Hi guys, welcome back to All Read What She's Reading. I'm Michaela. I'm Reggie. And I'm Kennedy. And today we're talking about our spring book club book, uh, Shield of Sparrows and Rights of the Starling by Devony Perry. And we are gonna talk about your guys' responses about Shield of Sparrows, but we do have an in-depth uh book club episode about Shield of Sparrows because we this was our book club book for July of 2025 when it originally came out. And we sadly don't have it on any of the podcast platforms besides YouTube. So when we post about this, we will link the Shield of Sparrows YouTube podcast episode. We had some technical difficulties a while ago when we were switching over platforms and for some reason it deleted a few episodes. So sadly we don't have it. Um but first we're gonna get into but we all reread Shield of Sparrows before we uh read Rights of the Starlings. So maybe let's talk about what we rated our reread of Shield of Sparrows.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, love that.
SPEAKER_01Reggie, go first.
SPEAKER_02My original rating, I think, was 4.5, and then I never went and changed my rating on Goodreads, but then I would tell everyone I rated it five stars. My reread rating would probably be a 4.5, maybe like a little bit lower, just because it's a reread, and I didn't feel like anything was like better the second time reading it, but I still loved it. Yeah. So Kennedy? The first time I read it, I read it at four stars, and I think I'm gonna bump it up to like 4.5, not because anything was shocking, but just because I feel like I can appreciate I can appreciate it a little bit more. I mean, while it was predictable the first time and the second time, during my reread, there was a lot of things that I forgot and thought to myself, oh, this is really cool. Like this is cool that she did this or did it this way. And then also, this is having some rose-colored glasses on. After finishing Rights of the Starling, I also feel like I needed to bump it up just because and I can get into this a little bit more later, but the way you can just tell she had everything planned out. Yeah. You can just tell.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02So 4.5 stars for me. I think when I read this the first time I said like 4.5, and I was telling also everyone I was I rated it five. So after reread, I officially bumped it up to five stars. I did listen to the graphic audio and I didn't love the graphic audio as much. I feel like it made things a little cheesy. I didn't love Ransom's voice in the graphic audio. Yeah, I didn't like it either. But um I just knew from the first book that Devney Perry had things cooking. Like she was just brewing her brew with these books. So yeah, I I really enjoyed Shield Sparrows. And by your guys' responses, 48% rated it five stars, and 44% rated it four. So you guys really liked it as well. Okay, and then a few of your favorite moments from Silda Sparrows. Who wants to read some? Um someone said meeting face, and another person said finding the baby monster. Yeah. Yeah. I love little face. Um, and then I really like this one, the ending when the Crux had red hair. Red hair. Did I say that weird? Um I feel like from then on I was like, things are about to get wild. The ending of that first book was so surprising to me, not even because of just the plot twists, but I think that like I mean, people in most fantasy books, the last hundred pages or so are always just so exciting. But I think I wasn't prepared for how brutal the ending of that first book was going to be. It was like, he dies, she dies, someone's head's chopped off. Like I was like not expecting that at all because I feel like sometimes authors play it really safe with endings of books, especially with like I don't know. And so that was shocking to me. Like, I know I've probably referenced this TikTok a million times, but like I filmed my reaction to the ending of the first book. My jaw was literally like unhinged from my face. Like I could not, I just was not expecting that. And I think the ending of that book, as great as the book as a whole was, there was just something about reading that ending for the first time that was just like so exciting and surprising. I kind of forgot how brutal the ending was. Yeah. Um, yeah. I just kept reading. I was like, oh, oh, I forgot. Oh, I forgot about this. Um, so I think the ending definitely like got better because for some reason I just forgot about it. Besides the crux turning into a female with red hair, I remember that very vividly, but like everything else before I was like, I totally forgot about this. Like Herculing Banner. Yeah. Forgot about that. Yeah. I really truly forgot. I thought I remembered so much, and then I reread it. And yeah, I'm really, really glad I reread the book before starting Rights of the Starling. Yeah. I feel very solid in my decision for that. Yeah. Um uh least favorite moment from Silda's Sparrows. Someone said the sex scenes. Oh. Alright. I don't remember the first one being that spicy. Uh I think there was like two or three scenes. Yeah, but I don't feel like it was as spicy as I remembered it being. Like when I read it reread it. But someone said Xander's sleeping with multiple people. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know. I remember like not expecting that because he just seemed like just like, you know, a little quiet guy. And then all of a sudden it was like boom. Yeah. I feel like everyone's like least for parts are things that I feel like was necessary. Like a lot of them are like, um, Luella dying. Xavier almost dying. You know, like I get that those I think everyone hates death of characters they like, but sometimes I feel like it's more impactful to have that at the end of books. It gives characters a little more purpose. Gives them a reason to fight. Yeah. Someone did say the Prince Double, very predictable. We do talk about that in our original episode. Um and I think that's one of the reasons why I rated it four stars the first time was I felt the first book was easily predictable. Yeah. Until the very end. The end was crazy. Yeah. Very crazy. Um there's also the twist of uh her handmate her ladies' mate's betrayal. The betrayal. Oh, I also did not see that coming. I didn't see that. Jocelyn. Yeah, Jocelyn. And also what's the sister's name? Being a sister and not his actual daughter. Oh, Evie? Evie. Mm-hmm. I also did not see that coming. Yeah. So which was crazy. Yeah. I I think uh Shilda Sparrows, there were things that are very predictable, which I feel like is to be expected with books that are fully fleshed out. Like, yes. You know what I mean? Like I mean, obviously we left this book with questions, but like I didn't have questions about like the political system or like the world itself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I feel like she's very purposeful with the things she like the information she gives you. I think one I'm not hopping into Rights of the Starling, but this is one of my favorite things about either of the books, is while her quote reveals and plot twists might not be the most shocking I've ever read, what I can appreciate is the one, the way she unravels them.