A review by jessailene
Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense slow-paced
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The writing is clear step above most fantasy I’ve read, yes, even better than Sarah J. Maas. And I’m talking about the actual writing…it’s clean, thoughtful, and refreshingly free of recycled language (looking at you, “vulgar gesture” 🙄🙄🙄).


While the story started off a bit slower than I’d prefer, it steadily gained momentum and kept me hooked. I’ll admit, ACOTAR’s world is more dreamy and immersive, but Shield of Sparrows made up for that with stronger prose, sharper pacing, and a plot that genuinely surprised me more than once.


As soon as I discovered that there was an issue with the animals, my immediate hunch is that the cure will somehow be Odessa … but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. (We’ll have to wait until book two to find out if I’m right.)
Even with that possible predictability, the rest of the twists hit hard and kept things exciting.


The spicy scenes? Honestly, a major upgrade from the usual (Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, Serpent and the Wings of Night). I’ve noticed that once you’ve read one sex scene from certain authors, it starts to feel like they just copy and paste the same formula every time. But Deveney Perry didn’t fall into that trap. She kept it to one well-written, detailed moment of intimacy… and it felt tasteful, intimate, and not at all cheesy. That said, I’ll be curious to see if she avoids repetition in future books.


What really sealed it for me though, was the main character. She’s awkward, flawed, and so relatable. Her inner monologue is hilarious… there were a couple moments that had me laughing out loud. That kind of grounded, human realism is rare in fantasy and made her feel genuinely real.


Overall, Shield of Sparrows was a fresh, emotionally grounded, and surprisingly sharp read. I’m 100% on board for book two… and seriously hoping it sticks the landing.


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