“Earthsong moved across his skin like the lips of a lover.”

Song of Blood & Stone is the first novel in the Earthsinger Chronicles. The Earthsinger Chronicles is a new adult epic fantasy romance. It follows the story of Jasminda, an outcast endowed with Earthsong, and her fateful encounter with the injured spy Jack. Jasminda lives on the border of Elsira and Lagamiri, nations caught in a centuries-long feud separated by a magical barrier called the Mantle. Thrust together one fateful winter night, Jasminda and Jack set off to stop the impending war and fall in love in the process.

“The two sides she’d seen before—soulful Jack and warrior Jack—merged before her, giving a complete picture for the first time.”

Song of Blood & Stone contains the familiar tropes of the hero’s—and in this case heroine’s—journey popularized by Joseph Campbell. However, unlike many entries in the mythopoeia genre, Song of Blood & Stone feels fresh. Folklore and romance are interwoven into Jasminda’s coming-of-age and blossoming romance with Jack. Jasminda, a mix-raced Earthsong practitioner, embodies her divided arcanepunk world. While the novel lagged near the end and introduced the dreaded “jealous childhood friend” female antagonist, the ending will keep readers on their toes. Song of Blood & Stone is a daring epic fantasy romance delivering fresh twists on stale tropes! I highly recommend this novel.

Recommended for Readers who Love:

— a soaring epic fantasy,
— steamy new adult romance,
— and, a magical mixed-race heroine

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I’ve just finished “Song of Blood and Stone,” a fantasy book that i enjoyed. I didn’t absolutely love it but it wasn’t a bad read either!

“Song of Blood and Stone” is an ARC that I’ve had for AGES! I’m trying to get through as many ARCs as I can this month...see below!!

3 Stars!

I read Song of Blood and Stone for several readathons again. These being:

* Popsugar 2019 Challenge - A book about someone with a superpower - The song aspect in the title gives some of the characters healing abilities - The Earthsong is the superpower in this world.

* Reading Rivalry - “a book involving the arts” - although we never hear a “song” being sung, it’s what the magic element is called in “Song of Blood and Stone,” so it counts, right?

* Litwits - Involves music - again we never “hear” a song being sung but it counts!

Fiction Feud Society - game of CLUE - Revolver (Sci-fi/fantasy) - “Song of Blood and Stone” is a fantasy.

* Literary Love Affair - “Book with a kickass heroine” - Jasminda is pretty kickass. She doesn’t just accept things are the way they are. She challenges the rules!

* mARCh-a-thon - This is my own little readathon, where I’m trying to read as many arcs as I can in the month of March. “Song of Blood and Stone” took a little bit longer than I would have liked to finish because I had a bad run headaches but now I’m better. “Song of Blood and Stone” is Arc #3 so I’m hopeful I can still get 5 read...Wish me luck!

“Song of Blood and Stone” centres on a war that surrounds the Elsira and Lagrimari people and the Mantle that stands between them. This is a fantasy book, as I’ve said, so the Elsira and Lagrimari people don’t really exist. It’s, I suppose like religious sects going to war against each other in the real world. The True Father is like the God that rules over both sects. He is the evil force in this world that our main characters try to overcome...do they??? You’ll have to read to find out...

“Song of Blood and Stone” is mainly written in 3rd person. (The main plot is.) I didn’t hate this, this time because Jasminda and Jack, our main girl and boy character weren’t in every scene, so unless this was duel POV, which I don’t love reading either, it wouldn’t have worked. It was a little like the “Stonewylde series” by Kit Berry, which if you’ve read my reviews for, you’ll know I LOVED. In “Song of Blood and Stone” it might have been nice to have a couple of first person moments from each main character but it wasn’t necessary to enjoy the plot more, I don’t think. I said the main plot is written in 3rd person. Bits here and there, at the beginning and end of chapters were written in first person. This kind of confused me a little bit. I’m still not sure why those bits were written that way. I suppose it’s so Jasminda, our main female character could experience being another person (I won’t give more away, as it’s central to the main plot and giving it away would make the book a pointless read apart from the romance, in my opinion).

