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A review by heabooknerd
Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope
3.0
SONG OF BLOOD & STONE was an interesting read and while I liked certain parts, overall it's just a 3 star read for me. I went into this expecting more fantasy than romance so I was really happy to see that Jack and Jasminda's romance is actually a pretty prominent part of the story. It's pretty much instalove for these two but that doesn't bother me so I enjoyed their forbidden romance. Jack is a spy, a soldier, and something more because he's keeping secrets and boy did things change up a lot in the second half once those secrets are revealed.
There were two problems that took down my rating. The first was the setting which was very fuzzy for me. I had a really hard time settling into what type of world this was. Was it completely made up? There are no recognizable countries and magic is important. Or is it an alternative version of our world? Because there are things like landline phones, airships, and vehicles, but no computers. This all made it really hard to grasp the setting though I felt like L. Penelope does a good job of creating the differences in the Lagrimar and Elsiran people. The two countries are divided by the Earthsingers (Lagrimar) and the Silent (Elsira) and while the ability to use earthsong (magic) divides them, their physical appearance also divides them. The Elsira are represented as mostly White and the Lagrimar are mostly darker-skinned/Black. Bigotry toward the Lagrimar is a pretty prominent part of the story so be warned if you're sensitive to that, but this is never an issue for Jack and how he feels about Jasminda.
My other issue was that while I liked Jasminda as our heroine, she spends most of the book having things happen to her instead of her actions moving the story forward. The first 75% is mostly just her getting dragged along by other people's wishes or missions. She has very little agency as our lead character and while some of it is because she's considered beneath the Elsiran people (she's half Lagrimar and half Elsiran but has dark skin like the Lagrimar) the rest is just that she doesn't really do anything for her own sake until the end.
Overall, I wanted to like this more but it was just average for me. However, I think that fans of romantic fantasy will probably like this one so if my problems wouldn't bother you then you'll probably be fine. It ends on a very solid HEA for Jack and Jasminda with the overarching fantasy plot continuing.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review
Content Warning: Frequent racism and bigotry directed toward Jasminda and the Lagrimar people because their skin is darker than the Elsiran people; Jack is threaten with rape; on page attempted rape of Jasminda by other character
There were two problems that took down my rating. The first was the setting which was very fuzzy for me. I had a really hard time settling into what type of world this was. Was it completely made up? There are no recognizable countries and magic is important. Or is it an alternative version of our world? Because there are things like landline phones, airships, and vehicles, but no computers. This all made it really hard to grasp the setting though I felt like L. Penelope does a good job of creating the differences in the Lagrimar and Elsiran people. The two countries are divided by the Earthsingers (Lagrimar) and the Silent (Elsira) and while the ability to use earthsong (magic) divides them, their physical appearance also divides them. The Elsira are represented as mostly White and the Lagrimar are mostly darker-skinned/Black. Bigotry toward the Lagrimar is a pretty prominent part of the story so be warned if you're sensitive to that, but this is never an issue for Jack and how he feels about Jasminda.
My other issue was that while I liked Jasminda as our heroine, she spends most of the book having things happen to her instead of her actions moving the story forward. The first 75% is mostly just her getting dragged along by other people's wishes or missions. She has very little agency as our lead character and while some of it is because she's considered beneath the Elsiran people (she's half Lagrimar and half Elsiran but has dark skin like the Lagrimar) the rest is just that she doesn't really do anything for her own sake until the end.
Overall, I wanted to like this more but it was just average for me. However, I think that fans of romantic fantasy will probably like this one so if my problems wouldn't bother you then you'll probably be fine. It ends on a very solid HEA for Jack and Jasminda with the overarching fantasy plot continuing.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review
Content Warning: Frequent racism and bigotry directed toward Jasminda and the Lagrimar people because their skin is darker than the Elsiran people; Jack is threaten with rape; on page attempted rape of Jasminda by other character