I absolutely love L. Penelope’s work and this book really adds to her Earthsinger Chronicles and the incredibly detailed fantasy world she’s created. Fantasy or not, this is a world with realistic emotions, motivations and (steamy) romance.

I’ve been really looking forward to getting to know Darvyn, after his first mention in Song of Blood & Stone, and this book did not disappoint! In addition to his character, we meet new ones Kyara, Zeli, Ulani and Tana. I loved everyone - they’re all incredibly different but each plays a pivotal role in the plot. There’s also a handful of characters with not so benevolent intentions and it’s up to the reader to weed them out as the story progresses. Innocence is shattered, friendships are broken and alliances are forged.

Additionally, this story takes place during the same time as Song of Blood & Stone, therefore we get occasional mention of what Jack & Jasminda (!!!) are up to and what’s happening over the border in Elsira. You get the feeling that soon, everyone will have to come together and the story is building toward that point.

I really love these books and cannot wait for more. It left some characters in precarious positions and I’m forever curious to see where L. Penelope will take them next!

Highly recommend these books to ALL fantasy fans. L. Penelope’s writing and storytelling is masterful.

An excellent introduction into a world where people have Songs that granted them the ability to manipulate the elements, Darvyn and Kyara are on opposite sides of a war, where Songs are prohibited and stolen from the people to augment the powers of a corrupted king. As Darvyn works to free his people and stand up against those who are oppressing the commoners, Kyara is the king's top assassian, a woman whose Song is so very different from those around her. Instead of life, her Song creates death. And without full control, Kyara's Song has catastrophic consequences.

As they come together and work to free each other from their chains, we see the world through the eyes of others and how the very minutiae of this world's political aspects has devastating consequences for all those involved.

This book was so good, and it being the second in a series, I had no troubles or issues following along with the story, the world that was created, or the characters. I loved how well-rounded Darvyn and Kyara were, as well as being able to see the world through the eyes of others who are involved in some way, shape, or form. They don't all interact with one another, but you do see a ripple effect come through when a character does one thing that affects another.

Because of this book, I do wish to read the first one now, as well get my hands on whenever the third one comes out.

Whispers of Shadow and Flame is another one of those books that you don’t hear a lot about but wonder why because it’s so good when you read it!

The writing in fantastic. There are moments that I would get confused but I’m starting to think it’s just me because it always ironed itself out. I really enjoyed the world building and characters. Also getting the different perspectives not just from who I considered the main characters.

I loved Kyara, even though she is the King’s assassin. It’s not by choice and she has managed to keep herself despite that. I know she doesn’t think so but she is so strong and kind and deserves more than she thinks she does.

Darvyn takes the weight of the world on his shoulders. Being the only person that can do what he can do, he feels like he needs to do everything. I think Kyara says it best when she mentions that nobody can be in two places at once. He takes on the guilt of every life lost even so. He is also so kind hearted.

I also really liked having Zeli, Unali and Tana’s side of the story as well. They were all characters that I really enjoyed.

The world of Whispers of Shadow and Flame really sucks you in. From it’s interesting magic system, to the history of the different houses (that reminded me of a zodiac) and the oppressive monarchy that the people are fighting against. Such a great read.

Kyara has the “gift” of Nethersong. It is the opposite of Earthsong - it is death. She’s known as the Poison Flame. She is able to see the “death” in people and force it to accelerate, causing them to die. Forced to kill on behalf of the Truth Father, Kyara longs for her own death to put an end to her curse.

Darvyn is the most powerful Earthsinger in the land. Known as Shadowfox, he is the “savior” of the Lagimar people, but he and his fellow Keepers must stay hidden in the shadows or risk capture by the True Father. Pulled into service at a young age after his mother left him with the Keepers, Darvyn always does what is best for the Lagimar people, yet he longs to find his mother and follow his own path.

Ms. Penelope’s world-building is massive and epic in scope, bringing readers a world where magic is sacred yet stolen by a tyrant, the True Father. With alternating POVs that include both Kyara and Darvyn, along with a couple different Lagimar girls, readers are able to comprehend different perceptions of Earthsong (magic) and the rule of the True Father. I especially enjoyed following Zeli, a seventeen-year-old personal maid whose aspirations represent the bulk of the Lagimaris - just trying to get by and earn a better life than the one they currently live.

