Book Two in the Celestial Triology
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Pages: 264 pages
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Where to buy: Barnes & Noble |Amazon| Book Depository
*Thank you Caffeine Book Tours and Sky Pony Press for a review copy in exchange for my honest review and the opportunity to be a part of this blog tour*
Synopsis
One kingdom. One crown. One family.
“Maybe it’s time the great House of Rey came to an end. After all, what are we now? Just a house of rage and sorrow.”
Esmae once wanted nothing more than to help her golden brother win the crown of Kali but that dream died with her best friend. Alexi broke her heart, and she vowed to destroy him for it. And with her sentient warship Titania beside her, how can she possibly fail?
As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. Past lives threaten the present. Old enemies claim their due. And Esmae cannot outrun the ghosts and the questions that haunt her. What really happened to her father? What was the third boon her mother asked of Amba? For in the shadows, lurking in wait, are secrets that will swallow her whole.
The House of Rey is at war. And the entire galaxy will bleed before the end.
Review
A House of rage and Sorrow continues the story where Esmae, after dealing with the devastating occurrence in book 1, has declared war against those who are considered family. From here we can see the change in Esmae as she is consumed in rage. Although, I was bale to feel that raw depiction of emotion, I think it falter due to her stubbornness, which at times felt unnecessary. As a whole, I liked Esmae and for the most part enjoyed her character development.When thinking of a character that I did enjoy in the story, Titania, our favorite sentient spaceship was one of them. I really appreciated the author adding Titania’s Point of View [POV] to the story. It brought levity during the tougher points of the story. At times it almost felt as if Titania was a real human character. That spaceship is invited to any party I throw. Alexei is the character that Esmae declares war on and although I get to read a small glimpse of Alexei, I wanted to learn more about them apart for being the target of the protagonist. Overall, character development overall was pretty top notch. Every character felt essential and dialogue and certain relationships did not feel forced.
Speaking of relationships, the love interest [Max] and Esmae’s relationship was clearly not the focal point of this story. It wasn’t as developed as maybe most would have wanted, but I was okay with that relationship not flourishing if it meant I received more form the plot and world building.
The world building continued to be spectacular. The vivid depictions of the world felt galactically desiring. The world was too beautiful to touch but magnificent in everything it held. The descriptions of the ships, characters and scenery around them was something out of an true magical epic fantasy. Sangu Mandanna took me on a space adventure and I was jealous that this world did not exist in the human realm.
The plot was driven with political intrigue, declaration of war and so many conflicting and beautiful emotions. Esmae grows in this story in a way where I can only imagine what she will be capable of in the third book. I was aching to know more with each page turned. I cried with Esmae as she grief, I understood her anger and conflicted emotions. OI enjoyed the witty banter Sybilla and Radha. I couldn’t also forget about the gods. I learned so much more about them in the second book, that I understood their role in the overall plot. This was an epic fantasy full of adventure, action, raw depictions of rage and sorrow and it is one I would highly recommend. You grow to love each characters, including the ones causing Esmae’s pain because you learn the process of their decision and realize that you can’t hate them for those decisions even though you want to support Esmae.
This book is out on shelves September 3rd, 2019. While you patiently wait, Add A house of Rage and Sorrow to your Goodreads shelf and catch up on the first book, A Spark of White Fire!
About the Author
Sangu Mandanna was four years old when an elephant chased her down a forest road and she decided to write her first story about it. Seventeen years and many, many manuscripts later, she signed her first book deal. Sangu now lives in Norwich, a city in the east of England, with her husband and kids.
Author Website | GoodReads | Twitter
Giveaway!
Prize: The privilege of naming one of the Book 3 characters (one winner only)
Scope: Open worldwide/internationally
Note: This will be a tweet giveaway, which will be posted by Caffeine Book Tours (@CaffeineTours), so please link to its Twitter account (http://twitter.com/CaffeineTours )
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