This was a good and memorable ending to the duology. Although I enjoyed the first book more than the second book.

Thank you for netgalley and the publisher for accepting my request for this book.
Unfortunatley i didn't know this was the second book in a series and therefore i didn't read it, so my rating is the average for this book expressed here on netgalley.

3.5 stars overall

I really enjoyed Strike the Zither but I think that Sound the Gong suffers from second book in a duology not being as good syndrome. Thankfully this case isn't as bad as some others I've read where the second book was so bad that it completely destroyed the first book.

I was really confused in the first third of the book which might have been because of the book itself or because it has been a little while since I read the first book. I had to really push myself through this initial part and it wasn't really until about halfway through that I found the story pick up and be more interesting.

I enjoyed the last chapter from Crow, the author's note linking this story to the Three Kingdoms novel and the bonus short story on their website the most.

Overall I would still recommend reading this as a conclusion to Strike the Zither but maybe read this close to finishing the first book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Text Publishing for an ARC

Thanks to Netgalley and Text Publishing for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an OUTSTANDING conclusion to this series!!

I highly implore you to read this series, as well as Joan He's other works!!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an arc of this book (It’s releasing so soon on the 30th of April)!!

(I’m writing down my feelings as I’m reading this book)

Can I just say that the cover is literally so beautiful 🥲 and the art!! I love when there’s art in books. Also *ahem* Crow?? He’s so pretty and honestly nothing like I imagined him to look like.

Anyways, after I finished reading the first book, I really wanted to read the second one to see how the story ends.
The story has a lot of politics and betrayal and there is no sense of where the story is taking you or how it’s going to end. That made it so suspenseful for me and I wanted to read ahead but I also didn’t want to spoil myself. In the end, I had to suffer because I wanted to read it super quickly but I was also scared.

But Yeahh… umm there were things that I didn’t expect to happen and honestly it left my heart a little broken. The stress this book put me through 😭

Crow is so funny though, I love him and their banter. Their interactions throughout this book was my favourite.
I did kinda feel like this book was chill? Despite all the war and battles, it wasn’t extremely high stakes and the whole resolution felt very simple. Or maybe I’m just so far removed from the books that I didn’t feel anything 🤷🏻‍♀️The thing that really got me was the ending 😭😭. I honestly had no hope for them because I couldn’t see how it would work. Honestly though, this is the best enemies to lovers I’ve read after The Cruel Prince. The tension, the betrayal, the anticipation and the heartbreak 😫 it was all worth it but I also want more whyyyyy (I recommend reading the bonus chapter because it’s so cuteeee, it healed me after reading this)

It took me a few chapters to get back into the story with Sound the Gong and remind myself where things had left off in book one. Nonetheless, once I was back on track, it was enjoyable. The relationship between Zephyr and Crow remained the most compelling aspect; I was less fussed about the power struggles between the kingdoms. That meant I was more engaged in certain moments than others, but overall this was still a worthwhile and satisfying conclusion to the tale, with good pacing throughout and easy-reading prose. I am giving it four stars. For new readers, you will need to have read the first book before picking up this one or the story will be too confusing to follow. Recommended for fans of historical fantasy.