I internally cheered so much when a DRAGON appears!!
The dual pov were at times, a lot to take in but did add more plot to the story. It took me far too long to realize Calla's first chapters were less interesting to me because Sadie's kept ending with cliffhangers.
Sadie's reaction to Navin talking about gender and how they identify seemed so realistic to anyone first discovering the whole world doesn't just conform to 2 genders.

I loved book 0ne and book 2 was just as AMAZING!! One of my fa favorite reads of the year. I love how they incorporate the characters stories while keeping us a trans in the world building. Both of the main characters chemistry was off the charts, and I love the fact that one of the main character is working through, trying to find her purpose again while also trying to battle feelings to get someone who she felt betrayed her.. I feel like this series is also Greystar and I cannot wait to read the next book.

Calla has reclaimed their homeland of Olmdere and pledges to set a new standard that humans and wolves are all welcome within the Golden Court. Yet war is brewing as the Silver Court is loathe to let a new power rise beyond its control.

I can't stress how much A Sky of Emerald Stars needs to be on your TBR right now. The correlations to current world affairs is eerie but hopeful. Wolf shifter gender queer warrior queen, Calla, fighting back against fascists is exactly what I needed right now.

And Sadie steps into her main character energy. The stabby soldier wolf shifter is on a forced proximity road trip in magical wagon to rally neighboring kingdoms to aid the Golden Court. Magical creatures and toxic family and the land itself are treacherous, but add on navigating a diplomacy mission with your ex also.

A.K. Mulford delivers on both my epic and intimate fantasy needs. I love the world building, new magics, and characters that nestle down into my heart. I'm so looking forward now to the finale of this trilogy. I need my faves to be happy alright!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperVoyager / Avon Books for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5

I did like how it went back and forth between Sadie and Calla but I will say I looked forward more to the Sadie chapters they were more interesting to me. Some parts were so good and shocking especially with a betrayal but other things fell flat. I would still recommend this for people looking for a quick easy romantasy.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I had just finished the first book and was able to pick up book 2 immediately. I liked the world building and the characters were likable.

This book picks up where A River of Golden Bones left off, and is a dual POV between Calla and Sadie.

I generally enjoyed this book, but it didn't really feel like the story progressed. I don't feel like we got anywhere at all plot wise, and that Sadie's the only character who had any growth. Calla was....fine, but those chapters felt like filler to me. Which full disclosure, I didn't care for Calla in the first book, so I'm not really surprised that carried through in this one.

This definitely feels like a YA fantasy book written in the style of adult romance--it's incredibly simple and easy to follow which makes the book easy to pick up and put down. But it also really left me wishing for depth of any sort--there's minimal world building, there's not a ton of conflict that doesn't get resolved within a page or two, and everyone just felt a little....flat.

I still love the queer rep, and I think this is a good read if you're a fan of wolf shifters! I just don't think I'm the particular target audience for this series, unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review A Sky of Emerald Stars. This was a great addition to the series, i loved the world building and the love story between Sadie and Navin. I can’t wait to dive into AK Mulford’s next book!

I didn’t realize this was book two until I started reading it, so I ended up having to read book one first to get up to speed 😅

It had enough world building to make it effective but enough activity that I didn’t feel like it was 100% exposition. It’s a huge learning journey for Sadie and Navin which I loved watching it progress.

I did have to put it down several times over the course of a month as it was a little slow at first, but it got better.

I see the potential for this to be a hit with other readers, I think it's a me and the writing style that A.K. Mulford has that doesn’t quite mesh with me. I didn’t dislike anything in general, everything was just middle of the road fine.

The continuous world building and character development in this book is phenomenon! The plot of this book keeps readers captivated.

4.75 stars rounded up

The second book in this wolf shifter romantasy series mostly follows Sadie on a quest to build allies for Calla's army. Sadie is restless and heartbroken from Navin's choices in the first book, so she is less than thrilled when Calla calls on her and Navin to go to the Onyx Wolves to try persuading them to join the Golden Court against the Silver Wolves.

Sadie has to do a lot of unlearning with her assumptions about humans, especially Navin, in this story, and she is constantly trying to reconcile what she knows with what she learns. Calla, while less present, is still learning how to politic and to be the monarch her people need her to be.

While most of the story is build-up with a whole lot of dialogue (and several spicy scenes), the last 20% flew by with a couple of twists and a good set-up for the third book (which I'm HOPING will be Maez and/or Briar). I'm very excited to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Welcome back to the Golden Court! While I liked both book in this series so far, I have to say that I did enjoy A Sky of Emerald Stars more than the first book. I cannot pinpoint exactly why though.

This books continues to follow Calla, Grae, and the Golden Court, but offers a much deeper and more frequent POV from wolf-shifter Sadie as she struggles to find her place in the new court and work through her anger with and attraction to Navin. A Sky of Emerald Stars delves deeper into Calla's struggle to find themselves and share their found self with their court and the world at large. Both Calla and Sadie must overcome both internal doubts and external prejudice. This second novels continues the epic world-building of the series and gives much more detail into the magic of the world.

If you are looking for a politically and socially-charged romantic fantasy with wolf shifters, a unique and interesting magic system, and fantastic queer representation, the Golden Court might be a great series for you.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins Publishers for e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man. This book! I always thought the first book could have been a great standalone but this book had me hooked. It was a bit slow then bam. Rollercoaster ride! It's been a bit since I have had plot twist I didn't see coming. Like I knew there had to be someone but Mulford got me good! There just some really unique magic systems. There's some plot holes which is why it's not 5 stars for me but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Oh my word! I thought the first book was good but this? This was GREAT! If I had to choose one thing I loved the most is the writing. The dual POV made this story equally Calla’s story as it is Sadie’s. And the way some of the scenes ended it felt like a cliffhanger on a TV show and I had to wait til next week to find out what happens. I enjoyed the journey Sadie goes on as she unlearns things that no longer fit her. I’m really excited to see where the rest of the series goes. Great work!

