One book blogger I follow rated Fourth Wing five stars, and then Iron Flame one star on Goodreads. I read Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros last year, and I loved it. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it’s not often that you rent a book as a library book and then proceed to buy the physical copy because it was that good. With that said, I was reading reviews of Iron Flame, and some were less than positive. I wanted to keep reading the series to form my own thoughts. I liked Iron Flame, but I can also resonate with some of the reviewers who didn’t enjoy this book.

Spoilers for both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame below

Iron Flame picks up immediately where Fourth Wing ended. Violet is grappling with all the secrets she has to keep, along with the guilt she feels over Liam’s death. As she returns to classes, she’s met with a cruel professor who wants to see her not make it out of Basgiath. When the wards protecting Navarre might fall, it’s up to Violet to work with the other riders and the scribes to protect Navarre from all the lies it told to its people.

Let’s start with Violet. Violet comes across as immature in this, which was kind of sad to see. Violet gets mad at Xaden because he hides things from her, including the fact that her brother was alive this entire time. Okay, I could see that Violet has a valid point there, but also, Violet’s mom is a general. Xaden has plenty of reasons to hide things from her. Also, her memories were read by Dain, which Violet didn’t shield her mind from. Granted, Violet didn’t know Dain was doing that, but still. Violet consistently brings up to Xaden how she can’t trust him, and I just want someone to confront Violet with what she needs to hear. I will say that shortly after one of these conversations, Violet does own up to this and why Xaden does what he does, so there is some maturity from her, but overall, I think she comes across as more immature than I would have liked. Xaden is fine? This might sound bad, but I don’t read this series for Violet or Xaden. It’s not that I dislike them as characters; I just think every other character has more going on for them. Rhiannon, Sawyer, Ridoc, Imogen, Quinn, Tairn, Andarna, Sgaeyl, Sloane, etc. These characters are why I continue reading this series, not solely for Violet and Xaden.

One thing that Iron Flame has going for it is the world. I like Navarre. I like how this group of characters ventures outside of Basgiath, and we learn more about the world as a whole. I like learning about the dragons and how they bond with their riders. How each rider has their own sigil and the power they wield. We learn more about Violet’s family, which I liked a lot. There are a lot of things going for this series.

With all that said, I think Iron Flame struggled in two areas. The first is that this book was entirely too long. I don’t mind reading longer books, but the story has to flow. For 637 pages, this book dragged on, which I didn’t feel at all with Fourth Wing. I ended up renting the audiobook from the library, so I listened to the middle half of this book before switching back to the physical copy. I think this book could have been edited down at least 100 pages, potentially more. The second area where I think Iron Flame struggled was the story. Iron Flame had its own Emperor Palpatine moment. When I say Emperor Palpatine, I mean that a villain was brought back from the dead that should not have been. Why is Jack Barlowe back!?!?!?!? UGH. Jack’s death in Fourth Wing was a significant moment for Violet. Jack kept bullying, belittling, and trying to kill her, so Violet throwing him from a mountain while being a vessel for Tairn’s power was great. Bringing him back undoes that moment for me, in my opinion. I don’t think the story supported Jack’s return, and the story suffered because of it. The second villain, Varrish, had a lot of potential. Varrish is the professor I mentioned in an earlier paragraph. However, his evil deeds were shown way too quickly, where he almost overstayed his welcome. He had to go at the time that he did, but I think if some of what he had done was spread out throughout the book, he could have been more of the main villain than he was. The last thing I will mention with the story is the venin. It feels like the venin barely appear in this book, which is a shame since they played a stronger role in Fourth Wing. There are still no answers as to why they do the things they do. Why do they want to take over Navarre? I don’t know.

Iron Flame feels like a letdown when Fourth Wing started the series off on a high note. The fact that this series is meant to extend beyond a trilogy is disconcerting because I don’t think there will be enough material for two full-length books. With all of Iron Flame’s flaws, I still enjoyed reading this, but now I’m lowering my expectations for what Onyx Storm will be like. This might be a series where I read the first three books and decide enough is enough. I rated Iron Flame three stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.

