How many reviews have I started with “I really wanted to like this story, but…” over the last few years? And here I am again, adding another one to the category. To make matters worse, I started out by liking this book. I tried signing up for the upcoming blog tour, but missed the deadline by mere hours. Nevertheless, I emailed the PR person ensuring them I would post a review on various sites. I was so enthusiastic and optimistic about this story. I will try not to get too caught up in my review, but please bear with me.
The characters were inconsistent at best. The protagonist, a young woman, started out as a strong female lead, with a good head on her shoulders until a pair of pants comes along and turns her into an emotional mess. Every other character only seemed to serve the purpose of throwing tangents and red herrings into the story. Flat, predictable and two dimensional, they lacked any depth that would encourage the reader to make connections with them.
The plot, or rather plots were all over the place. The night before I finished the book I sat up in bed, getting increasingly frustrated with it all and counted how many plot tangents I had encountered…I stopped at 10. What was going on? Why so many attempts to confuse the reader? And why, oh why were there no explanations of anything important happening in the story? All the good parts were glossed over. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The writing and narration were the cherry on top of this confusing mess. I assume the author wanted to maintain a sense of mystery by keeping the reader at arm’s length, instead all that was achieved was glorious confusion sprinkled with a great amount of frustration. I wondered why the reader had to read two full sex scenes, in detail, spanning most of two chapters, when other parts of the story that actually mattered were completely skipped over.
Overall, this story felt like it was meant for a reader who has some inside knowledge or who was privileged enough to receive all the details. It wasn’t for me and I can’t recommend it.

Never finished. The book had so much going for it, but instead it failed. If you're looking for awesome world building and interesting character development, you're not going to find that here, which is sad since the author could have done so much more. If you're looking for a love story...here you go. Insta-love at it's best.

Song of Blood and Stone is a New Adult fantasy romance seeped in politics and religion, and bound together with magic, of countries at war, oppression and prejudice. It will push your boundaries even as you fall into the storytelling.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. When I decided to read it, it was because I wanted to challenge myself and read something out of my comfort zone. I did not expect it to blow me away (it didn't) but in the end, I think I mostly enjoyed it. The thing with reading something outside of one's comfort zone is feeling uncomfortable. The feeling never entirely goes away. But I think doing something like this helps us grow as a people. Challenging ourselves is a good thing. At the end, we can say we learned from it and determine if it's a path we wish to continue to follow.
For the most part, the writing was decent. It did not inspire me in anyway and I found the tone and pacing of the story a bit bland and sedate. Even when there's action, there isn't a sense of urgency and a build of emotion. That changed a little towards the end and that is what led to my final rating for this book. The climax of the story was truly climactic. And the story itself did keep me intrigued enough to keep going to the end.
This is a highly political book and the politics in it jumped out at me. Perhaps, in-keeping with today's climate this may be fitting but personally, I prefer politics to be left out of my reading choices for entertainment. It's probably inevitable that politics leaks into some stories but subtly done, it's not terrible. This book however touches on many issues. Prejudice and racial discrimination based on the color of a person's skin. The handling of refugees seeking a better life in neighboring country. The attitude towards same sex relationships and how the people in those relationships are treated. And even a little touch on the Dreamers and how they are being deported. I'm not a particularly political person even though I have a basic understanding of today's political environment. I understand having a voice and having a platform. I understand using it, but this book was too much. I spent a good part of the story trying to leap over the political messages and attempting to simply enjoy the story. It was challenging.
At its core, this is also a romance. A story of an interracial couple trying to find their place and happiness amidst prejudice and disapproval. Perhaps that's also another political message Ms Penelope is trying to send. That said, I liked Jack and Jasminda. They struggled for their people, their country and their love.
I loved Jack. He's strong, honorable and noble. Even when faced with terrible odds against him, he doesn't give up. He fight for his country and his people with grit and determination. He's strong enough to own his feelings for Jasminda and hold her close to his heart even as he is being torn apart by responsibility and obligation, even when those whose supposedly loyalty is a lie and betrayal is around the corner. I loved that he fought every step of the way to protect and cherish Jasminda in the face of great opposition. That he respected her and loved her.
Jasminda was all innocence, strength and determination. Even as she endured prejudice and ill-treatment most her life because of the color of her skin, she remained kind and compassionate, and perhaps it was the strength from enduring a lifetime of prejudice is what gives her the wherewithal to accomplish the things she did. She didn't have to help the battered soldier by the road but she does. And what she does changes her life forever. She didn't have to take on the responsibility to help a lost and displaced people but she does. It is her strength and kindness that leads her to do great things. That makes her an equal to Jack despite her humble beginnings.
I think this story ended strong. I'm glad I persevered through Jack and Jasminda's journey but I'm not sure if I'd dip my toe further into Ms Penelope's work. I think I'd recommend this to a certain kind of reader who may enjoy it but I'm not sure who that would be. That would take some quiet conversation, and knowing the person's reading tastes and political leanings.