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And two, once you have this inclining of something that's happening. Obviously, with Shield of Sparrows, you have this inclining that the guardian is actually the prince. But then as she reveals more, once you get that actual solid yes, the guardian is the prince, it's the most satisfying reveal. It's not shocking, but you're just like, I knew it. Yeah. That's kind of what I love about her. And I think honestly, her writing mystery prior to this, right? Because she wrote she wrote mystery. Yeah, no, yes, no. I I always thought people like people said that, and from what I mean, I haven't read both her we'll see. I can't remember how many series she has within her like interconnected whatever. They're I wouldn't say they're very heavy on the mystery from what I've read. Oh, okay. But then X nay on what I was just gonna say, because I was gonna say I think her writing more mystery probably helped her make such an interesting fantasy book. Yeah. So yeah. I agree. Very well done. Um, okay. I think let's move into Rights of the Starling. Yeah, we got stuff to unpack. Lots to unpack. We have not discussed any of this. No. So this is exciting. Um, who wants to say what they rated it? Let's go in the same order we did before. Reggie. What I rated it. Yes. I like have had some time to sit with this because I finished it a while ago. And I really loved the book. I think I just had higher expectations for some reason. I don't know. I'm gonna think I think I'm gonna just go with four stars, which is still a good rating. Uh maybe it would be like a 4.25 for being like technical. Um but as I was approaching the end of the book, I was like, I just had, I don't know, I just had this feeling while I was reading it that I was like, I don't think this is gonna be a five-star read for me. Um, but nonetheless, like loved it. I still really loved it. Um I think that I was wanting a little bit more, maybe with the ending, maybe because of how the first book ended and it just being this like big crazy thing. Not that anything crazy didn't happen, but I think it was just because I saw where the ending was going for the most part, and there weren't a ton of surprises, and I kind of wanted something a little more intense. But I do think that we will get that in the next book. So like I'm still satisfied with the ending, but it wasn't the ending I was maybe anticipating, and so a part of me was kind of let down in a sense. Like I wanted a lot more action, and I don't feel like we got the action that I was hoping to get from this book. I wanted a more battle. But do you feel like she didn't do that because then it would have been a repeat of the last book's ending? I don't know. I just feel like the ending of the book I was anticipating, except for like that last line. If that makes sense. Like I was anticipating all of that stuff to go down. I kind of knew that that was coming, and even though it was still like really good and done well, I just I don't know. I don't know what I for some reason I just was wanting more, and I don't really know what that was because I'm still like satisfied with ending at the same time, but I don't know, I don't know, there was just something about it that wasn't a five-star read for me, but I yeah, I still really enjoyed it. I l at the beginning of the book, I was not expecting there to be different point of views and different timelines because I was trying to figure that out at the beginning, and at first I was like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna like this, but I ended up loving that element to it. Um and I was getting really annoyed with Ransom, that's his name. Yeah. Why was I so like unsure of that for a second? I don't know. Ransom was really driving me crazy during this reread, or not reread, sorry, during Rights of the Starling. The whole and I know there's gotta be reason for it. Him not telling her he loved her was actually driving me crazy. Crazy. I don't know if you guys have watched my yeah, like watch him reading betrothed to somebody else. I don't know, but he's married. I don't know, like I think it might have to do with, yeah, the is it the vow? Is that what they call it? The The Shield of Sparrows? With yeah, like what's the place that they're trying to get to? He's made that is it a vow? Uh oath? Oath? Oh, um to the Alice No, not Alice area. Yeah. The place where he lives. The city that no one's allowed to talk about. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like maybe it has to do with that. But then he does tell her at the end. Yeah, I don't know. Like, I was actually getting so annoyed with it, and then I was like, oh, there's gotta be a reason for it. But then with him saying it at the end, I was like, wait. I actually didn't notice until I looked at your guys' fable, and I was like, it was actually But the thing was is it felt like so intentional that he wasn't, and then she makes comment of it towards the end of the book. She's like, I s like I love him, but I why has he not said it to me? Like the fact that it was like there's a part in the book where she says, I love you, and then he says something back that's like you mean it you mean everything to me or something, and then she says it again, like I love you, and then he still says like I know. And I'm just like I was getting so frustrated, and I was hoping for maybe more of a reason as to why that was. Maybe there's a reason for I feel like there's gotta be a reason for it. I just wanted a little bit more of an answer with that because if it's something that has nothing to do with it, I'm gonna actually what I'm so sorry. What you were talking about like the last line in the book, and I'm I'm like, I don't remember what the last line was. Like, what do you mean? I never finished the book. What? What I had 10 minutes left to listen to it. How did you never finish? I thought you finished it. I thought I finished it, and I didn't. So the whole vision, this whole chapter? This whole chapter. Um hold up. Do we need to read it? Straight up.
SPEAKER_01This is so embarrassing.
SPEAKER_02I literally ended on oh. So did you go read the last line of the book? Yeah, but I didn't read the last chapter. The very last chapter. I literally have 13 minutes left in this book. Do we need to do a quick pause? I think it's just the last chapter.
SPEAKER_01I was listening.