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.

As I started typing this post, I had to stop and think about the last time I pre-ordered a book. I haven’t pre-ordered any books since I got back into reading in 2014, so it’s been longer than that. Honestly, it might have been in middle school when we got those magazines with all the new books coming out, and you could place your order through them, and they would be delivered to the classroom. Those were the good old days. Since I have been consolidating and tracking my book series, it’s helped me get caught up on several series and become aware of when the next book is coming out. As such, I had two series with books coming out in August, so it made sense to pre-order them now. For almost all physical book purchases, I order from Cream & Amber since they can order books and ship them directly to my house, so this time was no different.

I pre-ordered two books. The first is The Lion & the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent. This is a series I’m fully caught up on, so it made sense to pre-order this book. This is the first book in the duology featuring the vampire house, the House of Blood. There will be a second book after this one. I’m not sure if this will complete the Crown of Nyaxia series or if Carissa will find a way to write other stories, even if they don’t feature the noble vampire houses. From reading The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk, there is a war brewing amongst the gods, which I’m here for because some of the gods deserve to be knocked down. The second book I pre-ordered is the paperback for Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree. I have read the other two books in the Legends & Lattes series. Brigands & Breadknives came out last year, but the paperback is what I’m waiting for. I have mentioned my preference for paperback over hardcover before, but also, the other books I have in this series are paperback, so I wanted to match what I already own.

I can see myself pre-ordering more books again in the future. With balancing multiple book series at once, I don’t want to wait more than I have to before I read the next book. If I can remember to pre-order the next book and have it shipped to me, then I can read it without getting spoiled by accident, which is honestly the worst.

I was on Goodreads and saw that they added a Did Not Finish bookshelf. Did Not Finish (abbreviated DNF) is how readers such as myself will label books that we did not finish reading. I used to be that person who would force myself to finish a book that I wasn’t enjoying. Once I finished reading the book, I’d rate it lower and then move on to something else. Now, I have no shame in DNFing a book. Reading should be a fun hobby, so why read something I’m not enjoying?

With that said, Goodreads is so late to the game. I talk about Storygraph a lot, and if you aren’t using Storygraph, why aren’t you? Storygraph has a Did Not Finish shelf to mark books, and they have a re-reading option, so instead of saying that you’re currently reading a book in Goodreads, Storygraph will mark if it’s specifically a re-read versus reading a book for the first time. I love that. As someone who is trying to re-read more of the books I own, I like how this is differentiated in Storygraph. The fact that Storygraph had this the whole time, and now Goodreads is trying to catch up, feels a bit late.

Good for Goodreads, I guess, for playing catch-up. Now my bookshelves are more accurate.

The Crown of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent is a series I love. I always look forward to the next book in the series. In between the main novels, Carissa writes these shorter novellas that bridge the books together. In Six Scorched Roses, this book featured characters that showed up in The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King. I finished reading Slaying the Vampire Conqueror, and I’m now reading The Fallen & The Kiss of Dusk, so I’m curious how these books will be related. Slaying the Vampire Conqueror was no exception. I loved this book and hope that Carissa writes more short novellas in the future.

Sylina has devoted her life to serving the Arachessen, a cult of Acaeja, the Goddess of Fate. As part of her sacrifice, she had her eyes taken. The Arachessen saved Sylina, and in exchange, she serves them loyally. Sylina is tasked with killing a vampire warrior who is invading the land of Glaea. Atrius is a vampire of the House of Blood and is ruthless in battle. Sylina weasels her way into Atrius’s inner circle. When she does, she realizes that he is not at all what she thought he would be. Throughout their battles, Sylina empathizes with Atrius, and a bond between them quickly forms.

