Reviews

Breath of Dust & Dawn by L. Penelope

alexandratheroux's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

millennialbookreview's review against another edition

4.0

Breath of Dust & Dawn is a fun novella and a great follow-up to Song of Blood & Stone. The plot was engaging and the author used the novella to develop the personalities of certain characters while also introducing new characters that are important later. The story is light on world-building, but that is understandable, given the length of the book. This novella wouldn’t work as a standalone or as the entry point into the series. If you have read Song of Blood & Stone, and you’re wondering if you should or shouldn’t read this novella, I’d say “read it” since the novella adds a lot in terms of character development for Jack. It’s also a fun, quick read so it’s easy to get through.

My full review can be found here

tia_mb's review against another edition

4.0

This novella was a backstory that was needed after the first book and was written really well.

bleulucy's review against another edition

4.0

If you liked Song of Blood & Stone then you are really going to enjoy the novella Breath of Dust & Dawn. It fills in details from the first book - so definitely read that first. The world building is good, but the character building is great! I can't wait for the next book in the Earthsinger Chronicles.
Full disclosure: I received an ARC and loved every page.

all_time_mon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'Breath of Dust & Dawn' by L. Penelope is a novella to be read between the first and second novels in the Earthsinger Chronicles. We follow Jack and Jasminda after the end of 'Song of Blood & Stone' though the majority of the story takes place before the first book. To help Jasminda through trying times, Jack tells her a story from his life before they met, specifically when he helped solve a set of murders. 
This novella does a really good job of giving us more time with Jack and Jasminda. We get a peek into Jack's backstory and we also get to see more of the caring relationship between the two. I really love the idea of adding extra context and little bites of story between the larger installments through the novellas that run throughout this series. It made me excited to continue on with book two. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Death, Xenophobia, and Murder

Minor: War

zephyrsilver's review against another edition

3.0

Whoopsie, should have read this in between books 1 and 2 like I was supposed to, but oh well. This is a fun introduction of Darvyn, and I bet even more so if read in the proper order. It's a very good bridge in between books. I will admit I think the mystery aspect kind of went over my head a bit, but I'm not much of a mystery reader so this wasn't entirely my genre. Overall, a fun little story, even if it doesn't add too much overall. Still, it was short so it was worth the read.

bookishplantmom's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a fun little novella. It was nice to find myself back in the Earthsinger universe. I don’t know that I would say the novella adds much to the overall series though I haven’t finished it so my opinion may change in the future. 

lashette's review

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I liked this. It rekindled my interest in the series. And having read the next full-length novel, it connects the two storylines well. We get introduced to a future main character and get a glimpse for how Lagrimarian refugees were/are living and being treated in Elsira. Plus a bit more background on Jack. This wasn't what I was expecting . It was cute and heartwarming, but also heartbreaking and still hopeful. 

infinitysbookshelf's review against another edition

4.0

Breath of Dust and Dawn is a mix between a prequel and a sequel to A Song Of Blood and Stone, with one character recounting a story that happened before the events of that novel. I found the actual plot interesting and I really enjoyed the mystery elements of the story. The magic was explored in more detail and I really enjoyed seeing Jack before the novel.

Darvyn is the star of this story and I did enjoy his portion of the story. Reading this right before Whispers might have been the wrong idea, which made my reading experience not as great. Whispers immediately introduces Darvyn at the beginning of the story in the same way he was introduced in the novella. It made this story seem a little unnecessary and I wish it was included in A Song of Blood and Stone rather than be its own thing. Overall this was interesting, but not important to the overall arc of the story. I gave it 4 stars