Shield of Sparrows Review and Recap

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry had me LOCKED IN. This slow burn romantasy shakes up the genre in a whole new way, and I was almost constantly on the edge of my seat. I hope you’re ready for some lore dropping as I rave about this beautiful book and give you all the details you should know before jumping into Rites of the Starling (book 2), which drops next Tuesday April 7th.

Non-Spoiler Review

Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book absolutely took me by surprise and blew me out of the water. I was with a friend at the bookstore when she picked up this book, and the cashier started yapping about how much she loved it, so naturally it went on my TBR. Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect other than an arranged marriage and monsters, but I was constantly surprised by the directions this book took. As someone very used to reading romantasy and common tropes, I found this book to be a breath of fresh air. This book follows through on all the best enemies-to-lovers moments, but also keeps you on your toes because it doesn’t follow the exact same pattern. Our FMC Odessa was not trained to be a warrior or a queen; that job has always belonged to her sister Mae. But when an ancient magical treaty comes into play, Odessa finds herself being wed to a foreign crown prince in enemy territory. Odessa is a very unique FMC in my opinion, and I love that we get to watch her grow throughout the book as she gets stronger and faster. ALSO, Devney Perry is like the queen of suspenseful action scenes. I cannot tell you how vividly her scenes live in my head like an HBO TV show. AND THE TENSION. AHHHHHHH. Needless to say, this book is a five-star read. If you’re craving some fantasy, or simply trying to get over Fourth Wing – PICK THIS UP. The worldbuilding is so freaking fun. Logging off now, I need to go fight monsters with my bestie Odessa.

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Spoiler Zone

Let’s jump into the full recap and summary of Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry. There are a lot of different types of monsters in this story. If you are having trouble keeping them straight, I’d check out Devney Perry’s Instagram where she has a post showing illustrations of all of them (click here to go to the post). As the header suggests, this section will have spoilers for the whole book, as we’ll be diving into everything that happens. You have been warned…

Odessa Cross is the oldest Princess of Quentis, but she is not the favorite daughter. After her mom died when Odessa was young, her father, the Gold King, married Margot, her mother’s old lady’s maid. Her younger sister Mae has been chosen to fulfill the Shield of Sparrows, and her baby brother Arthalayus or Arthy is set to inherit the throne. Odessa, the spare never the Sparrow, is set to marry the general Banner, a man fifteen years her senior who gets to marry royalty as a reward for his dedication.

Odessa runs off to the edge of the cliff, her favorite place to hide from palace life, and jumps off the edge, living for her one source of adventure. She swims in the ocean, her one place of freedom, and her hair dye washes out, revealing her red curly hair that she hides at Margot’s request. As Odessa rushes through the palace, running late for an important meeting with representatives from Turah, she runs into a Voster priest. Brother Dime, the Voster priest in question and her father’s emissary, makes Odessa uncomfy when she feels his magic. In this world, the Voster are the only ones with magic: they have the ability to manipulate air, water, and blood.

Turns out, when they killed the marroweels, the crown prince killed and beheaded seven females of the species, which allows him to invoke the Chain of Sevens and allow him to demand a bride prize. The Chain of Sevens is another old bargain bound by magic, and so the High Voster priest enters along with Brother Dime to enforce the magic. Banner says no way, not because he loves Odessa (he has a lover in the town that Odessa knows about), but because he doesn’t want to lose his connection to the royal family.

Even after everyone threw a hissy fit, Odessa still had to marry Zavier. Mind you, Zavier has said 0 words this entire time; he seems to be mute. So, Odessa gets primmed and primed for her wedding. During the ceremony, Odessa makes a vow and signs the Shield of Sparrows treaty in her blood. Since Zavier doesn’t speak, the Guardian agrees to the vow on Zavier’s behalf. Make a vow, sign a sheet, and boom, she’s married. The Guardian struts up and informs Odessa that they will sail for Turah at dawn.