The publisher gave me an ARC of this story via Netgalley.com but it has no influence on my honest review

4 “I needed some time to fall into it” stars

Star summary:
Hero: ***/2 stars (he made pretty dumb decisions sometimes)
Heroine: ***** stars (had nearly no power but dignity and morale strength in spades)
Plot: ***/2 (not overtly complicated but sometimes jumbled)
Heat: *** (this is NOT a YA as you have sex but it’s not overtly spicy either)
Writing: ****
World building: **/2 (I wanted more. It wasn’t detailed and yet we had legends explaining the past)
Enjoyment: **** (once I was in I didn’t want to stop)
Ending: *** (I had what I wanted but it seemed a little rushed by the end)

Now in depth:

Honestly it took some time to fall into the story. I thought it would be another 3 stars or worse a DNF. The main reason I think was the lack of world building and I was somewhat puzzled, not really feeling Jasminda her past or her problems.
But
Progressively the story and the world became solid, real. What I really, really, really loved above all else was the author’s gift to make us feel what being a Lagamiri in a world of Elsiran meant.
Jasminda had a skin with a different color than her neighbors.
She could not hide her heritage. People knew right from the start that she had magic. Or rather that she could Sing. Sing in this world meant you had a Song creating magic. Some were healers or grew plants and could move earth. Others mastered winds and storms. Others….
For centuries a war is raging between the Silent (without song or power) Elsiran and the Songbearers Lagamiri. Their countries are separated by a magic wall preventing the True Father, sovereign of the Lagamiri, to invade Elsira.

Jasmine was born from an Elsiran mother working in the Sisterhood *women sworn to The Queen Who Sleeps and helping refugees among the Lagamiri * and a Lagamiri father a soldier trapped in Elsira when the wall was restored the last time.
She grew up in a loving family with her brothers and parents but they all disappeared years before leaving Jasminda alone on her little isolated farm.

I really admire how the author made me feel the contempt other people had for Jasminda. She is going through what many people from mixed origins go through every day if they leave among closed minded people. The mistrust, the fear as she could master some magic, the contempt as she was a grol witch… she was constantly shunned and rejected. Isolated.
Jasminda could have been bitter and resentful yet she was everything but.
“When you said you’d find lodging for me, I didn’t think . . . Jack, I can’t sleep in the palace.” “Why ever not?” He crossed his arms and leaned against the truck. “Because I’m a goat farmer. Palaces are for royalty. The Prince Regent cannot possibly allow someone like me here.”
She walked chin high even if she trembled inside.
That’s true courage. Doing things you are afraid of doing but giving it a go nevertheless.

When she meets Jack he is nearly dying. He is part of the Elsiran army and he’s been hunted by Lagamiri soldiers. She will try to heal him even if her power is weak. She will heal him endangering herself and soon she’ll be in a very precarious condition.

Jack will convince Jasminda to help him save Elsiran from the True Father’s clutches. From that moment on they’ll embark on a journey filled with ordeals, magic, defeats, doubts and fights.

If I really loved Jasminda, Jacq had me climbing the walls sometimes! He had secrets and he should have told them to Jasminda way sooner. This was his first mistake. His second mistake was being hush hush about their connection. For someone who’s been seen less than Elsiran all her life, who had to face rejection and insults Jasminda was really hurt by Jack’s choice.
I wanted to shake some sense in him! He had many admirable qualities as he was kind, generous, courageous but could he make bad decisions sometimes! It infuriated me.

