The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by @carissabroadbentbooks

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This book was everything!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the E-Arc!

I definitely have a new favourite book!

The story of Mische and Asar is so captivating and heartbreaking.
I already thought „The Serpent and the Wings of Night” was fantastic, I loved „The Ashes and the Star Cursed King” and „Six Scorched Roses” was great, but
„The Songbird & the Heart of Stone” topped it all!

I was captivated from the very first page. I couldn’t stop reading and still think about it every day, even though I finished the book days ago. But I had to process everything before I could write a review.

Mische’s story and her unwavering faith in the god Artroxus is admirable, even though she was actually abandoned by him.
Asar’s life story is sad and brutal.
Both have their lives and baggage to carry. They couldn’t be more different and yet so similar.
And they both have a goal and need each other to achieve it.

„I have my faith, and l have the love of my god. That’s all I need.”

His thumb traced the scar on the swell of my palm.
„Right. Looks like love.”

Thank you so much @carissabroadbentbooks for writing such a great story! I can’t wait for the second or fourth volume, but I’ll have to be patient.

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone will be published on 19 November 2024 and I can’t wait for you all to finally read this book!!

4,25*


Thank you Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

The songbird and the Heart of Stone takes place in the same world als The Serpent and the Wings of Night. But you can read both spin off series separate from each other.

I’ve read The Serpent and the Wings of Night and the second book before I had the opportunity to read this book.
The Songbird and the Heart of Stone has the same writing style which made it easy for me to keep on reading. Both characters Mische and Asar are lovely, there are so many good character traits with both characters. The side characters were also well developed for this story. There was a good balance with the journey and chemistry between both main characters. There is some smut but it doesn’t pull you away from the story which I liked.

There is only one negative point which made me decide not to give it 4,5* and that's Mische took to much time to decide not to follow her God. He was awful and I can’t understand why someone like her wants to follow and dedicate her life to someone like him. The ending made it better and I can’t wait to read the second part of this spin off series.

In “the songbird and the heart of stone” we follow Mische as she’s on the brink of being executed for killing the heir to the Shadowborn throne. However she gets saved by Asar, the bastard son of the king and follows him on a journey in the underworld to resurrect the god of death. However both Asar and Mische are hiding secrets from each other, and they are going to choose eachother or the gods?

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it was amazing. I love the author’s writing style, I always fly through her books even if they are quite long. I loved Mische and Asar as main characters way better than I did Oraya and Rainh, and I loved those two. Mische was so compelling and thoughtful and nice all the way through and I am very happy we got to know more about her and her tragic backstory. Asar was perfection not only as a love interest but as a main character himself.

The journey was also extremely fun, it kept me on my toes and I couldn’t put down my kindle because I had to know what happened next. The only flaw I can find is that it was a bit repetitive at times with the tropes used to change scene, but considering this was inspired by Dante’s inferno it makes sense. The ending was treacherous, but I didn’t expect anything less, I might need book two right away though and that’s heartbreaking.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

After loving the first two books in the series I was really excited to receive an Arc of this book from NetGally. The book dragged for almost 70% of the storyline. There were a lot of action scenes that felt quite repetitive and did not contribute anything to the character development or the tension between the two main characters Mische and Asar. I lost count about the use of the sentence *she fell into darkness* or something very similiar to this sentence. The only thing that made me want to continue with this series is the plottwist at the end of the book and the big hope that the next one will be again as exciting as the first two books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Crowns of Nyaxia series has always had my heart. It is one of my favourite series, and this newest edition has cemented that. This book is my favourite read of the year!!

I loved how loyal Miche was in the previous books, but her back story was mostly a mystery other than us finding out who had turned her. I was so happy to find out she was getting her own duology and what a story it is so far.

I love how well the story is weaved together between the present and also revealing her past. So we get the full story of how she came to be where we originally met her in the previous books, as well as seeing how her story continues after leaving the house of night.

Then we have the pleasure of meeting our male lead, Asar, a necromancer, bastard Prince of the House of Shadows. I'm a sucker for a dark and broody shadow daddy 😍

They embark on a mission with one goal in mind, with orders from 2 separate deities, which will result in very different outcomes. We see them venture through the layers of the underworld, each layer becoming more difficult to traverse with new challenges to face, relationships develop, and secrets are revealed.