Dawn arrives, and Odessa boards a ship to sail off to Turah. She is pleasantly surprised to see her sister and parents come to the dock to send her off, and she waves a bitter farewell. But she is not the only one with farewells. Odessa is accompanied to Turah by her lady’s maids, Brielle and Jocelyn. Odessa has known them for three years; they are the only people from Quentis in her new life and the only thing resembling friends. 

Naturally, Brielle and Jocelyn are heartbroken to be leaving there home land and their families. And of course, they both get wildly seasick, and Odessa feels horrible that she dragged her lady’s maids into this. Someone keeps breaking into Odessa’s locked bedroom on the ship and leaving her clothes. We quickly learn that it’s the Guardian leaving her pants, because apparently in Quentis, women do not wear pants and are limited to dresses. He continues to taunt her whenever she emerges from tending to her hurling lady’s maids, and she reveals that this is her first time out of Quentis. 

Before Odessa left, she snuck back into her room to grab her most prized possessions. She grabs the journal and pendant necklace she kept hidden under her floorboards. She would sketch in her journal, but only the most raw and emotional pieces, which Margot insisted she stop doing. And Odessa found the pendant in the floorboards when she discovered the hiding place in her room as a child. She likes to imagine it belonged to whatever Princess was locked in the bedroom before her. Now, Odessa wears the pendant around her neck all the time. She wears it like a piece of armor, protecting herself from the unknowns ahead.

The Guardian gets mad at Odessa for refusing to listen. He ordered her to get to safety and hold on tight. She stands up to him, saying that she will not blindly follow his orders. I love this scene so much because the Guardian is lowkey tearing into her, and she just looks him dead in the eye and says “no.” The group continues to travel, and Odessa is still freaked out by the marroweel scare, realizing how powerless she is against danger. So she stalks out to find Zavier and the Guardian, demanding a sword and to be taught how to use it.

Unfortunately for Odessa (but fortunately for me and my love of dramatic tension), the Guardian is responsible for training her. It’s clear from the second they start that she sucks: at training and at swordplay. Mae was the fighter, never Odessa. The Guardian taunts her mercilessly, but she endures it, fighting the embarrassment from tripping over her own two feet every two seconds. 

Finally, the ship ride is over, and the squad has reached land. Odessa is under the impression that they will be heading straight to Allesaria. She is surprised to find that they arrived right on the shore, and not at any major port or city. No one will give her a straight answer when she asks where they are going. Odessa just gets shoved on a horse and tries to piece together their whereabouts. 

After several more days of travel, Odessa arrives in Treow. This town is built into the trees, and everyone essentially has their own treehouse. Odessa climbs her rickety ladder to get to her treehouse bedroom just for the Guardian to come in, verbally spar with her, and then snags her ladder before he leaves. She assumes her ladder disappears at night to prevent her from running away or doing something stupid. 

Odessa learns that she will eventually be heading to Ellder, where she will settle more permanently. Not Allesaria. Not the capitol. Not the place she hopes to find to help her father and her country. She begins to wonder if Allesaria even exists because no one ever mentions it, and people don’t even seem to mention getting supplies there. However, Zavier is still off doing tasks in Perris. This leaves Odessa to explore Treow, inquiring about the library and pony riders (aka the mail carriers), and train with the Guardian. For training, the Guardian has lent her several daggers. Even though she asked for a sword, she has to start off small and work her way up to one. She also notes that the cuff/armor on the Guardian’s arm is made of grizzur hide and bears markings indicating the number of lives he’s taken.

In Treow, we also meet Cathlin. Cathlin is a warm and kind older woman who offers Odessa a nice change of pace. After her whole world has been turned upside down, it’s nice to have someone offer her a simple kindness. Cathlin is the current librarian in Treow and takes Odessa to pick out some books. One book in particular caught Odessa’s eye: A Year in Quentis by Samuel Hay. The book trash-talks the entire country of Quentis, claiming it’s a land of thieves and liars, and even goes so far as to say that the death of Odessa’s mother was brought about by the king. Odessa, understandably, is pissed and wants to chuck the book into a fireplace. 