While not a romance (no HEA), Whispers of Shadow and Flame features strong romantic elements and personal connections that play into the story and direct much of the action and interactions between the two main characters. Both Kyara and Darvyn are critical pieces on the chess board in a game between the True Father and the Queen Who Sleeps. As they are placed in situations causing them to spend time together, they learn they have much in common and a mutual trust and friendship grows.

Although the story is filled with fascinating world-building and interesting characters, I found that I had a few issues with Whispers of Shadow and Flame. The story builds slowly, and I found myself struggling to stay connected to the plotline and characters for the first half of the book. Additionally, I was bothered that only one character’s POV (young Lagimar girl, Ulani) is shared in present (and future) tense, while the rest of the book is told in past tense. I also found the "voice" of both Kyara and Darvyn sounded young to me, as if they are teenagers, rather than adults. Finally, I was unhappy with how easily resolutions came after the climatic battle scenes.

The ending of Whispers of Shadow and Flame opens the door to the next chapter of Darvyn and Kyara’s story, and I look forward to finding out where their journey leads them.

Title: Whispers of Shadow & Flame
Author: L. Penelope
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

The mantle separates the kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar, fostering the divide between their peoples and strengthening the inequalities. But now the Mantle is on the verge of falling—meaning sweeping changes for both lands.

Kyara has deadly magic that she can’t control. She was forced to become an assassin but searches desperately for a way to escape her bondage. Her task is capturing the legendary Shadowfox, but when she learns his true identity, she knows she can’t bring him to her master.

Darvyn is the most powerful Earthsinger in generations, but he’s not infallible. He hasn’t saved everyone, and he lives with that guilt every day. When he meets Kyara, he knows he shouldn’t trust her, but he’s drawn to her anyway—and the answers she holds to his past. Soon they learn that there is much more at stake than their own futures—and they must work together if they are to save both kingdoms.

Whispers of Shadows & Flame was compelling from the first page—although it doesn’t continue right where the first book left off, instead turning to different characters. The cultures are so rich and detailed, that I had no trouble picturing everything going on. I love this story and this world!

L. Penelope is an award-winning author. Whispers of Shadow & Flame is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Whispers of Shadow and Flame is a strong follow-up to Song of Blood and Stone, with much more of an epic fantasy feel and an expanded world. While the first book felt more like a fantasy romance, this one has a little bit of romance, but is decidedly an epic fantasy novel. Whispers partly takes place during the same timeline as Song, but in Lagrimar on the other side of the magical boundary. The scope here widens and things also take a much darker turn.

There are 3 primary character perspectives (although a couple others get sprinkled in occasionally) and by the end of the book, their stories intertwine in interesting ways.

- Kyara wields death magic and is known as the Poison Flame, assassin for the True Father (immortal, autocratic ruler of Lagrimar), but her role is a forced one via blood magic. Now she has a new mission- to capture the mysterious Shadowfox, an powerful member of the Keepers underground rebellion movement.

- Darvyn, secretly known as the Shadowfox, is a powerful Earthsinger carrying a great deal of guilt for the people who have died to protect his secret. When he meets Kyara, something draws him to her and nudges him to lower his walls.

- Zeli is a servant to a noble house, but her position is fraught and life under the True Father is uncertain at the best of times. Her secret crush on her mistresses' fiance may prove to be incredibly dangerous.

There are other characters as well and this is a dark book with a lot of content warnings including slavery, blood magic, threat of sexual assault against a child and attempted sexual assault of an adult, enslavement of children, violence, murder, torture etc. That said, I found it to be compelling and well-crafted with powerful messages about freedom, sacrifice, and love. It is a bit on the long side and I might have shortened it a bit or split this into a couple of different narratives. That said, I like what it's doing, the mythology and world are really interesting, and I definitely want to continue on with the series. Also, the characters in this book are almost all people of color and I love the diverse representation. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

When I saw that this book was up on NetGalley, I knew then and there that I needed to read it. I enjoyed the first book, and I was looking forward to continuing on the journey. Since I started reading this after publication date, I decided to purchase the audiobook and listen. Unfortunately, the new cast of characters has left much to desire. I am 11% into this book, and I haven't connected with any of the characters. I'm going to have to DNF this book. I may pick it up again later, but for now, I'm marking this as a DNF.

