Review of Rites of the Starling (Shield of Sparrows #2) by Devney Perry

I wanted more character development and fantasy elements from this second book in the series, but I liked the "twist" of the interconnectedness of the two main points of view.

The first installment in the Shield of Sparrows series set up an overlooked princess who became a heroine; deadly monsters being treated unfairly; an enemies-to-lovers romance; and shifting loyalties.

This sequel is told through split points of view. We hear from Odessa Cross, the Princess of Quentis, who is on a quest to find her missing warrior husband Ransom, while trying to understand an enigmatic journal detailing events that appear in Odessa's visions. Oh, and she's got six-year-old Evie and a fierce baby monster, Faze, tagging along with her with her through every imaginable danger.

Ransom is for the most part not present in the book, which was disappointing. We do hear briefly from Ransom's point of view.

We hear far more frequently from Caspia, a new-to-us character and a Starling who has not yet transformed into her animal state. She is learning the mixed, disturbing history and heritage of her bloodline while falling in love with Andreas, a man who saved her in the wilderness and who has a secret lineage of his own. Caspia and Andreas fall in love almost instantaneously, which felt unnecessary. There's romance but no spice...until we get toward of the end of the book, where its presence felt jarring.

I wasn't particularly captivated by the plot of this one; I would have enjoyed instead digging further into the back stories and context of book one so I felt a deeper connection to our key characters. Even the monster element felt like a missed opportunity; Devney seems to focus on the ethics around monster treatment more then she embraces the development of these creatures--an aspect that as a fantasy fan I would celebrate more of. As in book one, I grew weary of Dess's repeated rhetorical questions and revisiting of the same issues over and over, neither of which felt like it moved the plot forward. The pacing of the book felt slow at times.

You may predict the interconnectedness between Odessa and Caspia, but their link is stated outright late in the book, and this could potentially feel like a twist. The book seems to have been built toward that revelation rather than character development or world-building, both of which would have intrigued me here and made the book stronger.

Devney Perry is the author of forty romance novels; I wonder if the author's focus on romance writing is the reason the fantasy elements of the series at times feel less developed than I would like.

More Romantasy Titles

Click here to read my review of book one in the series, Shield of Sparrows.

I can be picky about "romantasy;" I generally prefer straight fantasy novels, but for other books I've read along these lines, please check out this link.