In the middle of the night, Odessa wakes up to find a lionwick (another monster) prowling around in Treow. Odessa’s eyes widen, and she gestures to the Guardian to kill it, but he just huffs a laugh from the treehouse that is right next to hers and goes to bed. We learn the next day that this is because Treow has a system of traps and snares that caught the lionwick. That morning, the lionwick was set free back deep in the wild. Tillia explains that this is because the lionwicks help keep the dear population in check, and that Turah strives for balance. This is very contrary to Quentis’s policy of kill first, ask questions later’.  

Evie is only four years old, and Zavier has decided to keep her hidden from court life. When Odessa inquires about her mother, Zavier simply tells her that Evie’s mother died in childbirth. Odessa asks if she can get to know Evie and is surprised when Zavier agrees, though excited. In thanks, Odessa kisses Zavier on the cheek but feels no spark. Zavier acts very weirded out by it, and Odessa is like ‘what the heck am I supposed to do?” She is very confused. Why would he marry her? The Guardian continues to pester her about throwing herself at Zavier. And at this point, Odessa knows that she is attracted to (dare I say likes) the Guardian, but she feels guilty because she knows nothing can come of it since she’s married. 

Evie is the definition of a wild child. Most of the time, Evie is off with her teacher, Luella, who attempts to keep her out of trouble. As Odessa walks with Evie, she catches Evie commenting about ‘sick monsters’ and how the Guardian only fights the bad ones. But not even Evie mentions Allesaria, and Odessa grows more and more suspicious as people are being taken from Treow and tossed into King Ramsey’s militia. 

Odessa decides that it’s time for her to get out of Treow and do some real spying. With Zavier and the Guardian gone again, she enlists the help of her lady’s maids to help her sneak out. Brielle pretends to be Odessa while Odessa hops on a cart bound for Ashmore, the next town over.

In an interesting turn of events, Cathlin is also in Ashmore, conveniently visiting an old friend. Odessa walks and yaps with Cathlin as she sees that King Ramsey has also burnt down Ashmore’s library. Odessa attempts to pick Cathlin’s brain about it since she is going more and more wary of the king’s agenda, but before she can learn anything important, a group of bariwolves attacks. 

Monster fight! Bariwolves strut right into Ashmore, causing the entire town to flip out. Cathlin and Odessa begin to make a beeline for the inn to hide, and the Guardian steps in to fight off the bariwolves to give them time to run. One of the bariwolves only has one eye and is locked in a deep battle with the Guardian. Just when Odessa thinks she’s safe, a bariwolf breaks through the window and takes the girl who helped her into the inn. Odessa is horrified and looks out the window to see the Guardian attempting to fight off nine bariwolves. But she doesn’t sit still. Instead, Odessa grabs a crossbow and fires it straight at the pack of bariwolves, catching them by surprise, and allowing the Guardian just enough time to win. 

In the aftermath of the battle, Odessa is shaken up. She can’t help but feel responsible for the death of that girl. The Guardian isn’t doing much better when he crashes on the floor that night; he is grumpy and a tad drunk. Odessa decides to bombard him with questions (per usual), and he reveals more than usual – gotta love some trauma bonding. He tells her that the sickness affecting the monsters is called Lyssa, and that’s all he gets out before he passes out. The next day, the Guardian and Odessa saddle up and travel to Ellder (riding the same horse, muhahaha – the tension!). We find that the Guardian knows her real hair color is red, and tells her she doesn’t have to hide, so she dumps her hair dye out the window. 

The Guardian resumes his rigorous training with Odessa, as she’s finally leveled up to sword play. She inquires if she can start riding, to keep practicing and to explore Ellder further. But Evie is distraught because Zavier leaves again, so the Guardian offers for Evie to come with him on an adventure to Treow to retrieve a horse. Odessa’s horse. Evie slyly talks Odessa into accompanying them, so the three set off for a horsey supply run in Treow. 