I also loved the author’s choice to have a nearly powerless heroine. Jasminda had very little power compared with other Lagamiri and she often doubted her actions. She was desperate not to be able to do more. Yet she was always ready to endanger herself to help others. It was a refreshing choice from all the perfect heroines I usually read about and adore.

I also appreciated the contemporary topics the author chose to broach aside racism. The refugees come into Elsira hoping for a better fate just to be contained into camps …. Despised by mistrusting Elsiran, seen as less, why should the citizens share their food and riches with these savages? Does it ring a bell? It was really accurate and reminded me of our current problems with refugees coming from Syria in Europe just to sleep in the parks or some camps. Dividing the people between those wanting to help them and those asking for them to go back into their country.

If the beginning was slow for me once I found my bearing I did not want to stop reading. The story is not faultless as I’ve mentioned that I would have loved more world building and the ending felt somewhat rushed but it still gripped my attention. I rooted for Jasminda and Jack hoping they would be able to save their world.

Recommend it? Yes.

I really tried to like this book, honest I did. The cover is nice but initially this book had points against it from the get go - the blurb didn't appeal to me and neither did the first chapter and I almost DNF'd it right there but I'd been sent a Netgalley widget from the publisher so I forced myself to give it a chance (I did not request this book, someone from the publisher sent me the widget because I've read/reviewed other books published by them).

I may be completely oblivious but until I read other reviews I didn't really get that one of the themes in this book was supposed to be racial issues. I mean I see a colored girl on the cover, so I assumed Jasminda was supposed to colored but hey - the last time I heard that name was in Bend It Like Beckham and she was of Indian descent! When the author went into the hatred between Elsira and Lagramiri people I thought it was a distinction of magic-people and non-magic-people, but okay - I guess it was supposed to be a black-vs-white thing. And Jack is apparently white so it's an interracial couple so again, I guess great for diversity, but I don't really care about that stuff. In my opinion if two people love each other then who cares what their skin colors are. It's 2018 people, we shouldn't have to have books saying its okay to have interracial relationships, it should just be accepted at this point, but I digress. My point all along was saying that I didn't know Jasminda was supposed to be black and Jack was supposed to be white because I thought they were kind of one-dimentionally described. Even now I have no idea what Jack was supposed to look like, I can't picture him at all and all I got out of Jasminda was she had dark hair, dark eyes, and was darker than her mother and brothers. Darker could have meant tanned for all the reader knows.

As for the world-building and plot, I was able to get into the first 11-12 chapters before the story lost me again. Girl helps guy who thinks he's still in a different country, guy is recaptured by enemy forces, girl somehow races back to her cabin to beat the enemy forces there, reluctantly lets them stay there so she can help the guy who she's finding herself attracted to... some other stuff happens and then when they got to the cornerstone or counterpoint or whatever the story lost me again. I didn't understand what Earthsong was because it really wasn't well described (like most things in this book it's kind of vague). I assume it was magic, but what kind of magic? Jasminda healed Jack so was it a healing magic or did she have like a fix all, do all kind of magic? Either way, from what I read she wasn't very powerful but she kept having "bad feelings" when she came in contact with other magic.

Then there's the "True King" and the "Queen who Sleeps" which was almost laughable to me. Since I didn't finish this book I can only assume they were some sort of magical beings and not truly rulers or Elsira and Lagramiri. Just the names were enough to get me.

Overall throughout what I read (and I even skimmed to the end, which was what pushed me to finally DNF) it seemed like the author was trying to create a unique world, characters, story idea - the whole bit, but it was just your typical fantasy novel and not a very interesting one at that. Everything was just a little... underdeveloped for my taste. You have a female character who is your special snowflake - she has "powers", she's in debt, she's trying to save her home and then she meets the guy. The male character is protective of the heroine whom he barely knows but he's immediately attracted to her and together they go on a journey to save their world. Yawn. I feel like I've read this all before and I just could not positively connect with this story.

Song of Blood & Stone is a quite refreshing YA fantasy romance with a delightful heroine, an interesting world and a romance that I actually enjoyed (I'm rather picky when in comes to romance, I've noticed recently). I wasn't completely overwhelmed by it but I'll definitely look out for more by this author. Pretty solid start to a series.
(Also, I really love the cover.)

