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Book: “Rites of the Starling” by Devney Perry
Publishing Info: Red Tower Books, April 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: from the library!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Calandra’s five kingdoms are on the verge of destruction. The crux migration is coming. And in the wake of a devastating attack, I’ve been separated from the man who owns my heart.
I’m lost. Terrified. Homesick. Hunted by monsters, driven to exhaustion, and kidnapped by a powerful priest, the only thing keeping me going is the little girl counting on me to keep her safe. It’s my turn to become the Guardian.
Our lives change one fateful night. A night of death. A night of monsters. A night of truths. That night, I learn the real meaning of fear—and the depth of my own strength. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice. But what if I embrace my crown? What if the secrets I uncover save our realm?
What if my sacrifice means salvation for the man I love? For too long, I’ve feared the monsters we make. It’s time to discover the monster within.
Previously Reviewed: “Shield of Sparrows”
Review: I’m a bit late to the game, but I finally managed to get my hands on this sequel! “Shield of Sparrows” was kind of a sleeper hit for me last year; on its face, it sounded much like every other romantasy title coming out that I often struggle to get through. But it surprised me with its detailed world-building, fast-moving plot, and a romance that felt properly balanced with the rest of the plot. It also ended on a fairly substantial cliffhanger, so I was excited to see how that was all resolved here!
While this one didn’t quite live up to the high of the first book, it still stands miles ahead of other titles of its sort, in my opinion. In this book’s case, much of what makes it stand out comes down to the world-building and the effective use of twists. Like I said, the first book’s world-building was surprisingly robust. But here, the book introduces an entirely new main character and, through her, an entirely new perspective on this world. I can’t go into many details without getting into spoilers, but suffice it to say, this world is much larger than was known and its history much longer. What makes this so great is the fact that this is presented as not only new information to the reader, but is also woven into the story itself, with explanations for why none of this was referenced in the first book.
The second point is the effective use of twists. It was already a fairly ballsy move to introduce a new POV character who isn’t just the romantic interest, but Devney carefully weaves this story in and out of the continuation of Odessa and Ransom’s story. Through her chapters, we get little pieces doled out, just enough to allow the reader to form their own theories about what is going on. But often, those theories only last until the next chapter, where some new puzzle piece is laid out, shifting all of the theories in a new direction. By the end, I had put most of it together, but every turn along the way felt fresh, and there were definitely guesses that I started with that turned out to be completely off base. There was one particular twist that I had wrong the entire time!
I also continued to enjoy the balance between romance and plot in this series. Our new character has her own developing romance, which works nicely as Odessa and Ransom are separated for a large chunk of this book. While this delay may frustrate some readers, I think it effectively built the tension and nicely prioritized the actual life-and-death stakes of the ongoing situation in this world. Too often, romantasy sequels have to either introduce contrived conflict into the romance to keep up interest or simply begin to sound repetitive, as the two characters tread familiar ground throughout the story. Here, we get a nice payoff from Ransom and Odessa’s eventual reunion, and by the end, they have an entirely new host of challenges ahead of them.
The story also continued its trend of tragedy and violence. Things do not go well for all of the characters here. The stakes were high throughout, and this was reflected in the fact that not everything works out the way we may wish.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read. The pacing was perhaps a bit more uneven, simply due to jumping back and forth between two POVs and two very different stories, but the incredible world-building really makes it stand out in the crowded romantasy field. If you enjoyed the first book, particularly if you loved it for its main plot and the fantasy elements, definitely continue on with this one!
Rating 8: Devney has really cracked the romantasy nut with this one, managing to weave a complicated, expansive world while also not skimping on the romance!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Rites of the Starling” is on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases and Adult Romantasy.
The Library Ladies 