Once Evie falls asleep on the ride to Treow, Odessa decides to demand some more answers. She asks about Lyssa only to find that the Guardian doesn’t remember telling her anything. But, he relents and finally tells her the scoop. Lyssa is an infection spreading amongst the monsters that turns their blood dark green and makes them more ruthless and deadly. It spreads only by bite as far as they know and has only been present for the past four years. The Guardian reveals that the Turan’s goal is to stop Lyssa from spreading before the migration because if the crux gets Lyssa, migrations will go from bad to worse. Odessa plants her feet saying that she will help stop it, asking how they will proceed forward.

Odessa then asks the haunting question of if any human has ever been bitten or infected by Lyssa. And this is how we learn that the Guardian has Lyssa and that’s where his mysterious power, strength, and speed comes from. He makes it known that his ultimate goal is to kill all the monsters and then himself – because he believes he is a monster too. Odessa sees the guilt that he carries about the deaths at Ashmore and amongst Turah and her heart hurts. She doesn’t even know where her loyalties lie anymore. 

The High Priest of the Voster is there inspecting the dead tarkin body. The priest has also been siphoning Lyssa from the Guardian’s blood, trying to study the infection and slow any damaging effects for the Guardian. Odessa confronts the Guardian, informing him she wants to lighten the load. She sees him walking off and insists she go with him. He agreed to let her help in the search and research regarding Lyssa, so she tags along despite his reluctance. Odessa does not just want to sit idly by.

Odessa and the Guardian venture to find a tarkin den to investigate and search for clues. They find a group of dead tarkin cubs that have starved after their mother likely abandoned them. But there is one tarkin cub still alive. Odessa tells the Guardian not to kill it, saying she’ll take on the responsibility of caring for the cub tarkin until it is old enough and strong enough to be released back into the wild. The Guardian only agrees once they confirm (by checking the color of blood) that the tarkin does not have Lyssa. He asks if she would’ve killed the tarkin if it had Lyssa. She says she would if she had to. So he makes her promise to kill him if she has to. When she agrees, he finally decides she is worthy enough to learn his name: Ransom.

As Odessa and Ransom are getting ready to leave, King Ramsey shows up in Ravalli and confronts them before they can get away. King Ramsey makes a decent amount of vague commentary that grinds Odessa and Ransom’s gears before he sets fire to Samuel Hay’s house and trots off. The king warns Ransom that he has one month before he is expected in Allesaria. For what? We have no idea.

Now, Odessa rides for Ellder with Ransom, Samuel, and his son Jonas, who are relocating after their home was destroyed. Odessa finally inquires where the nickname “the Guardian” came from. Ransom tells the story of how a little girl was lured onto a ship where a group of men were kidnapping and selling young girls. After he killed the men and returned the girl to her mother, the mother called him “a guardian,” and the name caught like wildfire. Odessa inquires what happened to Banner’s brother, and Ransom says he killed him because he was the one who kidnapped the girl. 

Arriving back in Ellder, Odessa decided to visit her lady’s maid, who had been relocated there, before she went off to bed. As she is en route to find Brielle and Jocelyn, she sees Zavier leaving Jocelyn’s bedroom with a kiss, and they spot her right as she bolts. Odessa runs to hide in her room and collect herself, only to be followed by Ransom. She is hurt that she is once again the last choice. That another secret has been kept from her. That she is still tied to him through marriage, and that there is nothing she can do about it. But what scares her most is that what she truly feels is relief. Relief that she doesn’t have to keep loathing herself for falling for Ransom. Odessa feels it all because she knows she can never have him, not while she is bound to a crown prince and expected to bear his children and uphold his title

Ransom finally drops his bombshell: Odessa is married to him. The day Ransom saw Odessa jump off the edge of the cliff, everything changed; he decided to set her free. Odessa thinks back and remembers that it was the Guardian who spoke for the prince at the wedding ceremony and realizes it would have been easy for them to swap his blood for Zavier’s when they signed the Shield of Sparrows. Ransom is the true crown prince, and Odessa has been married to him the whole time, not Zavier. 