I am all about world-ending curses and song magic with some good political intrigue and romance. This book hit so many of those notes for me. It follows the story of Jasminda as she navigates a loss in her family in a country at war with the end of world . Then Jack falls out of the sky and thus begins an epic quest to save her world with magic and mythology.

Penelope does a great job balancing believable politics with the way opposing forces view magic. The Lagrimari love it while the Elsirans hate it. It's a simple enough concept that carries through the rest of the book. It had a very Final Fantasy feel to it, where magic co-exists with modern weaponry and vehicles. There's even gods who are a very real force in the world. The romance in this one, however, was swoony, with both our heroes having tangible chemistry.

While the characters we spent the most time with were fully developed, many figures of the past suffered from extraordinary "tell don't show." It would have been nice to spend some time with Jasminda's family in a flashback sequence where they could have gotten more screen time. Better yet, their roles could have been delegated to more immediate characters.

But even with that, the main characters held their own and, without the epilogue, this book does well as a stand alone epic fantasy romance.

"Song of Blood and Stone" has such a strong premise, is an own voices novel, and has a stunning cover. It was originally self-published, but has now been picked up by St. Martins Press.

One of my favourite aspects of this novel is how Penelope incorporated racism and discrimination based on skin colour and magical ability. Our protagonist and those from her country have a darker complexion. They also have Earthsong, magic that connects them to the earth. These differences mean they face racism and discrimination. They are enslaved, beaten, threatened, and hated. Written by an own voices author, this topic is obviously handled very well. It also makes this book very important.

The romance in this novel is mixed race - and Jasminda is mixed race herself - which I think is important. Jack wants to protect Jasminda and other Earthsingers. He doesn’t discriminate against them like many of his people do. Their romance is, for the most part, sweet and steamy. Yes, this book features some sex scenes, and they were well done. What doesn’t sit well with me, however, is that his first instinct is to hide his relationship with Jasminda because people won’t understand it. I also don’t like something that he does towards the end of the book ‘for her own good’. It’s wrong. It’s horrible. I wish that had not happened or had been better addressed.

Something that I didn’t enjoy was the girl hate. I find it’s a common theme in most books regardless of genre, and I wish that wasn’t the case. Women should be supporting each other, not sabotaging other women because they’re jealous.

But my biggest issue with this book is the world building. I enjoy the plot and the romance (for the most part). But the world building is a little weak. It seems like a period piece at first. However, as the novel progresses there’s mention of modern technology like automatic rifles, buses, airplanes, and army tanks. I found this very disorienting since the values of the world are very much medieval: women only wear long dresses and society is concerned with their reputations (i.e. their sex lives). If Penelope had fleshed out the world better, than I feel the story would’ve been that much stronger. As it is, being unsure of the time period made the world confusing.

"Song of Blood and Stone" is an important novel about love, discrimination, and magic. The romance is, for the most part, sweet and sexy. The plot is engaging. But the weak world building and girl hate detracted from my enjoyment of it.

Song of Blood & Stone is calm, charming, and sweet, all very much so.

Main problem: I'm laughing at myself because I just zoomed through a series with nothing but drama and betrayal and prickly characters, and as questionable as the reading process was as it was in progress, I feel like it kind of stayed with me.

Subsequently, reading this book became almost chore-like. I've read enough of St. Martin's Press books to know not to underestimate anything from them, but as much as I tried, Song of Blood & Stone took a bit of a toll on me.

The author's writing style was simple, but to the point that it got a little too much. There's a difference between elegantly simple and blankly simple, and this book showcased more of the latter. Because of this, I don't think I really connected with any of the characters as much as I could've, despite being mildly interested by the musical magic of the world and somewhat confused by the different politics of it.

I can't say I'm particularly opinionated when it comes to all that happened in Song of Blood & Stone, but many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC experience!

~review to be posted on goodreads 4/1/18

I’m gonna start by giving a shoutout to this book for being a ‘technical’ standalone, by technical I mean that while I see there are other books after this one, I noticed they’re from different character’s povs, so this one could count as a stand-alone and I will take it because I need more fantasy standalone books (even if I love series, sometimes I just don’t have the attention span to read it all, especially if it’s a long series). Anyway, now back to the review. I will say that I went into this book being intrigued by the summary, but that was it and oh boy was in for a surprise, maybe it started a little slow but when I got more or less half way through it I just couldn’t put it down and I don’t even know where to start because I simply loved it so much.