Carissa has smashed it with this book and that ending!!! I can't wait for the next book to see where the story takes us next 🖤

Thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc of this book.

With thanks to Pan MacMillan & NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved the Crowns of Nyaxia series so I was delighted to receive this ARC!

I adored learning more about Mische, and I think her character is possibly one of my favourites from the whole series so far. She’s a very raw real character, and the author writes her pain so well. Asar is also a very well written character, and I enjoyed the moments that he and Mische shared. Luce, of course, was a very good girl!

There were parts where the story seemed to slow down and drag, and I lost interest in those moments. I think it was because the way the plot is set out, it is bound to get repetitive at times. However I am glad I pushed through and persevered.

The ending was a twist I did not see coming, and I think it’s very well done. It’s made me excited for the next book in this series.

Spectacular, give me 14 of them rn😩 The best Carissa Broadbent book so far, I swear, I love everything here

this had very much the Divine Comedy vibes in the best way possible, the atmosphere is unmatched

Mische and Asar - I love them even more then Oraya and Raihn, the slow burn was so perfect. And Luce 🤌 we love a man with skeleton dog

and the twist at the end🤭 THAT WAS THE BEST TWIST I READ IN A WHILE I'M SPEECHLESS idk how I'll manege not talking about it to anyone for the next two months

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Carissa Broadbent really did it again with The Songbird & the Heart of Stone. It's a captivating novel set in the same world as The Serpent & the Wings of Night. This time we don't follow Oraya and Raihn but Mische, a beloved character we met already. We learn more about Misches past and her religion.

Mische wakes up in the hands of enemies but soon is going on a quest for the God of the Sun - with the brother of the Vampire she hates the most.
We see her evolving and overcoming trauma. We see her deal with her religion which gave her good experiences but not everything that shines is gold.

Carissa takes us with this novel into a part of the world that we didn't know about - the Realm of the dead God of Death. I think here she could've done a bit better regarding the world building but it's okay.
I had difficulties staying with the stories during Ashes but The Songbird captured me wholly.

I'm almost never surprised by twists and turns of stories and for the most part, it was the same here but a huge plus point for a character I didn't expect.

I really look forward to seeing where Misches story brings us.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC. Highly recommend!

5 stars - fantasy romance part of the crowns of Nyaxia series.

Mische was an acolyte of the sun god Atroxus, and had the gift of light until she was forcibly turned into a vampire by the prince of the shadow born. After murdering the prince at the end of book 2, we start her journey with her being captured by the princess of the shadow born, but ultimately saved by the exiled prince Asar in order to journey to the underworld for the goddess Nyaxia. Mische mysteriously has her light power returned and a visit from Atroxus with a new secret mission. Asar, meanwhile has his own mission from Nyaxia.

After being introduced to Mische in the first two books, she was my favourite character other than Oraya and Raihn, so I knew I would absolutely devour her story due to her complicated back story. Misches character development is insane - we get to see her childhood beginnings with her sister and her enrolment into the sun gods church, with backflash chapters, and her journey with her inner struggles and her difficulties accepting genuine love and friendship.

I loved the development of Misches and Asars relationship and thought it was rightly paced, given the timeline. From enemies, to friends then to lovers it felt genuine and real.

The underworld was gruesome and complex and I enjoyed learning about the different realms and the people within. I fell in love with Leuce and hope she is ok given Asars and Miches whereabouts at the end of the story.

The ending was jaw dropping, and I should have known given book 1, but I can’t believe it ended the way it did and how long I now have to wait for the next instalment!

Overall highly recommend if you enjoyed the first two books or even as a standalone. I have loved all of the authors works that I have read, she has a way of captivating the reader from the get go and developing such loveable characters.

"his features begged to be immortalised in stone or paint"

this book was unbelievable in more ways than one.

The story! *chefs kiss*
The Characters! *chefs kiss*
The ending! *chefs kiss*
The epilogue! *chefs kiss*

The book follows Mische, who struggles with what she wants vs. who she is. We learn of the hard cards she has been dealt through her life and what struggles she has had to face with her faith. Her character is full of so much hope and courage even with the life she has lived.

and then Asar.... he is incredible. He is written so well you fall in love with him and forget about him being the supposed 'villain' of the story. He is said to be the 'heart of stone' but all I can see is a heart of pure gold. He means well in everything he does, he wants the best for those he cares about even if it doesn't necessarily follow the rules of life and law.

The writing and in-depth background work put into these characters is ASTRONOMICAL - Carissa Broadbent has a way with words and character development that I have rarely seen before. The world creation is incredible and deserves such high levels of praise.

I have so many quotes highlighted that I desperately want to share but don't want to ruin the first hand experience for anyone!

It's safe to say I loved every second of this book and can not wait for the 4th.

Thanks so NetGalley for the ARC and allowing me to provide an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of ‘The Songbird and the Heart of Stone’.
I absolutely loved the Crowns of Nyaxia series so I jumped at the chance at reading the next instalment that focused on the character of Mische.
Firstly, the call backs to the previous books were lovely, hearing familiar names gave me a little jump of joy every time it happened.
Mische, from the get go is such a complex and interesting character and the book was fantastic at delving into that. Then we get to meet Asar and he is equally (if not more) complex and overall a fantastic character.
I loved the journey of this book and the development between the characters and plot. However I felt uncomfortable with the relationship between Mische and the god, I appreciate that has a lot of reasoning for Mische’s behaviour and her character development, but I still couldn’t shift the uncomfortable feeling I got while reading those bits. The story was also a bit repetitive at points but it didn’t bother me too much because I was already so invested in the story.
The ending of the book was 10/10, what a cliff hanger! Very excited to read the next book and delve back into Mische and Asar’s story.

The third book in the Crowns of Nyaxia Series (a 6 book series, 3 duology).

I read the first two books in preparation of reading this one, and I am so happy I did as I've found a new author I love! You don't need to read the first two books as this is following Mische and Asar on a hole separate journey.

I was intrigued by the book being about Mische as she seems interesting and I wanted to know more about her from the first two books.

I really appreciated that this book didn't feel like a retelling of the first two books and had a different feel, but still the same enjoyment from reading it.

I can't wait to read the next book that follows this one as the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and a surprise.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

I really enjoyed this next instalment in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. I think it is the best in the series yet.

There were a couple of points to the book that I didn't enjoy. Parts of the plot felt a little repetitive which made it a little slow to get started. I also didn't enjoy the relationship with Atroxus. I don't want to give spoilers but there were parts that felt unnecessary.

However, the characters more than made up for this which is why the book is still 5 stars. Mische and Asar are brilliant and complex characters and I am so attached to them both. I also love Luce, the dog.

The setting of the underworld is also very complex and fascinating. It made the book very atmospheric. I even got attached to Morthryn as a setting.

The book was a little slow to start but once I got 50% in, I read the rest in one sitting. I couldn't put it down!

I would highly recommend this book romantasy fans. It ends on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to find out what happens next. This book will be released on 19th November so make sure you check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley, Carissa Broadbent, and Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved the previous Crowns of Nyaxia books so I was not surprised that to find that I loved The Songbird and the Heart of Stone, too!

It was great to see Mische’s character development across the book, especially finding out more about her past as a priestess of Atroxus and her relationship with her sister, and Asar, the stoic bastard prince of the deadly House of Shadow and the heart of stone referred to in the title, was the perfect foil for her. The slow burn was perfectly done, I now want my own spirit wolf like Luce and the team’s descent into the underworld to resurrect (or kill?) the god of death, along with all of the challenges they faced on their journey, kept me hooked throughout. After that ending I really hope there isn’t a long wait before the next book!

It really was a rollercoaster
I was very excited to read this, it got me hooked from the very beginning, the enemies were✨ enemieing✨, the characters were very intriguing and it was a joy reading a true fantasy with vampires

Here’s what really true me off at some point
The plot was pretty repetitive, every part had similar things and it was getting boring reading about the same things over and over again

The whole relationship with the god was bugging me a lot im not gonna lie, from the very beginning i was not a fan of it, when i read the age i was prepared to dnf this book. When i read that it was not only serving him with prayers and that kind of this but also with the body… i was ready to pull some hair. I understand why it was necessary, and it was part of mische’s character development, but it was the kind of things that is uncomfortable so please read the trigger warnings before going into this book
Now listen, it was interesting reading about Mische’s thoughts and about her as a person. I was pretty scared that it will go down in a direction that im not gonna like in the end butttttt….. she really surprised me and this was the part that made me again interested in the story
I loved Asar, i loved the ending with the cliffy, it was a very good ending im not gonna lie, im definitely going to pick the next one up

Overall it with its ups and downs for me it was a solid
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What fantasy is on your fall tbr??