I, of course read this more for the romance, than the war aspects. I’m pleased to say the romance kept me hooked, throughout. I kind of wanted it to go further, which I’ll go more into in the spoiler section below. There’s a 1.5 novella, “Breath of Dust and Frost” to this series that follows the same characters so after I’ve read that, I’ll add a paragraph or two to this review, summarising my thoughts of the story as a whole. I probably won’t read further in the series because it appears we follow different characters after that and I’m not that interested in following other, new characters.

The app that I use to read my NetGalley arcs didn’t record the quotes that I saved for this review, so there won’t be any. I’ll still summarise my thoughts in the spoiler section but that’s why there’s no evidence.

Spoilers Below...

Jasminda is our main female character. She is Lagrimari. We see her trying to overcome a family issue to begin with. Her parents were killed because of this war between the Lagrimari and the Elsian’s. Her Grandfather doesn’t care what happens to Jasminda. She’s of no concern to him, we learn early on in “Song of Blood and Stone.”

We see that Jasminda lives in a hut because she doesn’t have enough money to afford nicer lodgings. When she’s on her way home after being at the post office to try and solve a situation, she comes across a young man. This young man, Jack is a prisoner of the Lagrimari people. He’s hurt and captured and his captors force their way into Jasminda’s lodgings. Jack is Elsian. Jasminda heals Jack with her Earthsong. You can probably guess what happens between these two characters if you’ve read my other reviews as my favourite books have opposing forces coming to love each other. That’s what happens here, as Jasminda and Jack fall in love.

“Song of Blood and Stone” is a new adult book, I’d say because the sexual scenes do play out for us. They’re not crude but they’re not off the page, either. We know what’s happening. I would have liked for this romance to have gone further in perhaps, Jasminda getting pregnant with Jack’s baby. It would have been interesting to see him protect Jasminda and their child from the forces that are working against them. Also I’ll note here how Jasminda is Lagrimari and Jack is Elsian so we would have had a baby that’s both if this plot point had of happened, which would have made the plot more interesting for me.

I wouldn’t exactly call it instalove, although the characters do have sex pretty soon after getting to the palace. Another HUGE point to take into mind is that Jack is Jaqros Edvard Alliaseen, Price Regent, after his brother dies. His brother isn’t a main character. Jasminda doesn’t learn this until she’s at the palace. We only find out when she does, too so if you don’t like books that involve twists that you’d never see coming, as well as kind of instalove, perhaps don’t pick this up!

There is a sort of love triangle in “Song of Blood and Stone” for Jack. I didn’t find it annoying because it was always pretty obvious just who he’d choose but it’s there to add a little tension to the plot, I guess. It’s between Jasminda and a girl named Lizvette. Lizvette has been a friend of Jack’s ever since they were children. Lizvette’s father plays a role in “Song of Blood and Stone” as well. Does she expect to be be Queen? Does her father expect her to be? You’ll have to read to find out!

There were tense parts, where Jasminda was captured and had to be saved, like a damsel in distress kind of thing but the battle scenes at the end weren’t that good. To be honest the only thing I was reading “Song of Blood and Stone” for was the romance, which I got so that might be why my rating is a little on the high side because I really enjoyed the love story and how it was the main overarching plot.

Overall then, I enjoyed certain parts to “Song of Blood and Stone” more than other parts. The romance was written really well, I thought, even if it was a little easy to guess what the outcome would be. The war elements were somewhat secondary to the romance plot, which, as I’ve said was fine for me but it might have been nice to have seen a little more action to go along with the romance, as this is a fantasy and not just a contemporary. I’ll read the 1.5 novella as it wraps up things for Jasminda and Jack but after that I won’t read anymore in this series, I don’t think. All of that is why I’m giving “Song of Blood and Stone” 3 Stars!