Maybe I’ll do lists because lists are always excellent.

World
I was actually a little surprised by this one because I was expecting your traditional Middle Ages type of setting, but apparently it’s a sort of WWI/II setting and honestly that was different and while different doesn’t always work, but considering I love this time period, it was love at first sight. I really enjoyed how this world was built and how their religion, beliefs and customs were done I just felt myself wanting to know more about it and whenever I did, I just loved it even more.

Plot
This was actually a bit trope-y, but you know what? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, as long as it’s done well, I quite like tropes, I mean just because it’s a trope, it doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad and I honestly loved how somethings were handled and it also has one of my favourite tropes in it. Another thing this book has is lots of twists and turns that kept me flying through this book just wanting to know what would happen and how some things would go down! My only, I guess we can call it issue, would be that I think a lot of things were left to the end and I think I got to like the last 15% of the book to be resolved and it was just I don’t know, a little rushed and it just sort of ended a bit abruptly in my opinion.

Characters
Honestly, I don’t even know where to start, the two main characters characters were my favourite thing about this book! (No that’s not quite true, but I loved them, that’s all that matters). They were just so well built, I loved them and their relationship had me swooning from beginning to the very last page. I do wish there was a little more attention to side characters, because I just didn’t find myself really getting to know the others so well.

Overall, I think this was an absolutely fantastic book that kept me up at night reading, that allowed me to feel so much for the main ship and it was definitely a very nice surprise.

Synopsis: In this world, everything was brought to life by the Earthsingers, whose Songs produce magic and life. The nation has been split into two regions, Lagrimara (home to the powerful dark-skinned Earthsingers) and Elsira (a world dominated by xenophobic Elsirans who shun the Earthsingers and call them evil). Both of these regions are at war with one another, the tyrannical True King of the Lagrimari trying to conquer the Elsiran region, with many Lagrimari on the run from this evil king. Our main protagonist, Jasminda, is half Lagrimari and half Elsiran, and is also a third-generation Earthsinger. Shunned by the people in her region, she tries to live a quiet life by herself on her farm. However, one day she meets a man named Jack and her life is forever changed.

★ ★ ★ 1/2 stars

Trigger warning: There is one scene where an attempted rape happens.

I absolutely adored the world in this book. The Earthsingers and their history were probably the most fascinating and well-written part of Song of Blood & Stone. The short excerpts from the native folklore tales in front of each chapters also succeeded at adding additional depth to the history and world that L. Penelope has created and I found them to be incredibly witty and interesting. For example:

"Never give a gift with your eyes closed, said the Master of Sharks to the rich man. For you may part with more than you intend."


Jasminda was a really admirable protagonist. I loved how intelligent she was, especially at the beginning of the book when she had to outsmart a handful of men who showed up unannounced at her house (e.g. mixing herbs into their tea to prevent rape). I was also very proud of what a strong woman she was with all of the tough ordeals she had to push through, including a horrible dose of xenophobia. She never backed down from standing up for herself, and also what she believed to be right. Jack was also a very interesting character, but I felt like I wasn't able to connect with his person as much as I was with Jasminda.

Unfortunately, I'm taking off a star and a half off this rating for a number of reasons. The first one being that some of the plot was overly predictable and cliche. For example, those "tests" that Jasminda had to go through as well as the identity of the True King. At the beginning of the book, parts of the story left me a tad confused, having to backtrack a couple of pages in order to clear up certain things that weren't clearly explained. The plot itself also seemed to drag on a little bit at the beginning of the novel. Then, when the midpoint of the book was reached, the plot sped up waaay too fast. By the end of the book, I felt like the author had crammed a whole novel's worth of information into that last fifty percent of the story. The entire ending felt incredibly rushed and it almost felt like the book was trying to reach a happy ending as soon as possible rather than produce great quality writing.

What I did really appreciate though, was how accurately this book seemed to mirror specific issues that our society is facing today. The Lagrimari, as well as Jasminda, being naturally dark-skinned, faced a lot of hatred, racism and xenophobia. The refugees in Elsira were treated absolutely horrifically and it broke my heart when I had to read through those specific passages. I think it's great that books like these are raising awareness to these problems and will hopefully spread a positive message which will inspire many to fight for love and peace for all. Not only that, but I loved the representation in this book, including a biracial main character (Jasminda), many other people of color as well as an adorable lesbian couple.

