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A review by dinibharadwaj
House of Rage and Sorrow: Book Two in the Celestial Trilogy by Sangu Mandanna
5.0
Note: I received a free finished copy of the book via Caffeine Book Tours and Sky Pony Press in exchange for an honest review
A Spark of White Fire had set the bar really high and I fully expected this book to surpass it. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year and I was so glad I got the opportunity to read this ahead of publication date.
Titania was one of my favourite characters from the previous book and I was so glad we got her perspective in this one. Her narration balanced out the heaviness of Esmae's voice, which was much darker in tone. The side characters also went through their own organic development, my favourites being Radha and Sybilla.
While A Spark of White Fire had a slow build-up to a thrilling climax, in this the plot started at breakneck speed that carried on until the end. The way Mandanna puts her own spin on familiar elements from the Mahabharata was my favourite part of the first book and in this one too. As someone who read some more retellings/re-imaginings of this epic I have grown up with between the first and the second book, Mandanna's creativity made this series unlike anything I have read so far in the best of ways. The world-building was also kicked up a notch and I felt more immersed this time around. It's very difficult to talk about this book without giving away spoilers, so I'll just sum up my review by saying that A House of Rage and Sorrow had all the elements I loved in A Spark of White Fire but better.
A Spark of White Fire had set the bar really high and I fully expected this book to surpass it. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year and I was so glad I got the opportunity to read this ahead of publication date.
Titania was one of my favourite characters from the previous book and I was so glad we got her perspective in this one. Her narration balanced out the heaviness of Esmae's voice, which was much darker in tone. The side characters also went through their own organic development, my favourites being Radha and Sybilla.
While A Spark of White Fire had a slow build-up to a thrilling climax, in this the plot started at breakneck speed that carried on until the end. The way Mandanna puts her own spin on familiar elements from the Mahabharata was my favourite part of the first book and in this one too. As someone who read some more retellings/re-imaginings of this epic I have grown up with between the first and the second book, Mandanna's creativity made this series unlike anything I have read so far in the best of ways. The world-building was also kicked up a notch and I felt more immersed this time around. It's very difficult to talk about this book without giving away spoilers, so I'll just sum up my review by saying that A House of Rage and Sorrow had all the elements I loved in A Spark of White Fire but better.