What Did I Think of Song Of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope?

So, okay,  I don't necessarily think that Song Of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope truly would fall in the young adult audiobook category. HOWEVER, I do think that it does have some pretty massive crossover appeal, hence including it on this list of young adult audiobooks. Song Of Blood & Stone is the first of the Earthsinger Chronicles series. It's a wildly interesting book about a girl named Jasminda who is an orphan. She has this gift called earthsinging which helps her to determine if people are lying to her or not, among other things. Anyways, the tax man comes knocking and Jasminda gets drawn into this war. On the whole, this is a pretty superb audiobook and I find myself interested in what comes next. I thought that the magic in this book seemed cool. And yes, magic does have to seem cool for me to be interested. Jasminda is someone I care about and felt invested in as a reader. L. Penelope certainly has got talent.

How Is The Narration?

The audiobook of Song Of Blood & Stone is narrated by Allyson Johnson. It is 9 hours and 34 minutes long. For an adult book that works as a crossover, I feel like the audiobook is pretty short. I liked listening to this audiobook. Sometimes my attention wandered, I just have a lot on my mind. But when I was completely tuned in, it was very enjoyable. Johnson has a relaxing sounding voice. It is devoid of annoying tones. So, a good audiobook if you just need to relax and want some solid fantasy to listen to.

A really good story and a book in which I want to know the characters better and see in more books. I would read more by this author and hope for more books by this person.

Jack and Jasminda are thrown together by fate. Jasminda, an orphan, lives on a mountain far away from the people who fear her and her Song. Jasminda can sing, and by singing can change some small pieces of reality. Jack, a soldier and a spy, is brought as a captive to Jasminda's door. Freeing themselves from the soldiers who brought Jack there, Jasminda and Jack set off on an adventure together, increasing drawn to each other even as they know their worlds will try to keep them apart. Though they don't know it at first, they will need to work together to save the world.

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope has an interesting premise. Those gifted with the Song can change the world around them. The story rings true as the various social groups in the story mirror the many struggles of people in our own world. The characters and the plot are also unique. The history of the land is told in fairytale-esc snippets at the beginning of each chapter, which also feed the reader little clues about the mysteries and the magic... bite by bite. At the beginning of each chapter, you learn a little more about the world where the hero and heroine live and a little more about The Queen Who Sleeps. On the flip side, the hero's actions and some parts of the plot became a little predictable, but don't we all want the good guys to win in the end?

I loved the mystery and the magic, but I didn't appreciate the sexual content. The relationship between the hero and the heroine becomes quite physical, thus making this book not an appropriate choice for teens or younger readers. The story was entertaining, but I would have appreciated a more chaste relationship.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC that I received of this book though NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a very interesting story. Though the worldbuilding was a bit confusing, I really liked the main character and following her journey. The romance was really captivating and I loved how Jasminda helped Jack see a different side of the world. My favorite aspect of the story was the visions that Jasminda was having. I would have loved to see more of those.
Overall I really enjoyed this and I'm glad it could be read as a standalone. I am very interested in reading the next companion book.

I was so excited about this book. Incredible magic, ceated through song! An interworld war! Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. It was promising at the start. I liked the MC and I connected with her voice as she bunkered down in the wilds alone, mourned her family, and tried to hide from enemy soldiers. Unfortunately, after there it just dragged. It became much more about the romance between her and the enemy prince than about the magic. Their relationship didn't compel me, and at times seemed too passionate and deep without reason. I was also just annoyed at how they acted. The prince, for example, brought her to the castle, knowing she would be despised, and then gave her this glorious important title not caring that it would bring them both under fire. I know that characters don't have to be wise to be realistic, but it just rubbed me personally the wrong way. The writing also seemed too tell-not-show. I found myself setting it aside, dreading coming back to it, dragging through it. In the end, it sat on my "Currently reading" list for about two months in which I hadn't touched it before I had to concede defeat.

I know that others liked it and I hope it charms them, but it just wasn't for me.

