Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry — A Second Continent, a New Princess and Lovers Kept Apart

At the end of Shield of Sparrows, Princess Odessa and her Guardian, Ransom, had found each other against the odds. Their marriage, bound by treaty, was still a secret, and the five kingdoms of Calandra were facing a deadly threat. Rites of the Starling picks up straight afterwards, and it begins by pulling them apart. After an attack, Odessa is forced to flee with Evie, a traumatised four-year-old in her care, and Brother Dime, a Voster whose motives are far from clear, as she tries to make her way back to Ransom. Rites of the Starling, published on 7 April 2026 by Red Tower Books, is the second book in Devney Perry's Shield of Sparrows romantasy series. It is not a standalone, and readers should start with Shield of Sparrows. A new heroine across the sea The biggest change is a second main character. Caspia is a Starling princess from Nelfinex, a continent far across the sea, who has had visions all her life, including one of her sister's murder. She sets out on a voyage further than anyone has gone before, looking for answers and for revenge, and finds a romance of her own along the way. Her story runs in parallel with Odessa's, and the two are linked in ways that only become clear gradually. Her chapters also change how readers see Calandra itself, revealing that the threat facing the five kingdoms has older roots than anyone there realises. Several reviewers found Caspia the standout. Rebecca of Powder & Page, who gave the book four stars, called her the "real main character", and preferred her gentler romance to the more fraught story of Odessa and Ransom. A much bigger world Where the first book stayed close to Odessa, this one opens the map. Readers learn more about the Voster, the monsters threatening Calandra and the older history behind them. The Library Ladies' reviewer called the expanded world-building a major strength and said the twists kept her guessing. The Bookish Elf, which gave it 4 out of 5, praised the clear action scenes and the honest way the book handles Evie's grief and fear. The trade-offs Splitting the story between two heroines makes the pacing uneven. The Bookish Elf found the middle slow and felt Caspia's chapters sometimes interrupted the main plot. Odessa and Ransom spend much of the book apart, which some readers will find frustrating, and the Library Ladies' reviewer felt it didn't quite match the high of the first book. Not everyone agreed: Chelsea Cauley of Ink & Imaginings gave it five stars and found it tighter than book one. It is also darker than book one, with frequent violence and loss, and it ends with major revelations and unresolved threads that set up the next instalment. The romance takes a back seat to the larger fantasy plot for much of the book, although the story does include explicit romantic scenes. Who should read it If you loved Shield of Sparrows, this is a must. It answers questions from the first book, raises new ones and deepens the mythology. If you prefer your romantasy with the main couple together on every page, or you dislike unresolved endings, you may want to wait until the series is complete. Our verdict Rites of the Starling is a bigger, darker, more ambitious sequel. It sacrifices some of the first book's focus for a richer world and a compelling new heroine. Read it for Caspia, the world-building and the payoff when the threads finally meet, and be ready for that ending.