SPEAKER_02The last chapter is only two pages. 64? Odessa? Where they're sitting on the cliff. Yeah, no. See, like where she gets the thrums. She's starting to get the thrums. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't know that happened. And this whole silver-eyed warrior falls to his knee as the ground trembles. Yeah, I didn't read, didn't hear that. Wait. I have not finished the book, everybody. Don't worry. She's finally, it's the dots are now connected. So sorry. Okay, so sorry, on this I know this is like I'm supposed to just be talking about binary view, but now that Kennedy's finished with the book and we're talking about the I love you thing. Kennedy, wait, who was it you that said it? No, it was Kennedy. Kennedy said What if the I love you triggered the shift? Why would that be though? Is my question. Like why would Because he wouldn't know that. He w Or would he though? I feel like there's some things that we still don't know. Yeah, but then the whole I love you thing is it's a red flag. It's yeah. But the thing is, is if he were to know that it would trigger something with her, he should never say it. Yeah. And he should have to explain that to her. Like I can't. What if he can't? What if he can't because he's under oath? Yeah. But then he still said it. I'm like, if you love some Yeah, I don't know. What if he's been I don't know. It's that is very interesting because but I feel like it has to be perfect. Let me ask you this question. This makes no sense in the context of the situation. He goes, I love you, Odessa Wolf. And then she goes, Yes, you do, don't forget. Oh, just kidding, never mind. I read the sentence drawing. I read the sentence wrong. It doesn't feel like an oop, like a mistake. No, it doesn't. It sounded very intentional. Yeah. What if he's bad? I don't know. I just I was getting so annoyed. Like, I think that like the romance part of this book for me just was not satisfying. And I don't know, I maybe it's because of that, but it just was so there were so many times she was saying it with him just being like, Yep, you do. There's gotta be a reason. Yeah, there is a reason. It's intentional. Yeah, but then he tells her, but see, look, yeah, you're right, because it goes, she says, Yes, you do, don't forget. He says, Never, let's go before it rains, and he goes to pull her away from the cliff, and something tugs in her. The thrumbs beat. That's what I'm saying. And then we have in that eye tell the vision that says a silver-eyed warrior falls to his knee as the ground trembles. He stares at the monster, sets down his blade. Before the warrior meets his end, he whispers, My queen. You want to know what the end? Here's the thing. It was way more fun to finish the book right here sitting with you guys watching it. That was way more fun than me finishing it by myself. That was that's yeah. So that's the ending. I'm over here just sitting like, I don't remember that. How did I do that? That's so funny that you ended it with her basically just getting him out of the cage. Yes. But and not getting her answers. I so I was listening in my car and then I pulled into my garage and I was like, I gotta finish this book. And then I just forgot. You just did it. I just forgot. And then I went on my Good Review today and I was like, why did I mark this so that's finished? Well, it's all making sense now. You wanna know what's funny? Did I give my rating for this book yet? No, you haven't. I give it four and a half. Yeah. Before I was gonna give it four. But the ending, that's that's crazy. That leaves me wanting more. Yeah. Like wanting more. So maybe I should give it four and a half, honestly. Now that like yeah, it's not a five for me, but it's very close. You know how when you finish a romantic and you just need the next thing immediately? Hatch made that a thing. It's called Ophelia, an original audio drama inspired by Hamlet, where Ophelia finally gets to be the main character. Forbidden Magic, A Crumbling Kingdom, a Slowburn Love Triangle with a Prince and his very guarded, very intriguing best friend. The kind of love triangle where you will absolutely pick a side and you will not be quiet about it. Book one of the three-part series is now available for free wherever you stream, with new chapters dropping every Tuesday. For books two and three, check out Hatch.co slash Ophelia. Stay until the end of the episode for the full trailer of Ophelia by Hatch. And the reason I'm not giving it five is just because the middle portion really was kind of dragging on for me. I do think it could have been cut down a little bit. However, maybe in the next book it will make more sense why there was so much traveling, like so with both POVs. Yeah. And maybe the people they meet along the way are going to make an appearance later on or make more sense. The people that her mom had met maybe will meet Odessa and it will all make sense. But right now, that's just not. I just wasn't obsessed with that. I think this is one of those books that the further on in the series you look back very fondly on. I can think of a lot of series that have books like that. Um I think my initial like reading comparing Shield of Sparrows to Rides of the Starling, I think I liked Rights of the Starling better just because I think it was maybe a little bit not less predictable because I did guess, like I guess you could say the large twist with the timelines and it being her mom, but I feel like the lead up was just a lot more I felt a lot more anticipation. Like I didn't know for sure if I was right. I just thought that I was right. But in Chill the Sparrows I knew for a fact the guardian was the prince. So and also I just think that she did such a good job at getting you to be attached to the new point of view after a certain point.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02I will say though, and I did Marco Polo Reggie this, I did get the spoiler that um Caspia would die. I caught on very quick. I got a spoiler TikTok that said something like, My wife is cold. That whole monologue, I got a spoiler of that. And so in the context, once I got into the book, I was like, oh, well, there's only one person I can think of that this would be about. So I knew she would die, but then I also knew it was her mom, so I knew she would die. So it was this whole thing. But I just really enjoy Devony's writing style. I think that it's entertaining. I think she writes her characters very well. I think the world is really interesting. I think Lysa is really interesting. I think the starling are great. Overall, I just think it feels like a unique fantasy book while still having plot points and elements that feel familiar and that you love. Also, I'm docking off half a star because you guys, the amount of times that by the grace of the divine was used in this book, there was one chapter where I'm not kidding you, she said it like five times in a row. Did you guys catch on to that or was it just me? I don't know if it's because I listened to most of the book, but I swear, let me look on my Kindle to see how many times it was used, because I swear it was used so often to the point where it got really distracting for me. You guys, did you both listen to the whole thing? Yeah. Okay, it's not used as many times as I thought. 35 times. That's still a lot. But it's used three times on one page. So I just was like, okay, I can't do this anymore. Yeah, I feel like things like that are easier to catch on to when you're listening for sure. Twice on another page, twice on another page, twice on another page. She used it so often that I kind of was like, okay. Was that in the context of the Caspia? The Foster? No, it's like she believes it's like by the grace of you. Yeah, okay, okay. Um, but yeah, overall, just so good. And I think, like I said, the way she unravels her uh plot twists is just so satisfying. And you know, like I said, you know she's thought all this out, you know she has a direction, and sometimes with some of these popular romantic books, sometimes I'm like, do you know where this is going? Yeah, are you sure? But I knew she knows exactly where it starts and where it ends. Yeah. Yeah. And now we have the context that um Is there only supposed to be one more book? Yeah. Okay, that's right. I swear if we get like, I don't know what it's called, where they marry each other, like if it's kind of the exact same situation with Odessa and Caspia, where they're freaking like they shift and then their loved one has to kill them. I can talk more about that later. Okay. What's your rating, Michaela? Um, I think like four, four point five. I definitely knows how to write an ending, like truly, because honestly, most of the book, I was like, this is a four-star book. This is a four-star book. And then when I read the ending, I was like, okay, that bumped it up a little bit in my rating. I think, like I said about Shield of Sparrows, she's very intentional, which I absolutely love. Like the time at which she gives you the knowledge of things is perfectly timed. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I do think I like Shield of Sparrows maybe a little bit more because it felt a little more action-packed. But I feel like this book was very necessary for all of the knowledge. And I hope that after book three, everything is gonna be tied up in a little bow because of everything we have gotten knowledge-wise in the past two books, have been purposeful and intentional with the way we have questions about things, or like, you know what I'm saying? Um, I yeah, I really kind of similar to you guys, I was very skeptical about um Caspia's point of view. I was like, a point of view, uh a new one that I we of course had to like learn about, but then I slowly became to really like it, especially as soon as Andreas, Andreas, was in the picture in the cabin. I was like, okay, this gets interesting, especially the language barrier. Oh, I did see someone on Patreon say she learned the language way too quickly. I do feel like things kind of moved pretty quick once they got together. Yeah. And I think that's what started to make me question, make me pick up on her being her mom. Yeah. Cause I was like, this is I don't know. But we can get to that in a second. Yeah. But anyways, so I really, I really enjoyed it. I wish there was a little bit more action because I feel like there wasn't a ton. Yeah. Um, but you know, I feel like the next book is gonna be just like action-packed, crazy. So um, you guys as listeners rated this uh 46% rated it five, 46% rated it four. Wow. So pretty like split, and then 7% rated it three. But that's pretty like split down the middle, um, and that's really good ratings. Yeah. Um, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed it as most of you guys enjoyed it as much as we did too. Um, let's talk about our favorite moments from Rides of the Starling, or favorite moment. There were a lot, honestly, just everything that's finally like revealed in the ending, like I wouldn't say it's necessarily a favorite moment, but it was just so emotional. Like I was a mess with everything with when Cassia realizes she has to leave, and just like everything she left for Odessa and just like her knowing what was going to happen and doing it anyway, like that was someone like left a comment on the chapter with all that saying, um, and this is I think what I liked about the story, even though I wouldn't have anticipated myself feeling this way after the book, but someone was saying that they loved how this book ended up being more of Caspia's story than it was Odessa's. And I think that's what I really liked about this book because I wouldn't have been able to say that in the beginning of this book. But by the end of it, I feel like that's just so true. Like, this is Caspia's story because it all started, you know, with her. And I just I just had so many feelings with that whole her leaving, saying goodbye to her baby, knowing what Andreas was gonna do to her. Like that was all just a gut punch, and I feel like I saw it coming, but it was just still so I don't know. I just feel like Devnie did such an incredible job writing those few chapters. Andreas having to oh my gosh, I just can't literally give me a blank is cold. My wife is cold, and it like him being the person responsible for that, but doing it because he loved his daughter so much, like such a hard position for him to be in, but knowing like I mean, I would hope that if I was in that situation, my husband would do the same thing for my kids. You know what I mean? Like, as hard as that would be, like, oh, my heart, I just was really impressed with the emotion that Devney got out of me. Um, I really loved like the heart to heart that Odessa had with her dad at the end, but kind of what I loved the most about it was she has this thing that she says in her inner monologue, something about like she appreciated the recognition she was getting, but almost that she didn't need it anymore, like from her own father. Do you know what I mean? So I thought that was really cool. It showed a lot of character development from Odessa. But I think my favorite, it's just and it it's more so a plot device than a specific moment, but I really loved the visions. I think that added so much what's the word I'm looking for? Yeah, like anticipation because you knew something was going to happen. And also just the fact that I yeah, just the visions in general were just such a good additive to the story because I think if it wasn't for those, I don't think I would have liked the book as much as I did. Um I also just love FaZe. How FaZe saved her multiple times, the sweet angel. Um I was gonna say I liked I like didn't like it at first, but it was just a really interesting everything with her sister. May. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I felt like I liked that we got to see more of her and learn more about her and also the I just think I there was a lot of things revealed in this book that I wasn't expecting to be revealed that I really liked. Um everything with her stepmom. Mm-hmm. And just I don't know, I really just the the characters themselves in this book were just really fascinating to me. Um, Andreas' whole character was just so interesting to me to go from like this big lovey dovey mushy guy, and then he just turns into this like oh someone like uh wrote a really good explanation for you. On oh, Andreas's love w was so fierce but showed none of that to his child was so heartbreaking. How much it hurt both of them, the shell of a person he became and how he cast such pain onto his own child, and how like you just wish he could have given. I don't know. That there were just so many things unfolding within her family. Some of it I wasn't expecting, some of it I was, but it was just still very was satisfying to read at the same time. I don't know, I just love how Devney, like you said, Kennedy, just how she everything unfolds. It's very satisfying.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, I think my favorite moment, I mean, I really liked the reunion between Ransom and Odessa, because like finally they're back together. Um, but I also really honestly I think like my ultimate favorite part is I feel like with fantasy books and parents having a backstory, it's told, but Devney showed. Um, because you I feel like there's always like this happened with your mother, but she literally half of the book was setting up the story about Odessa's parents, and I feel like that is very unique and that doesn't happen very often where she showed the readers what happened. So I thought that was really, really cool. I also appreciate that she didn't do it in a prequel. Yeah, she straight up could have just released Caspia's whole story in a book and done it in a prequel and had it been under La Bella. Yeah. I like that it was within the second book. Yeah. Because it was more interesting. Yeah. I agree. Um amazing. Wait, I have one more thing I'm gonna say real quick. Go for it. I think it's kind of going back to what you had said, like her writing is purposeful, whatever. But I think what I also really like about this second book is just the fact that not that second books sometimes can feel pointless in fantasy books, but I think what's cool about this one specifically is the fact that after you read Rights of the Starling, you could go back and reread Shield of Sparrows with a completely different perspective. Just to go back and see how her dad and her stepmom treated her and just even just everything. I feel like this Shield of Sparrows is a completely different book now. Yeah. Having read Rights of the Starling. And I think that's so incredibly amazing that Devony has the talent to do that. Yeah. So I'm starting to question everything right now. Literally. Like, what's real? Like, why did Nevermind.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say, why did ransom was that intentional? Why did ransom what?