Thank you netgalley and panmacmillan for the arc 🤭💖💖

I think it's safe to say this book has left me feeling broken, destroyed and a shell of my former self, and I'll be going into hibernation until the next book releases, thankyouverymuch. The downside of getting the ARC is that I have no one to talk to about my heartbreak and that I now have to wait even LONGER for book 4!

I was pretty scared going into this, because I really loved Raihn and Oraya and I was scared that Mische and her love interest wouldn't live up to my high expectations, but I'm glad to say that is not the case at all! In fact, I think I might like Asar even more! *gasp*
Mische's character felt a little shallow in the first two books, but now that we got to see her backstory, her past, her trauma, and I absolutely could not love her more.
The slow burn was exquisite and while there wasn't as much spice as I usually love, it didn't bother me. I'm glad it didn't overshadow the story and it was kinda expected because of what we learned from Mische's past.

I loved the epic journey through the Underworld I got to go on, and while I found it hard to imagine or envision some parts, I could not put this book down. This gave me all the feels, heart palpitations and tears in my eyes.
Well done, Carissa Broadbent!

One question though: WHERE DID LUCE GO??

The 3rd instalment in the Crowns of Nyaxia series and safe to say I was very excited! I loved the first book, liked the second and was so happy that we would be getting 3 duologies! So this time we delve into the story of Mische. I liked her character in the first 2 books but we didn't know much about her other than snippets so I was excited to hear her origin story. Mische is an amazing FMC first up, she's so tough and I love that. She teams up with the main love interest, Asar who has just as many secrets as she does, in a quest to the underworld. It's a sloooowww burn romance and I think Carissa writes those so well. I love delving further and further into this world and can't wait for the 4th book!

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-ARC of the book in exchange of an honest review! I was thrilled to discover the story of Mische after really enjoying 'The Serpent & The Wings Of Night' and 'The Ashes & The Starcursed King'. I even did a re-read of the first books before going into 'The Songbird & the Heart of Stone' so call this dedication!

📖 Grumpy x Sunshine
📖 Quest
📖 Slow burn
📖 Cute dog companion
📖 Vampires and lore
Careful: Read the trigger warnings
Spiciness level: 2.5/5 🌶️

In general I'll give a 3.5/5 to the book.
It was interesting to discover the underworld and the House of Shadow. I was also intrigued by the overall plot with the gods games but that was basically it.
I really loved Mische's character in the previous books and was really looking forward to learn more about her but I somehow was a bit... dissapointed? Don't misunderstand me, Mische is still funny, caring and painfully human but this also means that she has her flaws. In this book, she just feels off to me. I couldn't find the powerful and strong character that could fight and defend herself. Mische felt very insecure and at time too naive and juvenile.
Asar was a bit of a surprise to me. I do love a grumpy boy, and he did deliver, but I felt that he was not compelling enough. I'm curious to see how his character will develop int he next book honestly! I'm hoping to see more sides of him.
The romance was a bit confusing to me due to the fact on how the story was written. It's still unclear to me how much time passed between each trial, and therefore how their relationship evolved. Both characters barely spoke to each other for the first 30% of the book and then developed strong feelings (of course there was intrigue and attraction before, but still). I couldn't feel the chemistry like I felt between Oraya and Rhain. Even the spicy moments were a bit disappointing (I don't even remember them being that important tbh). The plot and storytelling felt slow and I even skimmed some parts because it was just... not it.
The second characters were useless to me, I don't even know why they were added. Basically, everyone except Luce.

Where I was truly disappointed is by the way the story is written: the structure kept on repeating. They go through one trial, something incredible happen, there is a big fight or something like this and then... It fades to black. The amounts of scenes that were fading to black were ridiculous, honestly. It's was dropped the book to 3 stars.

The cliffhanger was good and I'm curious to read the second part of this duology, but I won't have my hopes too high.

I really liked returning to this world and getting to know Mische and Asar.
The setting is interesting and it's written fast paced.

Can't wait for the second book in this duology!!

When you get this book prepare to cancel all other plans. Once I started reading it I could not put it down. An absolute joy of a read. Drama and great characters, world building and so so much more. Buy it now and escape to a different world.