Firstly I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This book was truly awesome! It had everything I love in a YA fantasy and more. I wasn't particularly expecting great things from it but it was honestly great. It had a strong and likeable main character, with a strong, protective and sweet love interest who is struggling with his emotions and inner demons. I really liked how they made him so vulnerable and open, which many male characters are not.

It was fast paced, with an alternating point of view between the two main characters that really allowed us as readers to understand the characters and their motivations much more easily. The world building was extensive without being over-done, the writing was enjoyable and easy to read, and the characters were really likeable. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and highly recommend Song Of Blood And Stone for those who like YA fantasy that seems more 'grown up' than most. 4.5 stars from me!

To me the plot was really intriguing and was well played in this book. I ABSOLUTELY loved L. Penelope's writing style, to me it was beautiful and I could just imagine scenes playing out!! The first couple chapters were slow, but as soon as it got to around 100 pages the story really picked up and I was just enjoying everything. I do have to put a trigger warning for sexual assault in this story, if you would like to know what happens please DM me, for me that scene was tough to get through, but the author did a good job at taking care of the problem.
At first, I wasn't a fan of the love story, but as the story kept going it grew on me, and let me just say I AM IN LOVE WITH THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS, THEY ARE MY BABIES AND YOU NEED TO LOVE THEM TOO!! 💕 One thing that was huge for me was the magic system and how it's huge in this story. I was originally going to give this book a 3.75, but after stuff really started to happen my rating changed to a 4.25.

If you love YA fantasy, then you will really enjoy this read. I really liked Jasminda and her power, and I was proud to see a YA fantasy tackling racism and interracial relationships. To be perfectly honest, I read a lot of this genre, so it feels like I've read it all, and this book was nothing too new. But it's a safe bet if you want to read a really good story with a great main character, magic and romance. Song of Blood and Stone gave me Onyx and Ivory vibes, as well as Kiss of Deception, with a hint of Children of Blood and Bone (but not much!). A solid read.

Rating: 3.5/5
I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved the world building and the characters really drew me in. The writing is very good and the author really delivered the story well. It is a great read for lovers of fantasy!

The world is richly drawn and tackles heavy morality issues. The characters are superbly developed and the plot unravels at a breakneck pace.

This novel was a tough one for me to get into. I thought the story line definitely had some character and promise, but I had a hard time really getting attached to the characters or the plot. The setting was also quite wishy washy and I couldn't really picture where the story was taking place.

I don't think I would really recommend this to other readers at this time. However, I do think that the story has promise of something great, there are just a few too many kinks right now. Thank you for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so good! I loved the characters, and the world-building is fantastic! I was at first drawn in by the beautiful cover, but after reading the blurb, I couldn't wait to read it! Just a few pages in, and I knew I was going to like this one.

Jasminda has a special gift, one that could get her killed. When soldiers stay at her house, and bring a prisoner, she realizes that maybe she isn't so different from this prisoner, and has an instant connection with him. Jack is on an important mission, he's a spy who unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunatly?) gets caught and has a chance incounter with Jasminda.

While I enjoyed the story, it didn't captivate me quite as much as I wanted and hoped! Its still an interesting story of love and loss, and I always love a good hidden and forbidden magic story.

I really enjoyed this book! The writing was great and I loved the character development. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author!

TW: RAPE ATTEMPT, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE. Also pretty graphic scenes of sex.

While the story is entertaining and the main character is a badass girl, I think that the form could be improved. It uses the infamous trope of "not like the other girls", for example. It's a shame because it tells a story about racism and intolerance (inside the fantasy and magic and whatnot) but then despises women like that.

As a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced readers copy I shall give an honest review of this novel. A tag line to the series I read before starting this was “ Romeo and Juliet meets The Return of the King” I knew each individual story and was intrigued to see how they would connect. The novel follows protagonist Jasminda ul-Sarifor born of a Elsyrian and Lagrimari couple. Essentially these individuals are depicted as light and dark skinned people. The story does a really great job of world building and was able to depict its magic system well. The novel introduces religion by following a male creator and a female creator known as the King and Queen. The king is all encompassing and present within their world as the Queen is left to myth and legend. The Queen is held most holy to the Lagrimari people. It is the Elsyrian’s that believe wholly in the creator and scoff at the idea of the Queen’s return. This expressed belief holds true to several characters and did a great way of supporting religious and magical growth in the novel.In terms of Jasminda, she has magical powers albeit less in strength than her counterparts but holds a unique ability others do not. Jasminda received her powers from her fathers side of the family as she is a earthsinger and is able to use this power to shape her destiny as she holds unique abilities no other earthsinger has held before in some time. Traditionally earthsingers have only been Elsyrian, so Jasminda’s role in this is vital. Because of her mixed heritage status.Thus making her unique and sought out by individuals on both sides. I appreciated the circumstances surrounding these two groups as the magical barrier between their lands is said to fall. The story continues to introduce characters whom I felt was fully formed namely Jack. Jack is presented as a elsiran spy and is shown to do anything and everything to protect his country from impending evil. By inserting Jack into the story can give our lead information regarding the current state of circumstances in each respective country. Jasminda and Jack unite and swear to keep moving their countries forward to a day when the Queen returns. A union forms leading these two to protect their country from the impending destruction. This union then turns to attraction and is something that was well-deserved. The pacing I felt for this relationship was comfortable and not forced. This union is one that will shape their destiny and inform subsequent novels. The novel does a great service to its reader by giving central beliefs of its characters and introducing them sporadically throughout the novel. These messages offer insight as you move towards the novels end. The novel touches on religion, race, gender and more . Out of 5 stars, I would like to give it 3.5 stars. It is a novel I enjoyed reading and would recommend to others.