SPEAKER_02Like pick her instead of May. Well, I mean what he said was because he saw her die off the dive off the cliff. I know, but now I'm starting to question everything. Is it the Ly is the Lysa also attracted to the Starling blood? Because think about it, the beasts are attracted to Odessa. So is it like some sort of blood? Anyways, that's not like that's what's making me question everything right now. Anyways. Um, some of your guys' favorite moments were Xavier and Eve Evie reuniting. That was so tender. So tender. When Odessa and her dad finally talk, um someone said the twist ending. OMG, I set up in bed at 3 a.m. like a spring. So you know it's a good book. Yeah. Um someone said the entire thing, Caspia giving her life to protect Odessa. Ugh. There's just so many like good parts because there were a lot of like slower moments. I just feel like they're intentional. Yeah. But the good parts make up for the slower. Yeah. Well, once again, it's because I had never read a book by her before. You learn an author's writing the more you read about them. And so now I'm kind of thinking, all right, all those slow parts at the beginning of this book, is she gonna make a callback next book and then it's all gonna make sense? Yeah. Maybe, probably. Ooh. Yeah. I feel like when it comes to dislikes, I mean, yeah, maybe a few parts kind of dragged. I do feel sorry, are we fine to jump into that? Yeah, go for it. I do feel like, oh, I was so annoyed because and I realized towards the end of the book, like before we got the reunion with Xavier, I was like, doesn't wouldn't um Ransom know if he was still alive, or did he just really bolt that quickly to go find Odessa? Um, it's in Rights of the Starling. Because I kept I kept wondering the whole book. I'm like, is Xavier alive? He doesn't know. He he didn't yeah, he leaves, but I was like, I feel like he would have like known for sure if he was dead or not. So that was driving me crazy. I was like, is Xavier alive? I'm like, he has to be. Well, I think Odessa knows that he's alive because it's made comments that she doesn't she specifically doesn't tell Evie just in case he doesn't make the voyage. No, she only finds out once they're reunited. Yeah, Evie. But didn't Odessa know? No. No, but she finds out doesn't she make a comment that she's not gonna tell Evie? Yeah, they're not gonna tell Evie until he gets there. He gets there. She finds out that he I think he's coming on the job. Oh, but she doesn't know he's alive. I think she I think Odessa maybe knows he's alive, but she doesn't s she doesn't. She does not know until they're reunited, Ransom and Odessa. But Ransom didn't know. Well, he did know because I know for a fact that she did not know because I remember the beginning of the book that they were both crying. Yeah. Well, and like about she won't take Evie wouldn't like take off that. Like surely. Well, I know that I know Evie didn't know. But Odessa didn't know. But I swear Odessa specifically says she won't tell Evie. Is it that he's dead or is it that he's alive? That's alive. So Odessa knew. No, not until Ransom and Odessa reunited. That's when he told her that Xavier was Oh, so Ransom knew. When they reunited, yes. And he I Because he got word. He got word. Okay, okay, okay. Okay. The timeline of it was just like kind of frustrating for me because I was just like, and it was just maybe it was just like a silly thing to be worried about, but I was just like, if he is alive, like I need to know right now. If he's dead, I need to know right now. Like I just felt like maybe that was intentional for us to be like on our toes about it. Very nitpicky thing. The I love you thing, still, I'm still a little annoyed about it, but it might make sense. I think if I were Odessa though, I would be kind of more annoyed that she was she was like, I know he's gonna say it to me. Like I've been waiting for him to say it, but it was kind of driving me crazy. Uh my Patreon vlog, I was literally screaming at my camera and at my book. I'm like, I literally was like rereading and giving examples. I'm like, she says, I love you, and then he says, I know you do. I was just like so angry with him. I'm like, come on, dude. Um, anyways, yeah, I think those are my only gripes really with the book, and that might not be anything like and maybe you guys are like, that's not enough for you to give up five stars, but no, I think that's you can justify. Those are my those are my things, but yeah, it was it was very well done. I think I mean I kinda already said my least favorites was the traveling, and then um I had another thing. Why did you slip my mind? This wasn't what I was originally gonna say, but I don't know if you guys felt like this, but I feel like the point of views were split pretty evenly, which I don't always love because I think there were some Odessa chapters that probably could have been cut, just because I think at some point Caspia's uh point of view is a little bit more interesting, so that would also be me just being really nitpicky as far as things that I didn't love. Is it just like some things could have been cut out, but once again, knowing Debbie Perry, nothing can be cut out because he's gonna get a call back. I hated when they had to leave Evie alone for so long when they go in the cage. I was so upset. I was like, like, we're she's like, she's gotta come with us. He's like, nope, she's gotta stay here all by herself with the horse under this waterfall. I was like, Did you have FaZe? Which I feel like sweetie. I didn't know FaZe would take her, but I was like, I was so worried. I will also say a little, what, four, five years old? Yeah, she's just a baby. Like, I could not leave my child just like on the side of a mountain by a waterfall. See you later. I know they had no choice, but I was just so happy. But waited when she killed her horse. Oh. And then ransom shows up 30 seconds later. I was like, she didn't kill it. She yeah, she slits through. Well, she had to. Yeah, no, no, no. I'm not saying she like did it. Oh, I was like, Yeah, but I just so sad. And then literally ransom shows up 30 seconds later. I'm like, couldn't you have, you know, nine shining armor a little bit faster? But yeah, I was really sad about that. Least favorite. What are some of the listeners' least favorites? Do you have one, Michaela? Oh, I'll say mine real quick. Oh, yes. Sorry. Um, I feel like the orbs were maybe not at least favorite, but I have so many questions about. Yeah. You know? The priest thing and the canon thing is still a little fuzzy in my brain. Yeah. But I'm just expecting it to make sense in the next book. Yeah, like the yeah, the bone forest, the seven boss, the stones that help them have power. I don't know. But, anyways, that will uh I'm sure that will make more sense in the next look. It's probably just me being nitpicky. Okay, I remember another thing that I was gonna say that I didn't love. Why okay, I get why we only had one chapter from Andreas. That makes sense to me. Why did we get one single chapter from Ransom? Like, why was it just one at the beginning? I did want more from him. It should have like why either don't include it at all or add another POV chapter from him. It just felt so random to me that we get this one random chapter at the beginning and then never again. Yeah, because there's only one chapter from him at the end. Right? Of uh of Shield of Sparrows, and then beginning of Rights of the Starlink. Now it's making me want to go reread that chapter to see if there's any sort of like some sort of little Easter egg that shows maybe why he doesn't say I love you or something weird going on with him, but that's also probably intentional, let's be honest. Yeah. Um some of the things that people are saying was like the first 30%, which yeah, the beginning I feel like was a little slower. Um, the sex scenes, how they're written. She said once again, didn't like how the sex scenes were written. Someone said, I feel like ransom got a little weird in the second book. You're not the only one, Reggie. I don't know. But it was making me want Odess to end up with Jody. What did he keep what do you keep calling her? Not babe. Oh. Oh. Yeah. I can't remember. I just like, come on, man. Um, long travel scenes. The traveling. I feel like a lot of people are saying traveling. Some people didn't like the back and forth timeline. I didn't mind it. I didn't either. I feel like it added a little a little juzge. Um, anyways, uh, who was your guys' favorite POV? I think I know the answer. I mean ask anyway. I there were times that like during Caspia's point of view, I was like, okay, let's get back to Odessa. Like, let's get this story going. But by the end, I think I like Caspias better. Yeah. For this book. Yeah. Yeah. And I had a feeling that would be the case. Because you know, like, I think I just learned when a new point of view is introduced, I've learned that I I knew I was gonna end up liking it by the end of the book from past reading experiences. So that was most people's favorite point of view was Caspia's. It was 59%. Well, yeah. Oh, sorry, that was mine too. Did you say yours? Yeah, okay. Um, okay. What reveal was the most surprising to you, I guess, from either book? Hmm. I mean, once again, I don't feel like anything, well, that's a lie. I don't feel like anything necessarily was like blew my socks off because I found pretty quickly that I thought that Caspia was her mom once she met Andreas. I was like, okay, this is where it's going. And also, once they got in the castle, I was like, this is glaring. They're not seeing each other. Like, obvious this has to be a different timeline because they're not seeing each other and they're both in the castle. Yeah. So also, like, maybe this was surprising to me, but not really. But just everything that's revealed about like the whole how they her siblings aren't her siblings.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like Andreas was a loyal, loyal man.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02And I was thinking that he probably I don't know. I was kind of thinking that her siblings were her half siblings, but they're not at all. Yeah. That was kind of a little bit more. I thought that was really sweet, tender. Um I just lost my brain. No, no, no. I had it and then I lost it. I think Well other plot twists were there. I mean, I think out of the two books, the most surprising one was when the crux was a woman. Yeah. Yeah. For me. Yeah. I was like, what? Yeah. That and just the abruptness of the what do they call it? The migration. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Just like how people on our fable were really surprised by Odessa's mom. Or Caspia being Odessa's mom. I think I figured it out, but I was trying to convince myself out of it. Like, yeah, maybe I'm wrong. Yes. Yeah. A lot of people were like surprised by that, which I love for you. It's always like a good thing to be. It just wasn't it like the dual timeline, it wasn't just it wasn't matching up. Like they're not seeing each other. They're not like that's what I was meaning. Like I was at first thinking, okay, these two are gonna cross. And I was like, when that never happened, I was like, okay, I think very much so that because what I think threw me off was her vision of her sister dying at the hands of Ransom, but it was such a far into the future one. That I think that's the only thing that kind of like threw me off, and I was like trying to convince myself, like, is it? Mm-hmm. Yeah, a few people in our in the fable thought that Caspia was Odessa's sister. That's what I thought at first. Making them sisters so yeah. So they thought it was within the same timeline. I think that is what was throwing people off was the vision of ransom. Yeah. That dang silver-eyed warrior, dang ransom. Yeah. Theories for the next book. Can I just can I just spout it out? Why not you've been waiting for this? I've been waiting. Okay, with the whole vision thing. Like the end vision. The vision. The end vision, I don't think it's gonna happen. Just because of Caspia having visions and being able to change the outcome of them. Yeah. So I think she'll start having visions more frequently, but I feel like she's going to figure out how to change it. Do you guys see here's my question. The last vision, did you interpret it as Odessa having a vision or Caspia having a vision? Odessa. Having a vision of him killing her. Okay. That's how I interpreted it. That's how I saw it. Okay. Okay. I mean, I don't know. Now I'm like, if I read it again. Because since I listened to most of it, did w the visions that Odessa read in the journal, were