Whispers of Shadow & Flame does take place at the same time as Song of Blood & Stone We get to see new places and meet all kinds of characters. This second book does not continue the story of our protagonists from book one.

Kyara is a Nethersinger, contrary to Earthsingers, she only brings death. Because of this, the True Father uses her as an assassin, she’s also bloodbound to him so she must obey.

Darvyn is the Shadow Fox, Kyara’s mission is to bring him to the true father, alive.

The characters are nice and interesting, it was great to get to know a bit more about the other country in this conflict, the rebels and their past. The fact that there is not only Earthsong but also Nethersong is very intriguing.

Be ready because this book is ending on cliffhanger! It takes us to the battle from the first book, but all is not well for Darvyn and Kyara!

Quick Word : The story was interesting.

I enjoyed this even more than the first book. I was sad to find out this would not be a continuation of the original main characters but I loved Darvyn and Kyara. The concept of the Nethersinger was excellent and I love a good assassin character,

3.5 stars

Whispers of Shadow & Flame was a wonderful companion to Song of Blood & Stone, although it did take me longer to get into. I initially struggled with Whispers of Shadow & Flame because it was so different from Song of Blood & Stone. The latter was more romance focused while the former was plot-driven. Told from three perspectives, Whispers of Shadow & Flame told the story of a maniacal king who oppressed his people and the plot the bring him down. Unlike Song of Blood & Stone, Whispers of Shadow & Flame had a cliffhanger that didn't quite wrap all of the stories up. I am interested to see how this all comes together in the third book.

Such a cool continuation of this series!

Once again, what a total awesome addition to the Fantasy genre.

PENELOPE made this world an enjoyable place to live in besides Kyara as this character must fight to tame her power while releasing it at the same time.

The inner struggle that Kyara had to face caused her to confront who she was and who she could be in the future based on every one of her decisions. Even though I don’t have “fantastical” powers like hers, I could identify with the struggle of having to know who you are in a world that demands so much from you.

Darvyn ol-Tahlyro was also a character that I could relate to because trusting others and allowing them into your world with the pre- knowledge that they have the potential to destroy it can be a hard beam to balance. It can also be hard attempting to avoid something that you know you long for at the same time. Darvyn’s inner turmoil rests upon having to trust Kyara to deliver in a world that is so built on frameworks of betrayal and disillusion. Darvyn’s story also showed me how one must also entrust themselves with tasks that they might have met with setbacks in the past.

Finally, the team up in this novel was just so fresh and on-point that it turned into an un-put-down-able reading escape for me.

Go grab this novel now, and indulge in this fast-paced, action-packed experience of a lifetime!

B+ review at SBTB: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/whispers-of-shadow-flame-by-l-penelope/

I wanted to love this book so much, maybe too much... But after book one that I really liked and found intriguing, this one had dragged the whole time and I couldn't get into the characters at All. I felt like separate things would work for me, but altogether it was not working for me in this book.
I hope that the next book will be able to hold everything that is going on better, as the premise, ideas and characters are something that makes this story really intriguing in that genre. I will read the next one for sure.
This book is a proper YA, besides once scene that would easily go to NA book.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: L. Penelope

Book Series: Earthsinger Chronicles Book 2

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, some violence, some gore)

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Synopsis:The Mantle that separates the kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar is about to fall. And life will drastically change for both kingdoms.

Born with a deadly magic she cannot control, Kyara is forced to become an assassin. Known as the Poison Flame in the kingdom of Lagrimar, she is notorious and lethal, but secretly seeks freedom from both her untamed power and the blood spell that commands her. She is tasked with capturing the legendary rebel called the Shadowfox, but everything changes when she learns her target’s true identity.

Darvyn ol-Tahlyro may be the most powerful Earthsinger in generations, but guilt over those he couldn’t save tortures him daily. He isn’t sure he can trust the mysterious young woman who claims to need his help, but when he discovers Kyara can unlock the secrets of his past, he can’t stay away.

Kyara and Darvyn grapple with betrayal, old promises, and older prophecies—all while trying to stop a war. And when a new threat emerges, they must beat the odds to save both kingdoms.