I did enjoy my read of this book, but overall I felt like this novel did fall short of being the amazing story which the world and the overall plot definitely could have attained. I still think this is a great read and would recommend anyone who enjoys fantastic world-building, wants to see a strong female lead and doesn't mind certain book tropes playing out. I will definitely pick up the next book though!

Song of Blood and Stone is a debut fantasy romance with a strong female lead, rich mythology, important themes, and plenty of magic. Jasminda is a biracial young woman who inherited her magical Earthsong abilities from her dark-skinned Lagamiri father. Now orphaned, she lives in the predominately white kingdom of Elsira, struggling to hold onto her home in a place where her magic is feared and her coloring despised. When she stumbles across a wounded Elsiran soldier named Jack being pursued by a brutal unit of Lagamiri soldiers, she is drawn into a centuries-old power struggle where magic plays a central role.

This was a really enjoyable read full of adventure, intrigue, and a thought-provoking portrayal of racial discrimination and anti-refugee prejudice. Jasminda and Jack are very drawn to one another romantically, but interracial relationships are not considered desirable or appropriate. The depiction of what they face as a result is hard to read at times, especially assumptions that she is sort of a throw-away plaything, but that is the reality for people in some places even now, and certainly isn't historically distant. I liked the fact that Jasminda is such a strong character in her own right and doesn't really need saving most of the time, because otherwise there could have been some weird power imbalances there. As it is, I liked the romance and I liked the fact that it wasn't immediately consummated, and the positive depictions of non-white beauty!

The history of the two kingdoms and their magic is really interesting and I liked the mythology that the author built and the mechanics used to share it. I loved the examination of how people might respond when you flip their expectations (I don't want to be more specific because spoilers!). Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought it had a lot going for it.

However, I do think it could have used more attention to world-building. The magic system is only explained loosely and the rules are unclear. I would have liked to see a tighter, more detailed presentation of that. I was also unsure what to think about the role of technology in the book. Elsira has guns, telephones, and even busses, which sometimes felt out of place in a world with magic. It seemed like early-modern levels of technology. To be fair, I can definitely see an argument for those things making sense in the world, but I think we needed a better understanding of how much technological development had taken place and why. I also didn't think that the twist ending was very surprising. And I'm okay with that, but I thought I should throw it out there that I guessed pretty early on what was happening.

I think this is a fairly strong debut and start to an interesting fantasy series with diverse characters. I would definitely want to continue on with later books. I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. Jasminda lives in a country where the color of her skin makes her and her people pariahs. It doesn’t matter that she is ‘biracial’. She is discriminated upon at every turn. She meets and saves Jack who is white—and as it turns out Royalty. They fall in love, but of course this is highly frowned upon not only because of his station, but also because she is black. This book really explored colorism/racism/classism/discrimination/abuse. You name it. All while being wrapped up in a wonderfully written book that kept me rapt from start to finish. Of course you knew how the book would end, but I didn’t care. I loved it and can’t wait for the second book

Well written romantic fantasy read. The story moved at a fair pace although I did find myself growing bored at various points. Fortunately, the author was able to recapture my attention by just creating wonderful characters in Jasminda and Jack. If you enjoy YA epic fantasy then you will enjoy this.

I was given an ARC for my honest opinion.

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
Jasminda had been concerned about her land and the prospect of losing everything that her family had worked for. She was all alone and had been for two years, but the memories made at her home with her parents and siblings gave her comfort. That had been her concern, before she found the young man, badly beaten outside her home. Jack was wearing a Lagrimari uniform but he was an Elsiran, his skin color and ginger hair proved as much. He was running from Lagrimari soldiers and believed he was still in Lagrimari, unaware that Jasminda lived as an Elsiran citizen being part Elsiran herself. Her dark brown complexion was that of her father who was a Lagrimari refugee. The mantle that separated the two lands was broken in spots and a new war was coming. Jasminda tried to heal the young soldier using her Earthsong, but unexperienced as she was she could do little to heal him before the soldiers arrived. But he has secrets of his own and the two must learn to trust each other, if either of them are going to survive.

