Audience: Adult
Plot: 4.8 out of 5
Characters: 4.8 out of 5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ out of 5

Keywords: Vampires, Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Quest, Resurrection, Royalty, Magic, Slow-Burn, Heartfelt
Tea Pairing: Comfort Blend Black Tea (orange and cinnamon) from Plum Deluxe

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley from Tor Publishing Group. Thank you! All opinions are my own.

Favorite Quotes:
–”There is no light without darkness. There is no life without suffering.” – (Chapter 11)
– ”I just played the notes that sounded like you.” – (Chapter 29)
–”We all have ghosts in our pasts, Iliae. We can’t give them the power to define our futures, too.” – (Chapter 20)

The Songbird and the Heart of Stone is the first book in the new Shadowborn Duet by Broadbent. It follows the events of the Nightborn Duet (Serpent & Ashes), and is set in the same world of the other Crowns of Nyaxia novels. Songbird follows the story of Mische, after she has left the Nightborn kingdom and heads to the Shadowborn kingdom. When she arrives, she meets Asar, the second son of the king, and Wraith Warden. The pair go on a quest and descend into the Underworld, each tasked by their patron god/goddess to complete an important mission.

Songbird has such a different tone than the Nightborn Duet. In the Nightborn Duet there was a sense of urgency with the games and trials, as well as non-stop action. Songbird was heartfelt, and, for me, was a deeply-emotional journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. As both Mische and Asar travel further through the Underworld, each comes to terms with their personal guilt, shame, and trauma. Mische and Asar are really two sides of the same coin, and I think that is why they are so well-suited for each other. There is such a sweetness to both of them, as they navigate what love truly means.

I enjoyed this novel immensely. Fans of Broadbent’s Crowns of Nyaxia novels are sure to delight in the first of the Shadowborn duet. This is a slow-burn romance, with elements of “Who did this to you” and “He falls first.” For me, this novel has only confirmed the phenomenal storyteller that Broadbent is, and has placed her in a tier all her own.

I think the question is: how many times DIDN’T I cry while reading this book? I could count that number with just one hand because honestly, I have no idea how I even managed to finish this book with all the tears blurring my vision and staining the pages of my book. This book had such a visceral effect on me, my heart was in a constant state of aching tenderness with precious moments of sweet relief and profound joy. I had so much love for Asar, Mische and Luce (who is the actual MVP of this book) and nothing pained me more than saying goodbye when I finished reading.

This was my first foray into Carissa Broadbent's worlds and by the end of it, I did not want to leave. Besides the incredibly immersive world-building, I was fascinated by the politics, magics, and religions in it. Everything had its own complex system that was both modern and steeping in tradition. And the structure of Morthryn will always inspire equal parts awe and terror in me, being the boundary between the mortal world and the underworld, and a part of The Descent, it goes beyond being just a building into an otherworldly experience.

I don’t think there are enough words to express how much I love Asar and Mische. Both scarred, looking for their own versions of redemption, and just wanting to be loved, they’re different sides of the same coin. They both have their own traumas to work through and we get to see what healing looks like for the both of them. It’s a process that’s painful, gut-wrenching and honestly had me straight up sobbing for most of their journey (especially with the way Carissa sequenced this book, it was genius). So many aspects of The Descent had them facing parts of themselves that they feared, hid away and hated and while they didn’t magically overcome all these things, Asar and Mische found ways to slowly accept these parts of themselves.

TSATHOS was honestly impeccable and every moment carried weight. I’m going to be staring at the wall yearning for book 2, especially after that ending.

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is a journey of finding yourself and forgiving your past mistakes.
I am a huge fan of Carissa Broadbent’s writing and the world she created. To make it even better, she adds a skeleton dog, Luce!

What to expect:

Allies of convenience
Vampires
Gods
Slow burn
Mild spice
The story starts as one does, the main character is about to die, forgotten and ignored by her sun god, when a vicious vampire comes to save her from his awful sister before she drains her of her blood. Said vampire is much too attractive for how much she has to hate him, but his general grumpy nature makes it easy to ignore for a time.