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked this as a sequel book to book 1. We got growth from the main two characters of the book, Sadie and Navin, and I can see where the plot for future books will go. It was slower in pace compared to book one, but having been in a slump it was not a difficult read at all and I was able to and enjoyed reading it.

This book is very much about betrayal and working to learn how to trust yourself and others again. These characters are really going through it and man I feel like it’s going to get worse before it gets better. If you liked the first book, I’m sure you will like this one as well.

In this book you will find: monsters, second chance romance, betrayal, lgbtq+ characters, death, wolf misogyny, and more lore about this world.

This is the second book in The Golden Court trilogy. In a bid to locate allies Sadie joins Maez and Navin, while Calla seeks out the support of the Ice Wolfe pack. Their journeys are both littered with political intrigue, fighting for their lives and learning who they are in their new roles in the world.

This book focuses mainly on Sadie and Navin, the work they put in while defining what they mean to each other, and the lengths they will go to ensure the world is safe. For humans, for wolves, for everything magical.

I will be honest, this one I had a little bit of a difficult time getting into. I think it had been so much time between the first book and this one, that I forgot a lot of the main ideas. I had to go back and do a little work to understand what precisely was going on. That being said, I did have a little bit of a harder time with it. Sadie was so angry, so annoyed with how she felt towards Navin, that it was like she was constantly picking at him. It felt like he was constantly having to atone for something.

It was probably about 65% into the book before I felt like there was forward movement into the storyline. Once I got to that point, I was zipping through the pages ready to see how everything was going to turn out. Then the ending, it got me. There was a part of me that wondered, what if? but then it hit me right in the face.

So there was a very slow start, but towards the second half, it was much improved.

Was there romance, and spice? Yes. Sadie, had an appetite. But who would blame her 😉

I couldn't put this book down. It was a great escape from the every day chaos of the world. I enjoyed the descriptive landscapes and can really feel for the characters. Sadie is someone you would really like to go on an adventure with, her bravery is a great balance to the vulnerable side she hides underneath. This is a fun series to disappear into when you need a break from reality.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. This book was decent and I enjoyed the expansion of the world building. It didn't quite live up to my expectations and I didn't find it quite as good as the first one. It was a good addition to the series, but it didn't suck me in like the first one. I hope the next one is better and I can't wait to read it because I'm now invested in this world. 3.5 stars.

Wolves? Warring kingdoms? Found family? A literal knife-to-throat enemies to lovers?

Although this is a sequel, this is a spoiler-free review!

As a long-time A.K. Mulford fan, I was delighted to consume the new Golden Court series, a romantasy trilogy driven by shifters, sorcerers, and humans alike. The first book in the series captures Calla and Grae’s story, but the sequel follows a fledgling romance that we get glimpses of in book one-Navin and Sadie. Sadie, literally nicknamed “Stabby”, is one of my favorite knife-wielding heroines in the story, so I was absolutely delighted to discover the sequel following her journey as the rule of the Golden Court continues.

Something that I adore of every book that Mulford creates is the found family within the pages-every character gets equal screen time, and though A Sky Full of Emerald Stars follows a far different story than book one, we still get a continuation of Grae and Calla’s story. All of these characters still live very visceral lives in my mind-the sweet, healing nature of Ora, Grae’s soft but firm protectiveness, Calla’s ferocity, and Sadie’s innate stubbornness. I LOVED the character development imbued in A Sky of Emerald Stars, as well as the plot which was vastly different than book one, in the most intriguing way.

Finally, Sadie embodies a character archetype I’ll read over and over again-the reluctant, all-thorns-and-all-bite, heroine. While the novel explores every rough edge that Sadie exhibits, we get glimpses of her soft, sweet interior beneath. Book one was good fun to read, but I adored this second installment! And an added element of music? Without giving too much away, if you’re a fan of all things bards and fantasy, this book will be a treat for you.

Things romantasy readers will love:

- Found family
- Enemies to lovers (yes, knife-to-throat)
- Mental health rep
- Court and royal politics
- A page-turning plot FULL of magical monsters
- World-building-we see A LOT more of the world in book 2
- Incredible cast of inclusive characters

And of course, please pick up book one before book 2! As enchanting as it was, you’ll need to read this thrilling trilogy in order. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

I didn't realize this was a book two when I first requested it, so I had to backtrack and read through book one. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to make it to book two, but I'm so glad I pushed through! The story itself is a whirlwind and the imagery is quite literally amazing.

In this book, we get an added POV from Sadie, and at first I grumbled about it, but as the story progressed, I found myself more curious about Sadie's plot line than Calla's. She swings violently between rage and fear, which is super valid, but the way she handles it is not really graceful but relatable. I enjoyed her arc more than I thought, especially seeing Navin's secrets unraveled and the hard choices he has to make.

I hit a point in the book where everything was just happening for Sadie and Calla nicely, and thought maybe this book would just be adventurously slow. Maybe this book is a true sequel novel, and needs the buildup. And then the 75% mark happened, and literally everything hit the fan and flung as far as possible. Hooked does not begin to describe how I'm feeling. I am itchy for more news.

More often than not, upon first finishing a novel, I'll think maybe it was a 3 star read, but then I'll catch myself randomly thinking about characters or lines delivered, and that's how I know its a great book. Eager for part three, and can't wait to see how big of a shovel Calla needs to dig herself out of this one!