One theme I’m noticing about this series and Carissa Broadbent’s books in particular is how she handles religious trauma. Sylina is manipulated into joining the Arachessen, and the gifts she gives up to her god are big asks, which I feel Sylina doesn’t get a lot in return for. I think it’s interesting to read why Sylina serves the Arachessen, believing that she has found this sisterhood. In reality, things are much more grim. While this book focuses on Sylina, I can’t help but draw parallels between Sylina and Mishe, the main character from the House of Shadow duology. Both characters have similarities in their stories, especially with their relationships to the gods they served.

I liked Sylina as a character. She’s clearly been through a lot, and even though she gave up her eyes, she still is a formidable character. I like the way it’s described that Sylina can use threads of fate to link things together. It felt very Daredevil to me, almost. Atrius’s story was also interesting, and his being from the House of Blood was fascinating since that duology isn’t published yet. The House of Blood is the vampire house that’s cursed by Nyaxia, so I think this novella will provide more lore for the next two books that will be released.

I feel like every book review I write about this series must sound the same. I can’t help it! Obitraes is one of my favorite fictional worlds that I have read. I have loved every book that Carissa has published in this series, and I can’t wait to read more about the House of Blood specifically. I rated Slaying the Vampire Conqueror five stars on Goodreads.

I hinted at this, but I finally created my Comic Series Tracker! I created my Book Series Tracker last year, and it helped organize my reading, so I knew I wanted to create one for comics specifically. It took me two hours to put it together, which sounds like a long time. It takes a bit to catalog everything and track how many volumes I have left of that series. I wanted to share how I put this together because my Comic Series Tracker is set up differently from the one I have for books.

I have five different sheets, which are as follows:

• Comic Series I’m Working Through – Indie
• Comic Series I’m Working Through – Marvel & DC
• Comics Reading List
• Completed Comic Series
• All-Time Favorite Graphic Novels and Comics

I decided to separate my comic series based on whether they were indie, so anything that’s not Marvel or DC, and then keep everything superhero-related on a separate sheet. I found keeping everything on one list made it long, so I think keeping it separate kept things more concise. This way, I can pick and choose the series I’m in the mood to read. The Comics Reading List is a list of comics that I want to read; it’s basically my TBR. The only graphic novel on that list so far is Supergirl: The Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King. This is the Supergirl graphic novel that inspired the Supergirl film coming out in June, so I’d like to read this before then. Completed Comic Series are series I’m all caught up on. I was surprised because there were more comics on here than I thought. Finally, I made a list of All-Time Favorite Graphic Novels and Comics, so comics I loved, but they were standalone and not part of a series. Unlike my Book Series Tracker, I don’t have a sheet created for series I am no longer continuing because I want to focus on what I love, not what I didn’t like.

If that wasn’t enough, I decided to redownload WEBTOON as it’s been a while since I started reading web comics. I may track Web Comics in this series tracker because why not?

I am excited to keep updating this as I go. I have since finished The Manhattan Projects, and I read the Yasha Origin graphic novel, Critical Role made with Dark Horse Comics. I’m happy to have gotten back into reading comics, and I want to continue that momentum throughout the rest of the year.

I finally finished my TBR. At this current moment, both my Goodreads and Storygraph Want to Read and To-Read Shelves list 0 books. This has been a long time coming. It was a few years ago that I decided to commit to and read every book on these shelves. I even went so far as to stop adding books to my TBR, so I could fully focus on this. Now, I have finally reached 0. I feel so proud of myself for finally achieving this. Throughout this process, I learned a lot about how I liked to read and I wanted to share different ways I will approach reading differently moving forward.

Setting a Maximum Amount of Books on my TBR

I will never, ever, have hundreds of books on my TBR. This stressed me out and made reading more of a chore than I wanted it to be. On top of that, it would take me years to finish my TBR and I want a TBR that could be managed or completed in one calendar year. When I think about what this magical number could be, my thought was twelve. If I were to read one physical book every month, I’d finish my TBR, so that’s why I think this number makes sense.