The stakes are easy to understand, go on this quest or I let my sister kill you. However, the gods are playing a game that is a bit more complicated. The world-building as they journeyed through the underworld was unique, leaving me to reread scenes to fully envision the gray, upside-down world.

I was so glad I got to finally learn about Mische’s past along their journey. You know I love character development, so watching her see her life differently over time was what I craved but it moved too slowly for me. I happened to love Asar from the start and not just because he’s the hot vampire love interest! Ok, maybe it was, but he’s also smart, and broody and has a skeleton dog that loves him. He happens to also have a tragic past that breaks your heart and makes you hope he gets a HEA.

However, things generally moved too slowly since so much time was spent on the characters moving around. I am used to lots of action from Broadbent and this had a lot more internal dialogue.

Final thoughts, I will always read what Carissa Broadbent writes, always. I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens after that cliffhanger!

I love this world so so much and Carissa’s writing is PHENOMENAL

I genuinely think this is her best book yet! It took me a little while to get into but Asar and Mische’s chemistry had me hooked😭

This is an incredible story with elements of Dante’s Inferno and I am obsessed

THAT ENDING?! HUH?!!? That’s all. No notes.

I feel like I waited forever for this book and it did NOT DISAPPOINT. God I thought I was obsessed with Raihn and Oraya, but I’m afraid they have nothing on Mische and Asar.

The quest aspect of this made it impossible to flip the pages fast enough. I loved getting Mische’s backstory, and my heart absolutely aches for her.

And the way Asar loves her 🫠 I’ll never be over it.

AND THAT ENDING omg I cannot wait for book 4.

4.5 stars!!

Book 1 in the Shadowborn Duet, book 3 in Crowns of Nyaxia

- shadowborn prince x acolyte of atroxus
- slow burn
- underworld quest
- vampires
- single POV

this book is much different than books 1 & 2 in the Crowns of Nyaxia series and I LOVED it.

Songbird & the Heart of Stone follows Miche (who we met in book 1&2) and Asar, the shadowborn prince

we see much more into the Shadowborn side of story... to me this was very plot driven and I think Carissa set herself up SO WELL for the next book in this duet.

please please give us dual POV in book 2! I need to see into Asar's head

thank you so much Netgalley & Tor Publishing for the ARC!!

Carissa Broadbent is one of my all time favorite authors, but I am struggling to finish this book. I started it before release day, but the first 200 pages have not quite been for me. I’m going to continue; however, this reluctance to pick it up is surprising and disappointing. I love Mische as a character, so I’m hoping I start to enjoy it more.

This was a fantastic addition to the series. I thought it was better than the first two, by far. And I loved that this book really helped to open up the world building.

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone is an absolutely stunning start to Carissa Broadbent’s new duology, and wow, did it live up to the hype. Fans of the Crowns of Nyaxia series will remember Mische, the former Priestess of Atroxus, who’s now grappling with her new life as a vampire. After killing Malach, the Shadowborn prince who turned her (totally justified, by the way), she’s sentenced to die. But then Asar Voldari—exiled prince, brooding warrior, and all-around heartthrob—shows up, claiming he needs her Sun God magic for a mission that could change everything. Together, they set off on a perilous quest to the Underworld, where trust is fragile, betrayal feels inevitable, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

I loved Mische as the FMC. Her optimism and inner light, even in the face of all this darkness, were so beautiful to see. She’s one of those characters you can’t help but root for. And Asar? Don’t get me started. His backstory unfolds perfectly, and his chemistry with Mische is next level. The slow build between them is so angsty and delicious—Broadbent nailed it.

And let’s talk about the world-building. Returning to the Crowns of Nyaxia universe felt like coming home, even if it’s a home full of terrifying monsters and deadly vampires. The deeper look into House of Shadow, the expanded lore, and all the little callbacks to characters from Oraya and Raihn’s duology had me grinning. Plus, Luce, the dog, stole every scene she was in. As the book says, “Dogs. We didn’t deserve them.” Accurate.

