Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
I wanted to give this five stars, I really did. Because somewhere beneath the noise of FMC Odessa’s thoughts, there’s a good story buried in there with yearning, action and twisty twists… But Shield of Sparrows showed me that it’s somehow possible to be completely captivated and somewhat aggravated all at once.
Odessa’s relentless incessant questioning is used as a narrative crutch, and the effect was frustrating. After a while, it stopped adding anything of value to me and just started dragging the worldbuilding, plot and everything else down. The story started to feel like it was circling itself, stuck in her head, instead of moving forward.
Which is a shame, because when the story focused less on Odessa’s internal static and more on the plot, it really worked for me. While the story is formulaic, it’s also innovative, and the balance of fantasy to romance was perfectly executed, in my humble opinion. Villains and side characters are given complexity. There is a cute animal companion or two.
And for a book that begins so rooted in predictability, the final act hits harder than expected and surprised me many times over.
So here we are. 3.5 stars. Because despite everything, I liked it. If Odessa had asked half as many questions, this easily could’ve been a four or five-star read.
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, War
Graphic: Animal death, Death
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Death of parent
Rating: 4/5 stars
Odessa is an overlooked princess—but after being forced into an arranged marriage and sent across the world, she is determined to be overlooked no longer.
This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I saw SO many amazing reviews and I think I probably built up my expectations a bit as a result, so in the end I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. In particular, I feel like I heard SO MUCH about the ending, and it was definitely a bit overhyped in my mind as a result.
All of that said: I thought the world building here was excellent and really liked most of the characters! It’s definitely a slow burn but things did pick up a lot towards the end. And I will DEFINITELY be continuing this series—it is a good enough premise and foundation that I could absolutely foresee it becoming a favorite in later books!
CW: Blood; violence/injury; human and animal death
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit