**DNF @35%** This review reflects only the portion read.

Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope is a YA fantasy about a young woman who has lost everything and a young spy who needs her help. Jasminda is alone after the disappearances of her brothers and father and death of her mother. She's trying to eek out a living, keep the only home she's ever known, and find her place in society. When she comes across a beaten soldier near her home, she doesn't realize her entire life is about to be up ended.

I liked the premise of this story. Jasminda has a healing Song, a magic that derives from the earth and allows her to heal others. This combined with her skin color makes her an outcast, reviled, and prejudiced against in her hometown. Even her grandfather wants to pay her off if she will never claim her mother as hers again. The racism depicted is heavy, and I know for some that might be off-putting. But as readers, I feel like this helps us to better empathize with others who may be going through something similar in real life. The author handles it with care and shows it only from Jasminda's perspective (the wronged party here), making it clear it is not condoned.

I also liked Jack. Jack is a spy for Elsira, sent into Lagamiri because the Mantle between the two warring countries is failing. When it does, the True Father will have access to Elsira and its magic. His only hope is to find the Queen who Sleeps, but he has no Song of his own which is where Jasminda comes in.

I liked the world-building, I liked the characters I'd encountered so far in the story, and I liked the magic system. But there were a few things that were a bit much for me. The violence is described in graphic detail. There is also an almost-rape scene described in detail. This book is listed as YA, however the content is quite a bit more mature. Had it been listed as adult fantasy, I probably wouldn't have blinked an eye and kept reading, but between the two things already mentioned and the ages of the characters (Jasminda is 18, Jack 21) I felt it inappropriate for YA.

Overall Song of Blood & Stone was an okay read for me, but I couldn't get past the adult content in a YA book.

You definitely want to add this book to your TBR shelf! I never wanted this story to end but I couldn't put it down! I will definitely being reading this one again and look forward to the other books by this author.

*ARC kindly given by @netgalley for my honest opinion.*

"Song of Blood & Stone" by L. Penelope is a captivating blend of fantasy and romance that transports readers to a richly imagined world. Penelope's lyrical prose and compelling characters make for an immersive and enchanting reading experience. With its mix of magic, adventure, and forbidden love, "Song of Blood & Stone" is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy looking for a fresh and engaging tale.

This book has a lot of potential, but it ultimately just wasn't for me. Some readers who enjoy fantasy worlds may find this one more to their tastes

I really enjoyed this read. There were twists and turns and I was thoroughly entertained. I highly recommend… if you like that sort of thing. ;)

Oh, I wanted to really liked this. I was confused by the setting...was it fantasy or historical? It was a weird blend between the two that didn't make sense. While I'm a fan of insta-lust/love...this was WAY over done. I felt like we lost some world building because it was all horny teenagers.

I'm terribly sorry but this was so meh.

I've had this series kicking around on my shelf for a while and decided to finally give it a go. I read the audio for this in one go and have already forgotten most of what happened. This was just ... so generic. It felt like it wanted to be the next big something but couldn't put in the effort to get over the first hurdle. I still don't understand the magic system, the world was confusing to picture, the romance didn't do anything for me, and I don't really get what the point of it all was. There was a villain, and there was some political and court intrigue, but none of it left any sort of impression.

A disclaimer that I read the original version. I don't know if the extended version fixes the issues I had, just that I have no interest in reading this twice to find out.

The thing is, this is basically a standalone. Everything wraps up, the ending is tight, all the characters get their justified slash happy ending. So how in the world is this a series of four books? Therein lies my dilemma. I have all four in some shape or form, and while this first instalment was kind of lacking in all areas that required my interest, I'm DYING to know where this will go. So I will read the next, but my expectations will be on the floor.

2.5 rounded to 3

L. Penelope has a gift for writing magic. Being a black person, I am sure she has seen and experienced a fair share of discrimination. That has taken shape in this book.

Jasminda with magical powers is living in a country where the elites are magicless and they fear people with magic. She is in constant fear of impending war, alone and orphan. This book touches on so many points warmongering elite people, how war is used as a tool and the sufferings of innocents, homophobia and more, calling it a mirror of our society.

Really great book. I found a bit of The Star manhwa vibe from it.

While I was reading this one, I kept losing focus and would drift off. I actually skimmed a lot of what I did read. The story didn't grab me and I just wasn't interested in the characters or even the magic system. That is usually something that brings me a lot of joy as I love to see what an author has come up with but this one wasn't for me unfortunately.

While the writing was great, through what I read, and the characters seemed like-able. I’m sad to report that I didn’t finish this book. I’ve only ever had a DNF on one book. Typically I pick them back up at some point and absolutely finish, even if I’m not totally interested. Sadly I have yet, at this time, to pick it back up. So, I must review it as such.

I enjoyed the world-building in this book, as well as Jasminda's character and development. I did find that a lot of the other characters and the plot were too predictable for me, which kind of ruined my enjoyment of it. Overall, an okay read but I'm not sure I would check out the sequel.

An excellent fantasy which surprised me. It did feel a little convoluted at times. At times I’d wanted it to speed up. Moments dragged when I wanted them to speed up and it meant I often got distracted when reading.

Also, I did not like there was a lot of attempts of rape in the book. I probably could have found it from reading the book warnings but I hadn’t. It just felt unnecessary when there would have been other ways to create conflict with the soldiers.

I liked elements of it though and it was an interesting world which was developed here. The characters of Jasminda and Jack were easy to grow attached to and I wanted them to achieve their goals.

Thank you so much to the publisher for approving me. This was a DNF for me, I suppose since I never got back into it and I’m just updating this to move this off my shelf.

I initially didn't leave a review for this; however, I've circled back to the ones I didn't connect with and wanted to try again. Sometimes reading is so connected to my mood and what is happening in my life.

I'm glad I came back and read this one. I enjoyed it.

Fantasy romance with intricate worldbuilding and high stakes international conflict. In this world some people have magic and some don’t, and that power imbalance has created complex layers of oppression in society. Jasminda is gifted with power which she uses to save Jack’s life, but they are on seemingly opposite sides of a war that they may not fully understand. I love fantasy that is simultaneously a huge departure from my daily reality while also shining a light on issues plaguing our world right now. More rigorous than many of the books I’m reading these days, but the effort was worth it. I’m definitely in for future installments.

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope is a book 1 new her Earthsinger series. Two tribes, the Lagrimar and the Elsira. The two have been separated by a magical curtain called The Mantle, and the Mantle is slowly weakening.
L. Penelope weaves a fantastic new twist on the 1920’s. The Lagrimar is ruled by the ruthless True Father sees this as an opportunity take over forever and finally rule Elsira. However, will the unsure, shunned Jasmida be the one who discovers how to stop him, or will something else come to mind to stop him.
Some of the topics that are woven thru out this fantastic read, can resonate even within today. The novel is fast paced, great detail when needed, a very intriguing concept of timeline, and I overall enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Not to be forgotten, thank you L. Penelope for crating a wonderous world for to escape to.

Really couldn’t get into this one. Realized shortly after that for me to like fantasy it has to be a really specific story line. I’m sure others will enjoy just not for me.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

Unfortunately this book was archived before I was even able to download it. I'm looking forward to picking it up from the library, though. It sounds really interesting!

Rich and deep in magic, Song of Blood & Stone is a hewn gem of fantasy romance, taking the notion of rival nations and adding nuance and complexity through conflict around refugees, immigration, racism, and power and how they intermingle and interrelate. All the while, Jack and Jasminda's struggles with senses of identity, familial duty, and balancing responsibilities with their burgeoning romance bring heart and humanity to an otherwise fairly bleak world. It is a refreshing, well-crafted standalone (or start to a series) fantasy with plenty of romance and depth. I'm also a sucker for epigraphs, which Song of Blood & Stone executes beautifully with excerpts from "Collected Folktales" that wind up being more than just an artistic flourish.