Re-Reading Books

Why bother reading a book if I wouldn’t want to re-read it in the future? My rule of thumb for a re-read is if it’s been at least five years since I first read the book, or if I pick up the book and don’t remember anything about it. I have a ton of books I love on my bookshelves that I’d like to pull off and re-read at some point. I want to keep prioritizing this as I don’t want to be a reader who only reads books once. One thing I love about Storygraph is there’s a notes section where you can type notes about a book as you read. I plan on utilizing that more with books I’m re-reading. I believe Goodreads has this too, but I never used it and I like the way Storygraph has this laid out.

Adding Comics to my TBR

I will keep this one short since I already wrote about my comics reading slump. I’m going to create a comics version of my Book Series Tracker and start consolidating which comic series I want to complete. I want to do a graphic novel cleanout and donate anything I don’t see myself re-reading again. On top of that, I want to create a list of all the graphic novels I need to purchase in order to finish that series. When I go comic shopping, I’d always forget which volume I need, so I want to have this organized, so my comic book store trips are more productive. I want to create this Comic Series Tracker in the next few weeks.

Logging Audiobooks with Libby, not through Goodreads or Storygraph

I used to track audiobooks on both my Goodreads and Storygraph shelves. I will no longer be doing this. The reason for this is that most of the time, the audiobooks I want to listen to are on a several month wait before I can listen to them. I feel they take up valuable space on my TBR, especially because it’s out of my control as to when I can finally listen to them. I figured out in Libby that you can create tags, so I created a TBR tag where I have been marking which audiobooks I want to listen to. This keeps me organized without clogging my physical TBR with audiobooks I won’t be able to listen to for at least three months or more.

Finishing More Series, BUT, discontinuing a series if I no longer enjoy it

Since creating my Book Series Tracker, I have completed at least five book series I was in the middle of. I’m on track to finish two more book series by the end of the year. While my book series tracker has kept me organized, I want to normalize discontinuing series that no longer bring me joy. If I’m not on the edge of my seat, counting down the days until I can read the next book in a series, it’s time to move on to something else.

As a reward for finishing my TBR, I decided that I won’t add any books to my Goodreads Want to Read shelf or my Storygraph To-Read pile. I am going to let myself mood read instead. Mood reading is what it sounds like, picking up books I’m in the mood to read instead of sticking to a set schedule of what I will be reading every month. I’m going to mood read for the rest of the year and then come back in 2027 with a full pile of books on my TBR.

I didn’t realize this, but you can rent e-books from the library through Libby and read them on your Kindle. That’s so slick! I was exclusively listening to audiobooks on Libby and didn’t realize that renting e-books was an option. To test this out, I rented We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark. I found out about this book from thtgrlreads as she read this book earlier this year and loved it. We Who Will Die is a solid first book in a series, and I’m excited for the next book to come out.

Spoilers for We Who Will Die Below

“Because a man has wronged you. Women have been each other’s sword and shield since the beginning.”

Arvelle Dacien lives a rough life with her brothers. Her brother, Evren, has a lung disease, which Arvelle doesn’t have the resources to treat. Arvelle is offered a deal: Evren can be healed if Arvelle can kill the Emperor. To do so, Arvelle has to enter a competition called the Sundering, and if she wins, she could be placed on the Emperor’s guard. While Arvelle may be offered a losing deal, she would do anything to make sure her brother gets the cure that he needs.

