LGBT fantasy novel because I recommended it. I'm so proud of them!"
October 30, 2018 –
2.0% ""We're a society, after all, that embraces the idea of group marriage, that finds pure heterosexuality as abnormal as pure homosexuality."

That's... not what I was expecting."
November 2, 2018 –
22.0%
November 6, 2018 –
50.0% ""Riverside had been the home of Mary Mallon, an immigrant cook and asymptomatic carrier of the typhus virus."

Sorry, book, but typhus and typhoid are NOT the same. She was Typhoid Mary, not Typhus Mary. 🙄 And regardless, neither disease is viral. They're both bacterial. Someone -- a bunch of someones -- were asleep during the editing process at Pyr. It's not like this is obscure knowledge, after all."
November 6, 2018 – Shelved as: read-in-2018
November 9, 2018 –
88.0% ""I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding."

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
November 9, 2018 – Finished Reading
December 16, 2019 – Shelved as: series
March 13, 2020 – Shelved as: reviewed
August 25, 2021 – Shelved as: favorite-characters

Comments Showing 1-28 of 28 (28 new)

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Daniel Now that I've finished I want to know why you gave it a 3! I mean, I almost did, but the good outweighed the issues for me.


message 2: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal It had so much potential, but didn't deliver for me. Plus, I'd just recently finished New Shoes, an urban fantasy that DID deliver, so this suffered by the comparison.


Daniel Yeah, I definitely had plenty of issues with it, but it won me over in the end in spite of them. Some level of disappointment is my usual experience with UF though.


message 4: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal I'm not a particular fan of the genre either. But if something looks promising or original, I'll give it a try. I was lured in by the tarot aspect of this one, but it turned out to be a major fail. In my opinion.


Daniel I was all cute gay dude and no vamps, yay! I think I was a couple chapters in before I said, wait, is this based on tarot? and went and googled it. Derp!


message 6: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal I collect tarot decks, and along the way I learned to read it too. So I'm always intrigued when tarot shows up in fiction. But I can tell if it's only being used as window-dressing &/or handwavey bullshit. This was a case of the former. Which is not going to matter a whit to 99.99% of readers, of course. It was just a disappointment for me.


Daniel I had a deck or two in my twenties, but never really got into it. I have a vague idea some artists I liked did decks, but I never got my hands on them. Has anything used tarot well?


message 8: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal The Night Circus. Tarot is a background element, but perfectly interwoven into the story. I haven't read Rachel Pollack's fiction, but since she's a tarot guru I'm sure she gets it right. I have Three of Swords, which is m/m, in my TBR pile. And there's a very recent m/m novel that I passed on because the sample included a tarot reading scene I found bogus.

That's not much, is it. Somewhere there's a mystery series that's at least titled as if it relies on tarot, but it didn't convince me to give it a try.


message 9: by Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ (last edited 13 mar. 2020 23:38) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ Teal, your link at the bottom goes to the "edit review" page.

I hope you like the second one better. It's a great series.


message 10: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal Thanks, Linda -- I thought I'd double-checked the link, but apparently not. :D


Kathleen Sad you didn't love it; it's a favorite series for me. The narration was quite good. That said, the narration on the second one is nothing short of brilliant.

Hope your next book is fabulous.


message 12: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal Thanks, Kathleen. I'm hoping the second book can win me over.


Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ *fingers crossed* (since it worked last time) 😁


message 14: by fleurette (new)

fleurette I read few chapters of this one and just didn't feel it. Maybe one I will give it another try. It is still on my tbr pile.

Hope you will like the second one better.


message 15: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "*fingers crossed* (since it worked last time) 😁"

It did! 😂


message 16: by Paul (new)

Paul I have so far DNF this book 3 times - I know I should like it but it just... well... just a little bit dull? but not really? I know I should really like this but... So has now been shelved on my pile of books I would want to read but know I will end up gifting to the local cahrity shop in a few months time.


message 17: by Paul (new)

Paul Charity not Cahrity


message 18: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal @Paul and @ fleurette -- It's reassuring somehow to know I'm not the only one underwhelmed by it.

And "I know I should really like this but..." sums it up perfectly!


Janine Ballard Reading this now. I’m at 58% and so far I like it, but I agree with you that the transitions are bumpy. The action is a little too nonstop for me; I would prefer a little more downtime and backstory. I like it so far though and I will keep reading. My opinion could change of course.


message 20: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal Janine wrote: "Reading this now. I’m at 58% and so far I like it, but I agree with you that the transitions are bumpy. The action is a little too nonstop for me; I would prefer a little more downtime and backstor..."

I suppose it could be chalked up to First Book Syndrome. Hope it turns out to be worthwhile for you, Janine. I did go on to read books 2 and 3 (and all the many, many free shorts the author makes available on his website).


message 21: by Janine (last edited 07 août 2022 05:38) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Janine Ballard Teal wrote: "Janine wrote: "Reading this now. I’m at 58% and so far I like it, but I agree with you that the transitions are bumpy. The action is a little too nonstop for me; I would prefer a little more downti..."

Thanks. I finished today. I liked the second half better--the action slowed down enough that we got some character moments. Don't tell me what happens with Addam, but I was kind of sorry that a romance between him and Rune seems to be where the series is heading. Brand is a lot more magnetic and interesting to me as a potential partner in the romantic sense too, for Rune.


message 22: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal When I reached the end of this book, I was 100% #NotTeamAddam. Brand is awesome — he's one of my all-time favorite characters and basically the reason I kept reading the series.


Janine Ballard Teal wrote: "When I reached the end of this book, I was 100% #NotTeamAddam. Brand is awesome — he's one of my all-time favorite characters and basically the reason I kept reading the series."

The end of this first book? Or a later one?


message 24: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal The end of this book. I was terribly disappointed about Addam being the love interest instead of Brand. I'm keeping my lips zipped about future books, in case you're going to read further.


message 25: by Janine (last edited 07 août 2022 05:37) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Janine Ballard Teal wrote: "The end of this book. I was terribly disappointed about Addam being the love interest instead of Brand. I'm keeping my lips zipped about future books, in case you're going to read further."

Thank you, I appreciate that. I probably will. And I was disappointed too.


message 26: by Janine (last edited 07 août 2022 05:43) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Janine Ballard I just tried to friend you but my answer was more than one word. I wasn’t paying enough attention. Goodreads won’t let me fix it. :-(


message 27: by Teal (new) - rated it 3 stars

Teal I sent you a request. :)


Janine Ballard Thank you!


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