Their fight and tension gives off the vibes of Darcy’s first proposal in Pride and Prejuice (to me). It gives heartfelt answers and pure angst. The argument finally collapses as she breaks apart in his arms and he whispers her name like a prayer. They share their first kiss before she runs off again, scared that the kiss was another lie.

Soon after, Odessa spots the Voster priest playing with children after he just siphoned the Lyssa from Ransom again. She is confused why the children would want to be around him, and if they can feel the awful power and sensation she feels, but she doesn’t dwell on it for long and goes for a walk with Ransom who is still recovering from the siphoning. Odessa confesses once more that she thinks that Lyssa was created by the Voster, and Ransom assures her that it wasn’t and that he has faith in the Voster. Then we get another bomb: Evie is actually Ransom’s sister. King Ramsey has no idea she exists, and Evie stays hidden away because Ramsey tried to kill Ransom and Evie’s mom. 

King Ramsey loved their mom, but she didn’t love him back. She did her duties, but eventually took a lover. King Ramsey walked in on her and her lover, when he didn’t know that she was pregnant with Evie, and he killed the lover and was strangling her until Ransom stepped in to stop it. Ransom took his mom away, hiding her far away from Allesaria, and she hasn’t been back since because King Ramsey is still intent on killing her. Ranson hasn’t been to Allesaria since, and he hid his mom and Evie so the king would never find them. However, Zavier took Evie in and is her father in every way that counts, as he loves and cares for her endlessly. Zavier continued to play as Ransom’s double after Ransom was bitten and infected with Lyssa, since Zavier was next in line for the throne, until Evie was born.

Samuel Hays visits Odessa and helps her work on her map. She has been collecting and drawing bits and pieces of Turah since she arrived, and Samuel has helped her fill in the gaps. She hopes that Samuel’s loyalty to Quentis and his despise for King Ramsey will keep him from revealing her secret. As Ransom and his squad return, we learn that Tillia is pregnant with her husband Halston’s child and that she has known of Zaiver and Ransom’s ruse. She says that not many people know outside of Allesaria and that only those closest are in the loop. The party also brings in two people from Treow who are seriously ill. They suspect the men have Lyssa, but there are no signs of bite marks. 

As Ransom heads for his reunion with his wife, the Voster priest grabs Odessa’s wrist with little warning. She screams out in pain, and the Voster question her on who her mother is. Ransom quickly steps in, drawing a sword to the Voster’s throat. But Luella bursts in, announcing that Evie ran off before the Voster can give any answers. Thankfully, they find Evie quickly. She ran off through the migration cellar to fight monsters like her dad. 

Later, Odessa confides in Ransom that she can feel the magic of the Voster and that it’s extremely painful. He says that feeling is not normal, and he only feels weak when the Voster siphons Lyssa. The lovely couple have some serious talk as Odessa proposes that she has been the problem all along. She hypothesizes that the monsters are coming after her and always seem dead set on killing her. Odessa says they need to test the theory as soon as possible, to see if she is the one drawing the monsters, but Ransom practically shouts no in her face. She says she should leave to keep everyone else safe, but Ransom insists that wherever she goes, he goes. And then they FINALLY admit that they like each other, and make out…

Turns out, the guy who attacked Odessa was injected with Lyssa. King Ramsey is trying to infect men in his militia with Lyssa to create more powerful soldiers with heightened abilities like the Guardian. Cathlin has been feeding Odessa books that have helped her piece everything together because Cathlin is bound by a blood oath and can’t tell her directly. Luella then walks in, and Odessa tells her to spill it, since Odessa knows Luella was the one who created Lyssa. 

Luella is an alchemist who was experimenting with a concoction to help make people stronger and heighten their natural abilities. She wanted to create something that could help protect her people and her son from the upcoming migration. Part of her experimenting has been extracting magic from monsters. After Ransom suffered a nasty injury, she secretly gave him an elixir to help him heal, but then he was bitten by the bariwolf, and everything changed. Lyssa originated from the elixir and the magic from the monster’s bite. And Ransom was the first. 

