Shield of Sparrows

Shield of Sparrows seems to be the buzzy book of the season, and count me in on that buzz because I thought it was terrific! From the same publisher who brought us Fourth Wing, this is a fast-paced romantasy that excels at world building and character development but is surprisingly light on spice. There’s only one rather tame sex scene near the end of the book, so readers who would rather skip those parts will appreciate the emphasis on the slow burn romance and snarky banter between the two main characters. I had never heard of Devney Perry before, but she’s a skilled writer with over fifty published books (!), so I wasn’t that surprised at how well this book is written. Some of the fantasy elements and tropes are very familiar, but Perry has a lot of surprises in store as well.In the land of Calandra, vicious monsters roam free, threatening everyone who lives there. Odessa Cross is the “back up” princess of the Kingdom of Quentis, while her younger sister Mae has been trained from childhood to be married off to the Prince of Turah in a treaty called the Shield of Sparrows, a blood agreement that ensures peace among the five kingdoms. But on the day Prince Zavier Wolfe and his entourage arrive in Quentis to meet Mae and sign the treaty, everyone is shocked when the Guardian, Zavier’s sworn protector, proclaims that Odessa will become the Sparrow and marry Zavier instead of Mae.Unbeknownst to Odessa, their father has been training Mae to be a spy. Her job once she married and journeyed to Turah was to infiltrate the mysterious capital city of Allesaria and then kill the Guardian. Now Odessa must take over her sister’s duties, even though she has no experience at all. Forced to leave her home and marry a stranger, Odessa vows to make her father proud and find Allesaria. But her new husband refuses to talk to her, and the journey to Turah is filled with danger. Only the Guardian will have anything to do with her, but unfortunately he’s an insufferable man who has a knack for annoying her and—even worse—seems to know what she’s up to.Odessa knows she must find Allesaria and report back to her father, but can she actually kill the Guardian? As the days go by and the danger mounts, she finds her loyalties start to shift.Perry’s world is rich and complex, full of political intrigue, secrets and best of all, deadly monsters. The monsters were probably my favorite part of this book, and there’s even a bit of folklore and backstory as to how they came about. From the marroweels, sea creatures who attack and destroy ships, to the crux, huge winged beasts who migrate every generation and leave death and destruction in their wake, the monsters are beautiful but deadly, and the author doesn’t shy away from some very graphic attacks. Check out these beautiful artistic interpretations of the monsters at this Instagram post!Perry also has a knack for creating interesting and believable characters. Odessa is sort of a mess at first. She has no real skills, she can’t fight, and she is the worst spy ever. But she’s loyal to her father and her kingdom and is determined to do something right for a change, so she grits her teeth and learns how to fight when the Guardian insists on training her (the training scenes were awesome!). She keeps notes in her journal about the possible location of Allesaria, going so far as to draw a secret—and illegal—map as bits of information fall into her lap. The Guardian (whose real name we learn later in the book) is your typical angry, gruff and hot as hell warrior who is hiding a huge secret, and I absolutely loved their very slow burn romance, although it isn’t the focus of the story. Odessa’s headstrong actions land them in extreme danger more than once, but these events eventually bring the two together. Expect lots of inner dialog as Odessa comments on the Guardian’s extreme good looks and bulging muscles, but honestly, the threat of monster attacks kept the romance in check so it didn’t overwhelm the story.Shield of Sparrows is full of thrilling action, including a dangerous sea crossing when Odessa leaves her home for Turah. Perry keeps her story interesting by having the characters move around a lot, instead of staying in just one location. The scenes when the monsters attack are really well done, and even the Guardian struggles at times to kill them, even though he has, let’s just say extra special abilities (which you’ll learn about when you read the book). The characters are constantly in danger, first from the monsters and later from the threat of an invading army. Of course, the more I came to know and love them, the more worried I became, and there are some deaths that hit me hard, I won’t lie.There’s one big twist about a third of the way through the book, one I didn’t see coming! And wow, the ending, while not strictly a cliffhanger, was another huge twist, one the author drops hints for, but you’ll have to read carefully to pick them up. Perry sets things up for the next book in the series (on the way but yet to be officially announced), and I couldn’t be more eager to find out what happens next. I haven’t gone too deep into the plot to avoid spoilers, but trust me when I say there’s a lot more to the story than what I’ve revealed here. Lots of fun and beautifully crafted, Shield of Sparrows is a must read for fantasy fans.

This beautiful book arrived on a Wednesday. I read the back and opened the book to read the first page. Wrong move as I needed to fix dinner. This is the kind of book that draws you in immediately. I can only recall a handful of books that have drawn me in as quickly as this one did.Odessa is the oldest princess, born by the love of the kings life. But her mother was gone and the second wife had also born a princess, Mae. Mae loved the spectacle of royal life and trained for the day she would be married to a stranger. Mae was ready to fulfill the magical treaty that kept their world safe. Except that’s not what happens.Full of twists and turns that had the pages flying by, I devoured all 528 pages in less than 36 hours. Every spare minute was devoted to those pages. I carried it around at work and was stopped by follow readers demanding to know about it. I had 5 or 6 committed to reading it when I was done.I am not an epic fantasy reader. I prefer a softer version of fantasy. I don’t like fantasy that requires I learn almost a completely different language to understand what’s happening. This book fills that request. Yes there are names of kingdoms and people but there was an apple. That simple fruit made me happy. It expressed my contentment with the story. There were enough normal things that it wasn’t a job to read it. Instead, I could focus on the story. And I really loved the story.There’s an interesting dynamic between some of the main characters that had me seeing more was going on than the words on the page. Of course I was proud I’d figured it out or so I thought. Sure I saw the part the author intends you to see. But the mysteries in this book are many and packed tightly between the words. All the hints are there but don’t think you have a clue even at the bitter end. You will be left wondering what you just read. I loved it.The monsters add a lot to this book. Two monsters capture my heart while many, many more have me hiding my head. Keep an eye out for the monsters.This is a slow burn romance that rides some twists of an arranged marriage troupe. It’s an enemies to lovers while trying to stay alive thriller kind of book. All of it had me flying through the pages at rapid speed. Of course it has an ending that makes you cry out for book 2. At this point we don’t even know how many books there are in this series let along when the next book comes out.This book offers great writing, excellent world building, and a story that just captured me! I highly recommend it for anyone who loves romantasy but especially someone who is new to the genre and aren’t sure if it’s for them. This book will convince you.A crown jewel of a first book! Don’t miss this new series!