Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry: A Book Review

Rites of the Starling is the second book in Devney Perry’s Shield of Sparrows trilogy, and it does what a good second book should: it answers questions, deepens the world, and leaves you wanting the third. It also features a child, which I will be discussing at length.

Synopsis

Picking up in the aftermath of Shield of Sparrows, Odessa is separated from the man she loves, hunted through the five kingdoms of Calandra, and forced to become the guardian of a young girl named Evie while navigating a world on the verge of collapse. The crux migration is coming, monsters are multiplying, and Odessa must reckon with what she is willing to sacrifice. This is the second book in a trilogy; reading Shield of Sparrows first is essential.

My review

I reviewed Shield of Sparrows earlier on this blog and gave it four stars. It was a romantasy that worked for me despite my general wariness of the genre, with a strong enemies-to-lovers arc and a protagonist I liked spending time with. Odessa is fierce, capable, and not inclined to apologise for herself, which is exactly the kind of female lead I want in a fantasy novel. Hello Nesta.

And then Evie arrived.

I want to be clear that this is entirely a personal preference with no reflection on the child as a character, her actions, or what she brings to the plot. I simply do not enjoy a child in a story. A child in a novel is, for me, almost always the least interesting element in the room, and more importantly here, Evie’s presence consistently softened Odessa. A fierce, feisty female character often becomes maternal and protective the moment a child is in danger, and while that is emotionally logical, it is not what I came to this series for.

It took me 18 days to finish approximately 17 hours of audio, as I dipped in and out of it rather than compulsively consuming it, which is a fair summary of my experience.

That said, as a bridge book, and this is very much a bridge book, the second Lord of the Rings of this trilogy, it functions well.

The world-building expands, the mythology deepens, and the questions left unanswered from book one are handled with enough care that answers feel earned rather than perfunctory. New questions are raised to pull you toward book three, which is not yet published. And, I want to read the third.

The audiobook production is strong overall. Narrated by Jason Clarke, Samantha Brentmoor, and Megan Wicks, the voices are well-differentiated, and the performances are committed. One complaint: the actors do 2 children’s voices. This is a feature of all audiobooks with child characters, and I have yet to hear one done well.

I also need to address the writing tics, because Devney Perry has form here and Rites of the Starling continues the tradition. In my review of Shield of Sparrows, I flagged the bobbing throat. It’s back. Joining it in this instalment: characters licking the seam of someone’s lips, standalone blinks used as emotional beats (“I blinked.” “He blinked.”), and hard swallows deployed so frequently they start to feel like a nervous tic of the prose itself. 

There was no waitlist for the audiobook on Libby, while the physical copy had 18 people waiting. So, if you’re happy with audio, you might get lucky and be able to jump straight in.

What I liked / what I didn’t

What I liked

The world-building is stronger in this instalment, and the mythology is genuinely interesting. The story answered enough questions from book one to feel satisfying while leaving enough open to justify a third book. The audiobook narration is solid, and the production quality is good. As a bridge book, it functions well, better than many second instalments in a trilogy.

What I didn’t

Evie. The child’s presence consistently toned down Odessa, as a strong protagonist becomes a protective guardian, and that’s a significant shift in the character I came to this series for. The writing tics are more numerous and more noticeable than in book one: bobbing throats, licked lip seams (bleh), blinking used as punctuation, hard swallows deployed liberally. At approximately 17 hours, it is also a significant time investment for what is, functionally, a filler instalment.

Final verdict

Rites of the Starling is a solid second book in a trilogy that I expect will reward readers who make it to book three. It is not as strong as Shield of Sparrows: the child character softens the protagonist, the writing tics are more pronounced, and it has the slightly flat energy of a book that exists primarily to set up what comes next. But the world is interesting, the story progresses meaningfully, and I’ll be reading the third when it’s published. If you enjoyed Shield of Sparrows and Romantasy, or Fantasy, this is worth your time.

If you haven’t read Shield of Sparrows, start there; this will make very little sense without it.

Where can I read it?