Review:I thought this was a really cool concept to continue the story with two new characters. I thought they had really good development and the story continued well. The plot was better and the pacing was great too! I devoured this book as well.

My only issue is the romance (again, personal preference) and that it ends on a cliffhanger! I might need to buy the third!

Verdict: So great! Definitely recommend.

I tried with this story. I didn't like the first book but since I was told this is a completely different story with different characters I thought I would give it a fair chance. Couldn't get into this plot and the writing style didn't grab my attention. Best part of the story this far is the cover.

I was among the minority who really enjoyed book one, so I was excited to get my hands on the arc for book two. Unfortunately I didn't care for this book nearly as much. It took me forever to get through. I kept setting it aside because I lost interest. Beyond feeling really slow I didn't connect with any of the characters. They all felt so flat to me. And I found their behavior to be at best eye roll inducing, and the closer to the end of the book I got, the more it became TSTL. I'm not sure I will continue with this series.

I think Whispers of Shadow & Flame is a great follow up to the first book even though the stories are completely different from one another.

The mantle between Elsira and Lagrimar is on the verge of breaking and war is inevitable. Both Darvyn and Kyara have their places to fight. One grudgingly, willingly...the other not so much.

Darvyn truly wants to help but is burdened by the duties placed daily on his shoulders. Kyara doesn't want her power any longer for she knows that is not just killing her targets but also it's killing her. Realizing that they're both tools to be used against forces that want complete and total control over their perspective powers, they decide to come together and fight for their freedom and against a mad King.

I enjoyed this world that L. Penelope has given us in the Earthsinger Chronicles. Each protagonist is given a arc that is relatable and they are written to be complex characters who realize both their strengths and weaknesses, also the world building has subtle ties into what is currently happening in Today's timeline such as immigration, etc.

I do think that at times throughout the book that the author can be over descriptive and the story gets completely drawn...readers will get lost especially if they are going into this book without reading the first. And even though we have separate stories, I feel like it would be beneficial to read book 1, Song of Blood and Stone.

I still believe that this series is a good one to invest in should you have the patience to delve into the optics this author give us.

Thank you the author/publisher for the opportunity to read/review.

I was so excited for Book two in the Earthsinger Chronicles. I really enjoyed book one Song of Blood and Stone.

Sadly, I was a bit disappointed. There is a lot of world building and side stuff going on, that it takes away from the flow of the story. It drags. That is the reason why I’m only giving this book 3 stars. I will probably read book three, as this ends in a cliffhanger.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Much like the first story in this series, this is a solid adult fantasy, but it suffers from slow pace, a confusing magic system, and no sense of the world as a whole. While the concept of this story really drew me in, much of the execution was lacking. As with the first book, Song of Blood and Stone, the world feels like a hodgepodge of eras and technologies. There is also the magic system, which I still to this day cannot get a grasp on (and I’m no stranger to magic systems). The main characters were interesting enough, but the romance ended up feeling kinda forced. I really liked the concept of this story, but there was sadly nothing that really got its claws in me.

3 1/2 stars...

This is the second book in the Earthsinger Chronicles. While your reading experience will be enriched if you read the first book, Song of Blood and Stone, it isn't necessary as the storyline is running parallel so nothing has been continued on from it. Much to my disappointment, this also meant that we followed new characters in this book and left behind my favorites from the first one. However, I gradually became invested in the new characters as well. It just took me a bit.

So, what happens when a Flame chases a Fox? What happens if the Fox is caught by said Flame? What happens if the Flame and the Fox fall in love? This sounds like a riddle but these code names were what our main characters, Kyara and Darvyn were known by. She was the Poison Flame, an assassin and he was Shadowfox, a rebel soldier. They are both burdened with so much guilt and pressure to fulfill their goals and meet everyone else's expectations of them. They don't get the opportunity to decide what they want for themselves as they are both tools for other people to use.

It took me a little while to get back into the story this time, which surprised me because I was totally invested in book one. Ms. Penelope does use lovely imagery and builds a brilliant "fantasy world." By the second part of the book, I was hooked and then bam....cliffhanger. So, now I'm patiently waiting for the next book to see what happens.....

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.