they also ital italicized like that? I think No, they weren't visions in the stories the book. It was a story. Yeah. Like she didn't read So Odessa's never seen the vision book. No. No, she didn't know. No, she did, but she hasn't had a vision till that very end. Okay. Sorry. So no, there was no italicized di italicized text in Odessa's chapters. Sorry, say that again. There was no italicized text in Odessa's chapters. Where she was like sitting the book reading it. She figured out, sorry, when he gave her the book, um, like the two librarians, I can't remember the name, in cost that was she also had a conversation with them that like, oh, these were visions that my mom had, not just stories that she wrote. Yes. But when um Andreas saw them, he thought she was just writing stories. Right. But like when Odessa because doesn't Odessa read the vision book? Yeah. Yeah. But she doesn't know their visions though. I know, but when she reads it in her chapter, are the is it italicized? Do you know what I'm saying? Um This is so nitpicky, it doesn't matter. Odessa is probably having the visions.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_02I'm just having a hard time finding- I'm only seeing italicized things in Caspias. So then maybe it's just Caspia's. So are you saying that she was actually having the vision of it? Like it's Caspia's vision in the book. Like Odessa didn't have Odessa didn't have the vision. It's actually Caspia's vision. For example, yeah. Like Odessa isn't having like later in the chapter, she'll be like telling Evie about Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it could potentially be Caspia's vision at the end of the book. No, it's Odessa's. I mean Because the way I interpret it when I read it was that it was Caspia's vision. It wasn't Odessa that had the vision. That's like a one of the visions in the book that she read. It could. It could be. Because if it's Odessa's vision, why wouldn't she just say ransom? Why wouldn't she just say because she knows exactly who he is? Why wouldn't she just say ransom looks at me? That's true. Yeah, because it just says because he says to her desk is something wrong. She stares into ransom's eyes as green as the tarot. So it is for her. She says ransom's name. Well, no, no, no. That's not the vision. Oh shit she's like, no, it's nothing. He says it's something wrong. She says, No, it's nothing. Then it has three dots, dot dot, and then it's a vision. But it doesn't say Does it say ransom today? It says a silver-eyed warrior falls to the wheel. So you would think if it was her vision, she would say ransom.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02This is me just being real notepaper. But also, yeah. I don't think any of Caspia's visions were in first person, though. They were all in third. Yeah. Like she was an outside, even if she was seeing herself. Is that in first person? No. That's in third person? Yeah, it's in third person. So even if it was Odessa or if it was Caspia, it would be third person. No matter what. Like because Caspia was having visions about herself, but she was seeing it as like another individual, right? I don't know. I think it's Caspia's vision. You guys think it's Odessa's? We'll find out. I don't know. I'm open to either. I'd be stoked with either. Yeah. I'm open with either. Um, do you guys have any other theories? Do you guys have theories? No. I really. I just feel like something just feels a little shady with ransom. I kind of want it to be a little shady. I think they're gonna become cruxed together in the happy hour. They're just gonna hold wings as they fly away. What if like her because she gives her spit to the uh medicine person? Yeah. What if like somehow her blood's the cure for Lysa or something or Yeah? No, that doesn't make sense. I'm just working this out because the the cousin's the reason he has Lysa. We're theorizing. What are what are what do the listeners say? Um They have any theories? Theories, yes. It says hoping to see them go back to Caspia's hometown to find the illness. Oh, she could talk to her grandma. Someone said Odessa's going to travel to uh the other continent to avoid the vision coming true. So it's very interesting that they literally have no information about that continent. Yeah. Zero. I'm like, what? That's so that's wild to me. Yeah, I feel like they're gonna be visiting that somehow. Um, I feel like everyone is saying about Odessa going to the other continent. Which would make sense. Someone said Alisaria being the key to understanding the starling and how they impact Calandria. Yeah, because I feel like that also has to do with the priest. Like, what do you guys think about Lysa? Because it sounded like there's no cure, but like there's gotta be there is a cure. 100% because I think the snake scene was very intentional. Do you remember? Okay, the girl was bitten by the snake when she was with the Voster in the forest, and there was the flames, and it was really smoky, and they walk over, and she says, Where there's where there's a poison, there's always a cure. Oh, yeah. And they burnt the snake and she like put it on the bite. Mm-hmm. I think that scene was very intentional. What if they have to kill the cousin and then it cures ransom of Lysa? Like they have to kill where it's their originator. That could be interesting. Or something to do with I don't know. I think there is going to be a cure because I feel like that scene was intentional. I think there's gotta be a cure too. Think about it. We've been searching for a cure for two books. Yeah. There's gotta find it. Um what if like when he travels back to um Allisaria? No. The place where the Starlings are at? I can't remember what it's called. Cause they don't have Niphenics. Yes, thank you. They don't have this problem that the Starlings have. What if she takes Ransom back there and his Lysa's cured while he's there? And she also won't have the problem. That's too easy. That's too easy. That's too easy. I don't know. What if he is like, what if because he has Lysa, that means he also can shape shift? Like he'll also have a I mean I could see that happening. Yeah. It will be yeah, it will be interesting because looking at this theories thing, it's very interesting because some people are like, she'll have to tell ransom about the visions that