2.5 stars

Jasminda lives alone on a farm she once shared with her parents and siblings. Judged because of the colour of her skin, Jasminda leads a lonely life.
That changes when a group of soldiers arrive at her cabin wanting shelter. With them is a captured spy, Jack, who was on a mission behind enemy lines gathering proof that Elsira and Lagrimar are on the brink of war, the magical barrier in-between the lands close to collapsing.
Jasminda has Earthsong magic, a power that Jack will need if he has any hope of defeating the True Father and awakening The Queen Who Sleeps.
Can Jack save Elsira?
Do Jasminda and Jack have a future together?

Song of Blood & Stone didn't go in the direction I was expecting, which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case it didn't work for me.
I liked both Jasminda and Jack. They were interesting characters.
I didn't mind the romance but I would have preferred more tension between the two of them.
The plot started off well but then things went off track for me. I felt that the main focus of the storyline was forgotten or pushed to the sideline.
The writing style was easy to follow but failed to keep my attention.
I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall this was an okay but disappointing read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had trouble putting it down. I found the characters stories compelling and enjoyed how the individual stories were interwoven and brought together at the end.

Great book and series.

Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles Book #1)
L. Penelope
Year published: 2018
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Fantasy ~ New Adult ~ Romance
Stars: Dnf’ed at 50%. Wasn’t interesting me enough. But for the most part – it was a 2 star read.

Someone said on Goodreads that the book was self-published in 2015 and then was picked up by a publishing company. But since I received the book through Netgalley – I’m choosing the details of the ‘newly’ published over the self-published detais

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for a free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. Please note that as this as I read an arc I have no way of knowing that if the scene shows up in the published version.
Warning: There’s illusions towards rape and also an attempt at rape.

So, I wanted to like this book. It looked good – had magic and mentioned a land at war and I really like those things. But then it all fell apart. The book wasn’t interesting enough. I tried to keep on – that’s why I kept reading until 50% – thought it was maybe a slow read – and it was a slow read, but it didn’t pick up for me.

The characters were a bit boring to me. I liked Jasminda, though, she was strong, but her story confused me a lot. I could never keep up with which side of the land her dad comes from and which side her mom comes from and what’s the story behind both – it all confused me so much. And Jack, yeah, it’s not that he was too intense, it’s just that he instantly fell in love with Jasminda and that’s not really in my interests.

The plot, while decent, had too much going on and too much time spent highlighting subplots to allow the main plot to thrive. The plot had the chance and ability to grow, it just didn’t – and that upset me a bit.

A dystopian society made up of two sides, both searching and fighting for the truth and eventual peace.. but what that is is hard to find. When Jasminda puts her trust in Jack, a man she’d just met and saved, could that be her best decision or worst mistake? Both good and evil, as well as familial and romantic love are needed to set things right, in this time and the past. Adventure abounds when what they seem to know and what reality is turns into different things. There are snippets of real world truth and the evils of inhumanity in this captivating and thrilling sci-fi story that has connections to our world today.

At the moment, it is quite early in the morning. I stayed up way late to read this and my head is all over the place, but look out for a full review in the next day or two!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from cover to cover. It was a wonderful tale of fantasy, magic, adventure, and a touch of romance for good measure. I loved the diversity of characters and different elements to the story (including folktale excerpts with each chapter), as well as the world created by the author. It was believable from the offset, making it easy to dive into this alternate world of Earthsingers and those without powers.

The only negative thing I would say is that there wasn't enough room to truly make the most of all the diverse characters and their stories. I would have loved to see the book split into two, or made longer to give a bit more depth or "meat" to the side stories and characters. Here's hoping there'll be more of that once book 2 comes out.

Meh. I realized about halfway through that I didn't actually like the book, but had gone too far to quit. The ending was pretty satisfying, even though it was clearly setting up for future books. I did like the world-building far more than the main story; the excerpts from folktales and the backstory for the Queen were certainly more compelling than Jasminda and Jack's whining.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This was the first title in a series, but, the storyline of this book was complete; if it was not a case of happy everafter, it was definitely a case of the main protagonists in this book being happy for now... until the events hinted at in the epilogue come to pass.
Many topics are broached in this book and some of them make it quite dark: attempted rape; war; racism; attempted fratricid; and refugees or asylum seekers included.
Yet the story is also a romance, the lovers may have overwhelming odds against them and yet, as in all fairytales there is a happy conclusion to the story for them.
Also included is adventure and magic - "earthsong".

An easy read, I look forward to the next title in the series.

It was following some hard acts
Two of the three books I read before SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE were 5 star reads. Not the easiest of novels to follow. My standards were high for this fantasy which was a bit unfair. It struggled to be even half as good.

The writing was mediocre
Those five star reads I mentioned? They had amazing writing. SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE did not. It read pretty amateurish, lots of stilted descriptions and telling. Honestly I’m struggling to review it because it really wasn’t all that memorable.

Everything developed rather quickly
From plot to romance, everything developed at a break neck pace. Unfortuantely it wasn’t fast paced in the good way. Things developed too quickly. It felt like we’d reached the climactic action point of the novel within the first third. I would have much rathered the story to be split over 2-3 novels with more time developing the plot and character relationships.

I really enjoyed the world
To try and bring up a positive, I actually did like the world SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE was set in. It had a real western vibe, which is always fun. And the magic was big and elemental, my favourite kind.

Overall I feel meh
SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE wasn’t bad but… meh. I struggled to connect to the story and characters, which never makes for a good time. There were elements that were interesting, but nothing that I absolutely loved. And the more I think about it, the less enthused I am about SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE tbh.

In Summary
SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE wasn’t a bad read, but it wasn’t too great either. While I enjoyed the world and magic system, everything felt quite rushed which affected my connection to the characters.