But fair warning: this book will break you. The ending gutted me in the best way, and now I’m counting down the days until the next installment. If you’re already a fan of this world, you’re going to fall in love all over again.

Love the world and mische is one of my favorite characters so I loved her story. I loved the romance and the dynamic between them. The dog though had me 🥹🥹🥹 the pacing wasn’t my fave but I enjoyed it nonetheless!

I will admit that I didn’t enjoy this one as I did first two but it stuck the ending extremely well for me to be excited and looking forward to read the next one. For more accurate rating I would give this 3.5.

Like everyone else in the book-loving world, I too fell head over heels for Carissa Broadbent's Crowns of Nyaxia series a couple of years ago. She is one of the reigning Romantasy Queens along with SJM and JLA. I was hesitant to move on from Raihn and Oraya in THE SONGBIRD & THE HEART OF STONE, but I should have known better. I loved learning more about former sidekick Mische in book 3, especially getting to know more about her faith and toxic relationship with Atroxus. Also, Asar? DANG! What a scarface dreamboat. Any dude that loves his dog as much as he loves Luce is crushworthy for me. *swoons*

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR for the arc of this memorable, heartfelt book.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor for the EARC!
There are things I absolutely loved about this book and things I could’ve done without. Mische was one of my favourite characters from the crowns of nyaxia series so I was so excited to get her story… unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I did enjoy the romance between her and Asar, but my favourite character was Luce 😫🥹
The pacing of this book felt off. We went from super intense vivid action scenes to agonizingly slow resting periods that were too repetitive. I felt like I kept reading the same thing over and over. The main villain was… odd… interesting choice…
I will say the ending intrigued me so I am interested to see what will happen next. I haven’t decided if I am excited or annoyed yet though.

Dare I say I might have enjoyed this as much as 'The Serpent and the Wings of Night' by Carissa Broadbent?! I absolutely love her books, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!

This book was so so good that I might pin it up next to The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

I loved these characters and their journey and I was shocked at how the book ended. I seriously can't wait for the next one!

Carissa Broadbent does it again! I can’t wait for the next installment. I’m so happy we got a book with Mische!!

🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶
𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞
𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐲𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐚 #𝟑
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐭
4.5/5 ⭐️
🌶️🌶️

•𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑦
•𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 & 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐
•𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑦
•𝑉𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑠 + 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠

Y’all. gone and done it again 🫠

Tbh I did not know if I would be interested in Mische’s story…but I was proven decidedly wrong at the end of this one (this book is the first of the duo as a part of the larger series of Nyaxia).

Although this one ended on a cliffy, I’m an automatic buyer of everything Carissa Broadbent. Her story telling, character development, twists & turns, and emotion evoking have not let me down yet. I needed the concluding duo yesterday.

🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶🕊️🎶

This was my first Broadbent, so I am reading it without ANY understanding of her world or characters for this series -- AND I STILL LOVED IT. WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT?? Hands down one of the best romantasy authors; I do not understand why I am so late for this amazing train.

3.5 stars

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024 and I'm so sad about how I felt about this book. I first want to say that Carissa's writing has grown so much between this and Ashes. It was impressive. So many quotable lines. Chef's kiss.

Where this book let me down was the romance. I was not convinced that these 2 people were falling in love. I would have preferred this to be more slow burn than it was and I wished there were more moments of Asar and Mische together growing their relationship outside this plot.

There were also some parts that were highly predictiable, but some parts that did surprise me. I will be continuing the series and I have high hopes for book 4 because of that ending. Crossing my fingers I love it more than this one.

I adored The Serpent & the wings of night so I was eagerly awaiting Mische's story! I enjoyed her and Asar's story but it wasn't a full 5/5 for me. I did love the romantic build up and the travels but it just wasn't a book I was obsessed with. I am definitely continuing on with the series and I am excited to see what happens after that cliff hanger ending!