This might be a longer book review, but I have a lot of thoughts! Starting with Arvelle, I like how she’s portrayed as being rough around the edges. She isn’t this sweet protagonist. She’s cold-hearted and has trouble trusting people in her life. This comes from the death of her friend Kassia, who died in a competition both she and Arvelle were competing in. When Arvelle agrees to this deal, she takes Leon with her to act as her mentor. Leon happens to be Kassia’s father. There are times when I genuinely don’t like Arvelle, nor do I agree with her actions. However, I understood why she was the way she was. The way that Arvelle treats Maeva, another competitor in the Sundering sucked and Maeva calls her out for it later in the book. As the story unfolds, Arvelle matures and grows as a person. She starts to build upon her relationships and realizes she can’t keep living her life this way. I liked seeing that growth from her. It leaves potential for Arvelle to grow in future books.

While this is Arvelle’s story, another thing I liked about the book was all the side characters. Maeva is one character I highlighted already, and I adore her. Give Maeva her own book. I liked her story and her family dynamic, which led to her competing in the Sundering. Maeva and Arvelle end up becoming good friends. There are all the other gladiators, like Hester, who gets what’s coming to her. If you know, you know. Leon, what a gem. Leon keeps Arvelle in line and calls her out when she isn’t paying attention or is planning on doing something she shouldn’t. While we don’t get to meet Kassia, she plays a crucial role for both Arvelle and Leon. There are so many interesting characters in this book, which adds to my enjoyment of the series.

With this book being advertised as romantasy, I have to talk about the romance. Our book boyfriend is Tiernon, a former lover from Arvelle’s past who left her without warning. There’s a lot to unpack there since he did leave for a reason, which is revealed later. I think it’s safe to say there’s a love triangle being built with Tiernon, Arvelle, and Rorrik, Tiernon’s vampire brother. I am waiting for the ball to drop for Tiernon. I think he’s hiding something, and he doesn’t want to tell Arvelle about it because he’s afraid that he will lose her. I could be wrong, but something doesn’t feel right about him. The romance is fine, but I think it needs more time to develop.

When I write a book review, I like to read other reviews from other readers. There were a few critiques other readers brought up that I agreed with. The first is that Arvelle is portrayed as almost too weak at times. This goes beyond being out of shape and having an ankle injury. It seemed that every physical fight she was in, she struggled. It was almost to the point where I was questioning how on earth she won the Sands? There was never a moment when Arvelle won her fight by a landslide. This might be me being too nitpicky, but if she won this competition, why does she seem like such a beginner during her training? The last thing I wanted to say was how I feel like there’s too much going on in this book. Dare I say that vampires felt out of place? This book features vampires, gladiators, sigil magic, gods, pixies, centaurs, and wyverns. I think if Stacia had taken two of these things and honed in on them, it would have made the book better.

We Who Will Die is if the movie Gladiator had vampires. I think this was a great first book in a series, and there’s a lot of hype for the second book. If anything happens to Maeva, I will rage quit this series. I rated We Who Will Die four stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.

I read Mallory Marlowe’s first book, Love and Other Conspiracies, last year, and I loved it. I like how her books are standalone, meaning you don’t necessarily need to read the first book to understand the others. There will be small references here and there, but not enough to distract you from reading. Her second book, Love at First Sighting, was released last year, so I knew I wanted to read it eventually. As a Christmas present last year, I received Love at First Sighting, so I ended up saving it for February, as that’s when I read romance. Love at First Sighting was adorable, albeit the plot is a little far-fetched, but I don’t care.

Influencer El Martin truly believes she saw aliens. She posts it in her livestream, not really thinking much of it. However, this is quickly put on Agent Carter Brody’s plate as he works for the government to cover up all potential alien sightings. He meets her and is floored by who El is. She isn’t like what he sees of her online. They both end up finding commonality in figuring out what El saw that day. When they investigate, they realize something more sinister is happening, especially when it comes to what happened to Carter’s father all those years ago.

I loved Carter; he’s such a sweetheart. When Carter was young, his father passed away, and Carter saw something that day. Carter’s story is arguably more interesting than El’s because of wanting to find answers. Carter is a gem, and he needs to be protected at all costs. El grew on me eventually, but I did find her grating at first. She’s an influencer, and she has that attitude of advertising products she doesn’t believe in, but it’s fine because it’s for Instagram. Her friends are insufferable, and while El realizes this, she doesn’t stick up for herself. She lets her friends be shitty people. El eventually comes around and calls out her friends and sticks up for Carter. This book does a great job at portraying influencer culture as being as cringe as it is.

