This article contains spoilers for both “Shield of Sparrows” and “Rites of the Starling.”
“Rite of the Starling” is the second book in the Shield of Sparrows trilogy by Devney Perry. It is 484 pages long or 17 hours and 23 minutes as an audiobook.
Since “Shield of Sparrows” was incredibly good, I did not expect “Rites of the Starling” to be as good as it is. Oftentimes, the second or middle books aren’t as good as the first book and last books.
There are two narrators, which is different from the previous singular narrator. Odessa Cross and Caspia are the narrators in “Rites of the Starling.”
Odessa and Ransom were separated halfway through the story. During this time, Odessa was taking care of a friend’s child as she traveled across Calandra, trying to find Ransom and get away from the crux migration. Ransom is Odessa’s husband and is known as The Guardian. He is the son of King Ramsey and Queen Luella. Ransom has a younger sister named Evie, who believes her father is Zavier, Ransom’s cousin and body double.
Their separation made it near impossible for Perry to continue building their relationship. While it is understandable that the separation was necessary I did not like that they were separated for half of the book.
The crux are massive, bird-like winged monsters that plague Calandra with violent migrations every 30 years. However, they spend most of their time on the continent of Kenn, where they are a calm and revered species. Neither continent knows the other exists; the only ones who do are the Voster. They are priests who have magic. One of their jobs is to enforce the Shield of Sparrows treaties between the kingdoms of Calandra.
Evie, the friend’s child Odessa is taking care of, has lost her parents and has to travel with Odessa and Brother Dime, a Voster priest. Evie is the biological daughter of Queen Luella and King Ramsey of Turan, and brother to Ransom. She believes her father is Zavier, but he is essentially her adoptive father. Luella is also Ransom’s mother and King Ramsey’s wife. Evie did not know that Luella, her tutor at the time, was also her mother. Zavier’s apparent death was horrible and Evie, a young child, refused to eat for a while until she came to accept that he was dead. At the end of the book they were reunited. Zavier and Evie’s eventual reunion was heartwarming, especially after all that they went through.
The Shield of Sparrows treaty is a magical blood pact that has existed for decades between the five kingdoms of Calandra to aid in the fight against the deadly monsters. The treaty in the first book was between the kingdoms of Quentis and Turah. It forced Princess Odessa into marrying Prince Zavier. However, Odessa didn’t know that the man she thought she was marrying was a placeholder. Later, she finds out that The Guardian, Ransom, is actually the prince and Zavier is his cousin.
In the kingdom of Nelfinex on Kenn, the royal family passes down the ability to turn into any of the animals (including the crux), but it is only passed down through the women and the kingdom has only been run by women. All of the girls after puberty, they go through the ritus to become a Starling. As part of Caspia’s ritus, she goes on a quest for vengeance against a silver-eyed warrior who kills a crux, who later turns out to be a red haired woman. During this quest, she travels to Calandra and unknowingly discovers the crux’s mating grounds.
While traveling, she loses her friend and cousin Xandra during her ritus while on Calandra. Many of the creatures on Calandra turn monstrous while on Kenn, this is seen by the crux’s change. Xandra turned into a bariwolf and tried to kill Caspia. Caspia and Xandra also have naturally green blood. Ransom also has green blood due to being attacked by an infected bariwolf. This bariwolf was especially vicious with a missing eye. It also had green blood and was infecting other creatures with Lyssa. There is enough evidence to prove that the bariwolf that attacked Ransom is Xandra. A bariwolf is a vicious, wolf-like creature that lives all over Calandra. When they are infected with Lyssa they become even more vicious with minimal care for their own safety, only following the bloodlust. Lyssa is an infection that is transmitted through bite. It causes those that are infected to become “insane” and follow the bloodlust, it also turns their blood green. Lyssa most originated from Xandra after her ritus.
After Caspia was attacked by Xandra, she finds a hunter named Andreas and falls in love with him. As they head towards his home, she discovers that he is nobility. Eventually, they marry and have a child, named Odessa. As they build their lives in the palace together, Caspia feels her ritus again calling her to change into one of the crux. Due to the fact that the crux are hated, she was killed on sight. Leaving her young daughter with a father in love with a ghost and a kingdom. The time frame between learning she was pregnant and her death was very fast, one I would have liked to have more time on, learning more about her experiences with magic and the Voster would affect Caspia.
With the discovery that Caspia is Odessa’s mother, the crossovers between the two narrators make a lot more sense. I thought that they were taking place at the same time, given that Caspia’s visions matched Odessa’s life. Also the book that Odessa had was the same one that Caspia was working on writing, and that explained why she wasn’t able to read it.
Overall, I really like “Rites of the Starling” and am looking towards the third book.