Don’t let that introduction fool you, this story becomes very complicated very quickly, as the history of the mantle and what lead to it’s creation is slowly untold. When this story begins all readers are aware of is the bias and prejudice that exists towards those who have magic through their Earthsong. It’s obvious how unfair and bias this is and that is based off of physical characteristics, mainly the color of the skin. Jasminda whose appearance doesn’t reveal that she is in fact an Elsiran citizen, leaves her to be ridiculed and ostracized. The biases are so clear cut and well defined that it’s impossible to deny its presence. With that we have Jack who doesn’t judge Jasminda, ends up working with her and falling for her but has to deal with his own prejudice and the prejudice of people around him as he is given new roles. Like I said this story gets complicated but everything unfolds beautifully.

What I ended up really enjoying about this story was the attention to world building and how well it is wrapped up in the storytelling. It’s essential in this story to build a world where a wall divides people that once lived in unison together and now through the centuries have been separated by fear and prejudice. I loved that the third person narrative was used throughout the story, because it distanced the readers in a way from being too sympathetic to any character’s struggle. The only time this isn’t true is when the story of the mantle was being unveiled and then readers were able to experience through first person narrative how that unfolded.

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved this pacing and I absolutely loved how the true history was unfolded. I thought that for a first in a series it did a really good job of establishing the magic of the Earthsong but I hope other novels in this series delve deeper into it. I want to know as much as I can because I thought it was really well done. My interest in it is piqued to say the least. I’m also curious to see how life unfolds for society after the way this first novel ended. How difficulty will it be to dismantle the pre-existing prejudice? Throughout the novel we are shown time and time again how imbedded this prejudice is and I’m curious to see what direction Penelope will take the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It’s a strong introduction to what I’m sure will be an intense series. There is a social commentary littered throughout that readers will have no choice but to be drawn into and I’m hoping it will resonate outside of the book. I’m looking forward to more from Penelope. The world building had me hooked, and the story kept me reading.

I really wanted to like this one but I ended up stopping at Chapter 18. The cover is gorgeous and the description intrigued me but the way it was laid out just did not catch my interest. I just couldn't get into the story. Maybe I'll get back to it one day and pick up where I left off but right now Jasminda and Jack just aren't interesting to me.

This was a simply beautiful book. First and foremost it was a romance – I’m not keen on romance but I found myself captivated by the fairytale feel of this one, maybe because the romance itself felt like fantasy. The prose was dreamlike and descriptive, something I really enjoy when it’s done well. However since that usually results in a slower pace, I can see why other readers might not warm to it. Personally I just enjoyed being along for the ride with this book, never feeling that I needed to tear through it but still wanting see where it went. The world building is excellent, I love how diverse it was and I enjoyed the fantasy and political elements. I look forward to the next book.

I enjoyed this book, the world building was great and I really enjoyed the main character, Jasminda. Although this is a YA fantasy novel, I think it leans more towards a YA romance. There are definitely elements of fantasy, magic and some mystery throughout the book. I felt a bit like this book had a very strong plot and the plot it did present was fairly predictable. However, it does move along at a fairly steady pace and is pretty action packed. Some of the fantasy elements of this book I would have loved to have more information and a background on. I did enjoy the way the book ended and I appreciate that there was no cliff hanger and epilogue kind of wrapped the story up. And the cover of this book is gorgeous.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for sending me an ARC of this book.

I got to read a great book over the last few days. I was very lucky and got an advance copy of Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope. 

I am very happy to say I loved this book. I had a fun time reading it, the characters were fun to learn about and honestly, i loved this style she created the magic system within this book. now at the start of the book, i do have to say it is a slow at least in my mind it was but near the middle of the book, it started to really speed up. 

But I will put a warning in this book if you are not a person who likes scene that portrays the action a man and women have with each other. You might now like this book. Now it is not a very strong point in this book but I do want you all to be aware of that before going in. I do have to say in consideration of what I have read before it was very tame. But once again it is not for everyone. 

So from that point, I have to say this book is very well written I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to the rest of these series. I want to see how the author is going to take this story and how it wrapped up and make the next one just as good. 

I give this book a 3/5 star rating and I am excited about the next installment. 



A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this book. Also if this sound like something up your alley the book is going to be released May 1st. 



But until next time here at the nook!

E.