The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

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Title: The Bird and the Sword
Author: Amy Harmon
Series: The Bird and the Sword Chronicles #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: May 6, 2016
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 352
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's Science Fiction vs Fantasy Bingo 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

Swallow, Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, Daughter. Stay alive.

The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky.

My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.

But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?

My Review:

5 stars — Oh my word, this was just suck me in fantastic.  If you are a frequent reader of my reviews, you will know that I don’t give full 5 stars very often.  4.5?  Sure.  5?  Nope.  And I can never tell you the criteria for making it over the edge, it’s just gut feeling you know?  And this one just sucked me in from the prologue and didn’t let me go.  I didn’t want to put the book down.  I needed to know where this story was going to go.  I had many theories, and some came true, some came close, and others I didn’t predict at all.  But the most important thing is that I was enthralled.

I find myself gravitating towards contemporary romance most often in my reading choices, and I think part of the reason is that my standards are a wee bit higher for non-contemp…basically I’m picky.  But the things I prize most highly in books, no matter the genre, were present in this book — great characters, believable development, and of course a compelling plot.  I also really love when things become complicated, when emotions are not easy.  And Lark did not have an easy journey in this book.  I adored her from the moment we met.  She’s everything I tend to be drawn to in heroines — vulnerable, but with a core of strength that perhaps she is not aware of.  I traveled with her through all her highs and lows, through her doubts, her anger, her fear, and her triumph.  I was all in with Lark.

And through Lark’s eyes, I was also intrigued by Tiras.  My love for him suffered the same doubts as Lark, but I loved the connection that they had with one another, and how he helped her to grow — both magically and just as a normal woman.  My heart also ached for him and what he was going through — and the choices he was making, whether I agreed with him or not.

The world building was fantastic!  I was all in with the gifts thing, and particularly with how Lark’s gift manifested itself.  It was very unique for me, even as these gifts had elements that are common to fantasy.  But I could imagine them, and the fear of having such a gift.  I could also imagine the kingdom, and the politics, and the fearsome enemies.

And there were so many secondary characters to equally love and hate!!  I adored Boohjohni perhaps the most — he was not what I was expecting, but yet I needed his constancy for Lark.  I also grew attached to Hashim, even as he had such a small role in the story.  I have yet to decide about Kjell.  I think I’m supposed to be undecided.  I’m both curious about his story, and wary of him.  I loved his relationship with Tiras, but…but but but.

So there you have it.  I always have a bit of a reservation with this author’s writing style — I end up loving her books despite it not really being a match for me.  I can honestly say that I did not feel that way in this book WHATSOEVER.  Perhaps her style just fits with this genre?  I don’t know.  All I know is that I loved this book.  Full stop.