she's having. So I feel like it could be there could be some parallels either way. Well, yeah, there could be some parallels with her. I think it would be more interesting if she's having visions. I think it once again, I love the vision aspect. So the way I interpret it was it was Caspia's, but I think it would be more interesting if she also is having visions now. Yeah. Cause it wouldn't make sense for Caspia to be having visions because I guess she hasn't finished the book. Yeah. That's right. She didn't ever finish the but also you would think that if Odessa was having visions, she would have had visions prior to that because her m her mom was having visions before she was even unless something triggered it. I don't know. I'm telling you, I'm telling you that I love you thing triggered something. Something. That is gonna have if not, I'm gonna be annoyed. I think that's it would be a missed opportunity for Debbie Perry to have that not mean something. I feel like it's gotta mean something because I was paying such close attention to it because I while I was vlogging, and it was like I was kind of losing my mind for anyone who saw the vlog, and I literally was like having to go back and like recount every time she would say I love like I was paying such close attention to it. So fan cast, I really don't have one, and I feel like I would stick pretty closely to what I s what we said for um children's sparrows in a first book. I will say I do kind of love this too parallel. Unfortunately, they're the only two red-headed actresses I feel like in book talk space. Someone did say Sadie Sink as Odessa and Abigail Cohen as Caspia, which I do kind of love. I also feel like Sadie Sink and Emma Stone look similar. I think that could be also a really cool mother-daughter vibe. However, Emma Stone is a little old, like Caspia. I would love Abigail Cohen to be she'd be great. But I feel like it'd be hard to find. I just think City Sync is a little too young because Odessa's supposed to be mid-20s. You know? And I City Sync is mid-20s, but I feel like she definitely has a younger look to her. Yeah. Maybe in a few years. Yeah. I didn't get picked up, y'all. I don't mind that at all. So yeah. That's a great, great parallel. Let's see. Who did you guys cast as ransom? I wish I could remember. I wish I could remember who I picked. David Cornsweat. It sounds got it's got to be a little bit more. I thought David's too cute. He's like two of three. He's too cute. He needs to be a little bit more rugged. David Cornsweat. He plays Superman in the new Superman. You know, I could kind of see it. I haven't seen him in literally anything. I didn't watch the new Superman. I don't have a good ransom. I just feel like it's really hard to cast male main characters of fantasy books. It really is. It's really hard. Someone said Ed Scrane. Who's Ed Scrane? Ed Scrane? I don't know who it is. Interesting. He's a former rapper. He's in I don't know who that is.
SPEAKER_01He's in Deadpool. Uh as who? Hmm. As I don't know. Let's see. He looks older.
SPEAKER_02Age. He's 43. Absolutely. What are you saying Cam Yamin? Yeah. Not my fave. Okay, out of the ones I'm seeing, David Corn Sweat's the best, but I don't think that's a great option. I don't know. Cam Yaman does fit the big thing. It's just like hard. It's hard to be like, who's Zaiden? Who's Resad? Like it's just those dark, broody, hot male main characters are just He's just gotta be like, yeah, a little bit more rugged. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But can he act? Who knows? He he's an actor. He's just doesn't speak English, I'm pretty sure. He's a tur Turkish actor. I'm sure he does, but I don't know. That could make him interesting though, but like, cause doesn't Ransom supposedly have a little bit of a different accent than Odessa? I would assume just because he's from a different part of the yeah. So Lambs. That could be if he speaks English and it's just like uh accented, it could be not bad, you know? I don't know. Anyways. I just I I just I am impatiently waiting for these things to be adapted. I'm impatient, but also take your time. I don't want the CGI looking like poo-poo, poo-poo. Yeah. Yeah. Um alright, you guys. Was there anything else we wanted to discuss? I'm very excited for the third book. I think it comes out next year, next March. Is there a release date? I think so. We gotta look it up. Yeah, it's early next year. I wanna say March 7th. Let's see if this will work. I may have been pulling that off my butt. March 7th, let's see. March 9th, you're close. I was close. No title yet. So um yeah, I'm very excited. Uh we most likely will be talking about it when it comes out. So um awesome. Okay, as far as the Summer Book Club book goes, we will have a poll on our stories for you guys to pick. We're gonna be reading for summer. We're gonna have a few different options fantasy, non-fantasy, just so we can like switch it up if you guys are wanting to switch it up. But we don't mind keeping it the same with fantasy. Just want you guys to know that's the fan favorite. Yeah. So um, yeah, go to the poll if you're listening right now. Hopefully it will be up and vote for what you want to read. And if you haven't joined our fable for these book club books, the fable is so great. I I love hearing what you guys say and just like the things you catch on, maybe that I haven't caught on to, which is so fun, and just like your commentary is so funny, and I get a giggle out of it. So if you haven't joined, join Fable. It's a fun time. We have a good time. Um, anyways, I think that's it. Mm-hmm. We'll see you guys next week. Bye.
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Ophelia, a Shakespeare After Dark series from Hatch. Inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet, this romanticy reimagining gives Ophelia the story and the fate she never had. Ophelia's story will be told over three books, with each chapter fitting within 20 cozy minutes. Ophelia has always been expected to be small, but on the eve of her 21st birthday, something ancient awakens inside her. As she reconnects with the charming Prince Hamlet and his brilliant, guarded friend Horatio, Ophelia finds herself caught between love, loyalty, and a power she cannot ignore. So, warm yourself by the hearth and enjoy the tale of Ophelia.