DNF @ 12%
*I was invited to read an ARC of this book from the publisher*
I was uncomfortable with the amount of adult content in this book and I wish I had known about it before reading. While the fantasy prologue introduction was okay, I personally didn't connect with the writing at all. The situation the girl found herself in with the guy that ended up being the love interest was questionable for me as well. They were potentially in a dangerous situation but then witty banter comes in? It didn't work at all for me.

Song of Blood and Stone was a beautifully written book that was more of a romance than a fantasy book. The characters are really wonderful especially the main character- a girl who has always been a bit of an outcast and alone. I look forward to picking up the rest of the series.

While the plot is intriguing, the narrative voice in this story did not mesh with me at all. It feels very forced and stilted, and was so distracting that I sadly was not able to even finish the book.

I decided to read this book almost completely based on it's super beautiful and cool cover. 
Sadly I didn't end up vibing with this book very much. While I thought the world was very cool and unique, I found the story to be pretty cliche and I wasn't a fan of the main characters either. 

Jasminda wasn't really my type of character, although she was sweet and strong, there was also a lot of cliches in her backstory. Her parents having lied to her about some parts of their past and a few other details that had me rolling me eyes.  Overall I just didn't really connect with her in a meaningful way.

Jack I just couldn't take seriously. While I appreciated that he wasn't an ''alpha male'' like so many male romantic leads are, he was also just so one sided. He's constantly fainting and obsessing with the softness of Jasmina's skin instead of doing anything useful. It felt like he had no point.

The story itself was also too slow for me to stick with it for very long. I ended up quitting about 30% in to it and gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.

Mini review:

DNF

I received this E-ARC via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this! Unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

It was pretty interesting in the beginning. As I read on the book lagged for me. I quickly lost interest.

Still recommend.

I really enjoyed this fantasy that features a biracial heroine. The magic and the world-building were unique and well done and I really liked Jasminda (the heroine) and Jack (the prince). Though he wasn't perfect, Jack was a good guy who cared. And not just about himself or amassing power. In addition to the usual good vs evil of every good fantasy, the author includes themes of racism, oppression, and the plight of refugees. There was a lot going on here and it was handled very well. I'll definitely be looking for the next in this series.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-ARC of this book.

It was ok. That's about all I can say. The character building was pretty good, but the world building was confusing. I felt like I picked up a book that was a spin-off from an earlier series and I was missing a lot of the story. This book was more of a cheesy love story than a well-built fantasy novel. That's fine if it's how its advertised, but I was looking for more substance than I found here.

The author really knows how to carve and create an amazing world and story. Between situations in the book mirroring real world issues today and a slow burning romance. Plus nothing is better than a strong female lead.

The author has an amazing ability to really make you feel like you are there and feel what the characters are feeling. The main character Jasminda comes from a mixed family and when her family is gone she feels like she doesn't belong especially when her neighbors are so different, plus she has magic. She feels rejection not only because her skin color being different from those around her, the Elsiran, but because of her magic.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. I absolutely loved Jasminda and how strong and real of a character she was. Jack was pretty meh. It also took a bit long to get into the story, but it's so worth it!

This was an interesting read. I like the dysotopia feel along with the magic and the characters were likable. The romance was predictable, but the story itself was unique and well executed. I did enjoy reading this story and I will recommend it to friends.

This book was not for me. I tried really hard to get into it but it just didn't work out for me. The cover is really beautiful though.

What a great read! I was hooked from the beginning by the compelling story and wonderful characters. I really liked the magic system as well. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

DNF.



I gave this book two chances and each time I just couldn't finish it.



Jasminda inst a bad character, but I couldn't connect with her and neither could I connect with Jack. These characters just needed a little more push for me.



The story itself just seemed to move so slow. The details didn't jump out and pull me in to the,edge of my seat. Overall the story just wasn't meant for me.

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. It is set in an alternate 1920s and has a wild west feel to it. The friendship is the best.