cakt1991 's review for:

A Sky of Emerald Stars by A. K. Mulford

3.0

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 I really enjoyed A River ofGolden Bones, and was excited for the next book. But I found myself underwhelmed by A Sky of Emerald Stars by comparison. There are still some aspects I enjoyed, like the continued expansion of the world building, particularly Pack dynamics. While I had issues with the perspective choices in other ways, I did like how expanding it to dual POV presented another view of the world and its politics, at least in theory. 

But the two voices are almost indistinguishable, and it’s why I personally dislike first person dual/multiple POV in most cases. I often would forget whose head I was in, and would have to go back and check. 

And even when I would remember, I feel like the characters weren’t given a chance to develop to their full potential. Calla was the sole protagonist of the first book, but I feel like there wasn’t much purpose to following her again, especially since it took page time from Sadie. And while the romance was very central in the first book, with there only being one. But there being two made trying to keep up rather exhausting, and the romances, especially Sadie’s, feel rather forced. I still love Calla and Grae, but I couldn’t care less about Sadie and Navin. 

I’m clearly in the minority, as a lot of people seem to love this one. But I also think that my issues also stem from the lack of clear parameters for what a “romantasy” is, setting readers like me up with the wrong expectations. If you enjoyed the first book and don't mind “romantasy” with two romances, I think you might enjoy this more than I did.