Luella admits that she spends her time trying to create a cure. King Ramsey has been determined to recreate her elixir, but his missing piece is the monster’s bite, which contains the saliva and magic. Odessa then notices Luella’s journal, where she collects all her research and experiments on Lyssa, and the journal’s cover features the same emblem as the pendant Odessa wears around her neck. Needless to say, everyone is freaking out because they don’t want the crux to get Lyssa during the migration.

Odessa has her purpose, her goals cut out for her now. Protect her people. Save her husband. Find a cure. Odessa plans to return to Quentis to ask for her father’s aid and his armies to fight against King Ramsey, who is infecting all his soldiers. Ransom cannot rally troops in Turah because he has sworn a blood oath not to turn the men against their king. Ransom saddles up to go to Allesaria to stop King Ramsey with his mom, the only person who might get through to him, and asks Odessa to watch over Evie. But before they can leave, the king’s men come crashing into Ellder. Ransom’s month is up, and he is not in Allesaria. So the king has come to claim him. 

Ransom is panicking, seeing his mother about to die, but he cannot do anything because he has sworn an oath not to harm his king. But Odessa has sworn no oath, so she grabs Ransom’s sword and holds it to the king’s throat. Odessa fights against the king while Ransom is held back by eight men, screaming and shouting. The king gets Odessa in his grip, calls forward Brother Dime, and says that she is his problem now because he wanted her. As Ransom is pleading for Odessa’s freedom, he lets slip that he is Ramsey’s son, which piques Banner’s interest. And things get so much worse when a crux comes swooping in and tears Luella in half. 

Ransom rushes off to fight, and Odessa rushes off to find and protect Evie. Odessa finds Evie protecting Faze the tarkin cub and snags them both, then begins sneaking them out. But she doesn’t make it far before Banner finds them. Banner has come to kill Odessa, the one person the Guardian loves, as vengeance for killing his brother. Odessa simply shoves Evie off to the side and draws out her fighting knives.

Odessa fends off Banner, proving to be a worthy opponent for him thanks to all her training. But Banner draws a knife to throw for the kill, and Odessa is trapped. And I sob as Zavier appears, jumping in front of the knife, taking the lethal blow to protect Odessa and Evie as Odessa kills Banner. Evie is distraught as they have to leave Zavier to run, and they watch as Brielle gets taken by the crux and as Halston loses a leg. Odessa is sprinting with Evie to get to the migration tunnel where they can escape, and Ransom shoots like a star, tackling them to the ground out of harm’s way. He tells Odessa to leave and gives her his armor cuff, which she identifies as a map to Allesaria. He says to meet him in Treow in a day, and if he is not there, they must run. So Odessa takes Evie and Faze, embarking down the dark tunnel, leaving her love behind. But before they can get far, they are cornered by Brother Dime, who insists she go with him. Considering her predicament, Odessa has no choice but to follow him. 

The final chapter of the book switches to Ransom’s POV in the aftermath of the battle. Halston and Zavier are both fighting for their lives in the infirmary, and we don’t know if they’ll make it. Ransom just heads back to the battlefield where he killed the crux, sticking his sword through its chest. But now, on the ground was not the body of a monster, but the body of a woman with the same hair as Odessa. Ransom orders his men to burn the body and then declares that he is off, to find his wife.

Parting Thoughts

First off, if you have made it this far in this post – I LOVE YOU THANK YOU! I hope you feel a little more ready to dive into Rites of the Starling. I truly can’t wait to see what direction the next book will go. I have a feeling that we will learn some more about Odessa’s mother and why she had to dye her hair brown. I also have a sneaky suspicion that all the books Odessa read on old folklore and gods and monsters are going to become very important. But one thing is for sure: Evie must be protected at all costs! Drop your theories down below! Until next Friday!