CW: Animal Death – specifically in Rites of the Starling. I will not be talking about it in detail in this review.

Earlier this year, I read Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry. I was interested in this because of the premise of this being a monster-hunting, fantasy book series. That sounded intriguing. I liked Shield of Sparrows, but reading this book was a trip. The pace was slow, and that had to do with the fact that there was a lot build up happening in the first half. With that said, I thought the second half of the book picked up speed. This was a series where, if the second book was similar to the first, I would have probably abandoned this series altogether. I am happy to say that Rites of the Starling, the second book in the series, was so good and well worth the wait.

Spoilers for both Shield of Sparrows and Rites of the Starling below

Shield of Sparrows and Rites of the Starling both take place in the world of Calandra. In the first book, we meet Odessa. Her older sister, Mae, was chosen to be the Sparrow. The Shield of Sparrows refers to a treaty where the king offers his daughter in an arranged marriage with another kingdom’s prince. When it came time for Mae to accept her marriage, the prince changes heart and wanted Odessa instead, which burned a bridge with her family. Odessa goes to Turrah, another kingdom in Calandra, but before she does, her father asks her to find out about Turrah’s secret city of Allesaria. In Odessa’s adventures, there are numerous monster attacks, and she forges a romance with the well-known monster hunter, Ransom. In Rites of the Starling, Odessa makes her way back to her home of Quintis, and eventually Ransom makes his way back to her. Ransom tells Odessa of these monsters and how, when they die, they turn into humans. Surprisingly, they look like Odessa. What is Odessa’s connection to the monsters plaguing Calandra?

Odessa is arguably one of my favorite romantasy protagonists that I have read. Odessa in Shield of Sparrows is timid and lets people, especially her family, walk all over her. In Rites of the Starling, she doesn’t take anything from anyone. I was rooting for her! She lets her family have it, and she’s much more opinionated than in Shield of Sparrows. I think Odessa undergoes major character growth throughout these two books, which is interesting to read about. I like Odessa and Ransom’s relationship; it feels genuine to me. Odessa wants to cure Ransom of his sickness with Lyssa, which correlates to the monster attacks. This series has a ton of great side characters who also have their own motivations. Evie, The Mavens, Faze, Xavier, and Tillia are some of the many characters that make the series what it is.

With Rites of the Starling, there’s a new character point of view that’s introduced. Besides Odessa, there’s Caspia. I read Shield of Sparrows right before Rites of the Starling, so there was no way Caspia was a character I forgot about in the first book. Each chapter switches back and forth between Odessa and Caspia, so it added something thrilling to figure out how Odessa and Caspia’s stories relate to each other. I didn’t get where the book was going until the big reveal. Caspia’s story helps bridge the gap between the monsters and why they are attacking Calandra. While I had my own theories, I was definitely surprised by the direction this series took in a good way. 

When I read both of these books, I read the physical e-book from the library and listened to the audiobook. I’m glad I did. The audiobook kept me more on edge while reading, and I thought the narrators did a good job of that. I find that when I physically read a book and listen to the audiobook, I get more out of it. I have a note on my phone where I jot things down as I listen to each chapter. It’s been fun to re-read my theories and then see how wrong I was. In Storygraph, you can note journal entries, so I upload my thoughts into that section. I think I will read the physical book and listen to that same book on audio more frequently going forward.

Shield of Sparrows was good, but Rites of the Starling was incredible. I was a little worried going into Rites of the Starling because I knew if this book was okay, it would have made me discontinue the series. I am now stuck waiting for the third book. I rated Shield of Sparrows four stars and Rites of the Starling five stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.