Eight Will Fall

by Sarah Harian

In a world where magic is illegal, eight criminals led by rebellious Larkin are sent on a mission to rid their kingdom of monsters. Descending into an underground world full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her crew must use their forbidden magic to survive.

As they fight in the shadows, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon, Larkin and Amias realise that their destinies are intertwined and she dares to dream of a future where they can freely practice magic.

But as the beasts grow in number and her band is picked off one by one, Larkin is forced to confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.

Lovers of dark, high-octane adventure will be enthralled by this genre-bending YA fantasy standalone, perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Leigh Bardugo.

• ISBN10: 1250196647
• ISBN13: 9781250196644
• Publish Date: 1 December 2019 (first published 26 November 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 April 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Henry Holt & Company Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog coming soon!

This book dives straight into the action. Instead of spending a hundred pages on world-building, and situating the reader, here we start in medias res. It was a nice change after reading many other books that dragged on at first. Naturally, you'll have a few confusing moments but you'll soon be able to figure things out.
The story is rather interesting, and we learn along with the characters as they make their journey. I like the backstory/mythology Sarah Harian came up with and was immediately fascinated by the concept.
I was also rather excited to read more but it appears while originally this was meant to be part one of a duology, the second book was canceled (?).
The ending came rather abruptly and I was a bit irritated when the book was suddenly over. I didn't feel like a good conclusion and I fully expected there to be another novel picking up from there. Alas, I'm out of luck.
As for the characters, it took me a while to relate to them. Honestly, for me what made this book great was the story and the journey. The characters were mostly a side-note for me. So, keep that in mind if you need to feel really connected to a character in order to enjoy a book.

[bookperson]

dnf

didn't work for me

I have very mixed feelings about this book.
I loved the horror aspects of it, but besides that, didn't feel like it was executed as well as it should have been. The main character reminded me a lot of Clarke of The 100 (tv series, not the books), and that wasn't a good thing for me.
Everything what happened inside the Reach was great. Atmospheric, scary, and actually with enough plot twists. However, parts outside of the Reach were not nearly as good. It's a shame, it could have easily been a four or five star book.


Also, did she really not care at all who came into power? What if it is again an oppressor? I feel like people who were constantly put down would not have that attitude.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Oh dear, one of my most anticipated books of the year and well, it didn't go as great as I'd hoped. But there were some positives of course! So let us break it down.

What I Liked: 

• • The atmosphere was quite on point! So I mean, they're underground for a big ol' portion of this book. Under a city, basically. And there is a lot of bad junk lurking, waiting to wreak all sorts of havoc. And the author did a great job of making things seem exactly as bleak as you'd assume. Oh, and terrifying. It would be terrifying.



• • The ending was satisfying. To be fair, I probably didn't care quite as much as I normally would about an ending, but still.

What I Didn't:

• • There are oh, Idk, like 452 characters who I couldn't keep track of. Like I don't want that rando to die, but I am not going to be particularly affected if they do? Trying to remember Larkin, her family, the folks who go into the underground thingy with her, all the baddies in the underground... the struggle was too much.



• • Gosh guys I was just so bored. I mean, did one lead to the other? Was I bored because I didn't care about the characters? Didn't care about the characters cause I was bored? Who can tell. Regardless, the outcome was sadly the same. Boredom.



• • I didn't fully understand the world. Again, this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg situation, but between needing flashcards for the cast of characters and some kind of flowchart to figure out the world, my eyes were glazing over.

Bottom Line: I mean, the concept is cool, and the author nailed the atmosphere, but beyond that it really just wasn't my fave.