Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry is a viral enemies-to-lovers romantasy set in a world plagued with monsters created by vicious and vengeful gods. It’s the ultimate slow burn, with lots of high-stakes danger and suspenseful secrets.
Odessa is the forgotten princess of Quentis, forced aside in favor of her younger half-sister. Their destinies have been set for their whole lives, and Odessa is destined to remain in the shadows. Until a shocking turn of events sends her across the sea to Turah, forced to play a role she never could have imagined for herself.
In a whole new kingdom, Odessa finds herself completely in the dark, trying to piece together what’s going on in an unfamiliar and dangerous place. Calandra’s politics present constant challenges, and Odessa doesn’t know who to trust. In a land where men and monsters reign, Odessa must learn to save herself.
For the first half of this book, it is unclear who the love interest will ultimately be, although there are some strong hints. I will keep this vague in the interest of preserving the fun of figuring it out yourself, but the love interest is a spectacular character and so much fun to discover and learn.
Odessa is often defeatist, lost and unsure, and at first that made her a little uninteresting, but that did not last. Over the events of the story, Odessa truly came into herself in a very intentional way.
Shield of Sparrows had very strong character development at play. Odessa slowly sheds the skin of the dismissed princess and comes into her own, and her love interest morphs from a complete enigma to, well, something else entirely.
The love story here is reminiscent of other romantasy greats. There are shades of Violet and Xaden, and certain similarities to Max and Tisaanah, and I can’t get enough of this dynamic and all the wonderful interpretations of it that exist in fantasies.
Before you pick up Shield of Sparrows, mentally prepare yourself for an agonizingly slow burn. It makes perfect sense with the plot and characters, but I was cheering when that first kiss finally happened. It’s a long wait, but the payoff is worth it, without a doubt.
This is a fantasy, so naturally I was a touch lost with the world building in the beginning, but only for a few chapters. The story then built to a phenomenal world with five kingdoms bound by treaties, sealed with ancient magic. The world is incredibly creative and varied — from golden palaces to towns made entirely of treehouses.
The suspense in this plot is palpable. You can feel that there is some major, significant thing Odessa, and therefore the reader, is missing. There are lots of hints and red herrings that kept me absolutely agonizing over every little thing trying to figure out what fuckery was afoot in this world, and I loved every second of it. There are several significant plot twists throughout the story, and it ends on a cliffhanger that I never expected.
I kicked my husband out of the house to go walk the dogs so I could finish Shield of Sparrows in peace because I was so ravenous to find out what happened at the end. I am ready for book two. The official release date has yet to be announced, but it will come some time in 2026, and I can’t wait.
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