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A review by 10000bees
The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Conceptually, I love this. A necromancer and a priestess travel to hell to resurrect a dead god. Yes please! And I will not lie, I flew through this book. Something about Broadbent's writing is just so readable for me. And Luce! I am not immune to an animal companion, and I am even less immune to a man who loves his dog. Sorry!
I liked Mische as a protagonist and seeing her come to terms with her toxic relationship with her god and religion. Asar felt a little underdeveloped, but I'm sure that'll at least try to be fixed in the next book, where I assume we'll get his POV.
But the pacing didn't work for me. This book takes place over months but it doesn't feel like that at all. I might believe a week or two. And the challenges they faced felt incredibly repetitive to the point of frustration. The side characters had basically no personality and were just... there.
And yet. I ate it up. Especially towards the end. Broadbent knows how to do a cliffhanger, I tell you what. I don't know if it completely makes up for the somewhat lackluster beginning, but I'm absolutely interested in seeing what happens in the next book.
I liked Mische as a protagonist and seeing her come to terms with her toxic relationship with her god and religion. Asar felt a little underdeveloped, but I'm sure that'll at least try to be fixed in the next book, where I assume we'll get his POV.
But the pacing didn't work for me. This book takes place over months but it doesn't feel like that at all. I might believe a week or two. And the challenges they faced felt incredibly repetitive to the point of frustration. The side characters had basically no personality and were just... there.
And yet. I ate it up. Especially towards the end. Broadbent knows how to do a cliffhanger, I tell you what. I don't know if it completely makes up for the somewhat lackluster beginning, but I'm absolutely interested in seeing what happens in the next book.