This was adorable. Mallory Marlowe’s books have all been great, and I look forward to reading whatever she publishes. I rated Love at First Sighting four stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent is the third book in the Crown of Nyaxia series. What’s interesting is that each portion of the series is categorized on Goodreads as a duet, meaning two books complete that story. Each duet is centered on one of three vampire houses: the House of Night, the House of Shadow, and the House of Blood. Oraya and Raihn’s story was the first duet taking place in the House of Night, while The Songbird & the Heart of Stone begins the story from the House of Shadow. The Songbird & the Heart of Stone follows Mische, who was a standout character from the first two books. I’m happy to say this book lived up to the hype and might be my favorite in this series so far.

Potential Spoilers for The Previous Crown of Nyaxia Books & The Songbird & the Heart of Stone

Mishe’s life changed when she was forcibly turned into a vampire. Now at odds with the god she devoted her life to, she still tried to appease him whenever possible. When revenge fell into her lap, she took it. She was eventually captured by the House of Shadow, and when she was about to be executed, she was rescued by Asar. Asar needs Mishe’s help with a secret mission, which involves undergoing the trek to Morthryn, the journey into the Underworld. The Underworld is not a kind place, and as Mishe and Asar journey through Morthryn’s depths, they start to care for one another.

Ride or die for Luce, Asar’s necromantic dog companion. She’s the best girl. If something happens to her in the next book, I’m going to be livid. I love how much this book feels like Mishe’s story. Asar is there, but the focus is clearly on Mische, which is what she deserves. She was always this ray of sunshine, evident in her friendships with Oraya and Raihn, and that’s clearly continued in this book. I like how the power dynamic is illustrated through Atroxus, the god that Mishe worships, and Mishe’s devotion to him. It’s incredibly toxic and shows how religious trauma is a core theme of Mishe’s story. At times, I felt so angry on Mishe’s behalf with the way Atroxus treats her. It wasn’t her fault that she was forcibly turned against her will, and Atroxus blames her at times, despite Mishe wanting to support him. Karma comes full circle for Atroxus, though, and it was so satisfying to read, go Mishe.

Asar, what a gem. I didn’t mind Raihn, but I am all in for Asar. I thought Asar’s story was interesting, especially with his ties to necromancy. I like how he also hated Malach because Malach sucked. Malach was the one who forcibly turned Mishe. This mutual hatred was what brought both Asar and Mishe together in the first place. Asar and Mishe’s relationship was slowly built and didn’t feel rushed to me. I don’t think they even got together until the last 100 pages, which I thought was perfect.

I loved reading about the Underworld. This book reminded me of Persephone and Hades in the best way. I’m sure that was intentional by Carissa when she wrote this. I liked reading about all the creatures, like the undead wraiths who aren’t put to rest. Mishe sees that one of her friends, Eomin, was one of the wraiths she saw. Asar, feeling bad about it, takes the time to put his soul to rest, so Mishe doesn’t have to be constantly tormented by him, and Eomin can be at peace. I thought each layer in Morthryn was fascinating, like how one layer would focus on memories while the other showed various individuals from both Mishe and Asar’s pasts. It was all interesting to read about.

There are so many cliffhangers at the end of this book. I felt like this book didn’t go in the direction that I had thought, which left me wanting more. I knew this would probably be the case, so when I started reading The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, I ordered the other two books I haven’t read yet. I’m planning on reading those in March, so I’m fully caught up on the series. The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is the epitome of why I love reading, and I’m curious to see how everything unfolds in the next book. I rated The Songbird & the Heart of Stone five stars on both Goodreads and Storygraph.