Shield of Sparrows

De: Devney Perry

Narrado por: Samantha Brentmoor, Jason Clarke

Now in development as a feature film with Amazon MGM Studios, with John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad attached to write the script!

Shield of Sparrows is a slow-burn, high-stakes romantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros—where enemies become lovers, monsters stalk a cursed realm, and a forgotten princess finds the strength to tear off her crown and become the warrior she was never meant to be.

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.

I've spent my life kneeling—to their will and to my father's. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.

I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.

But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father's throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.

Now I'm crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him—bound to a future I didn't choose and a husband I barely know.

Everyone wants me to be something I'm not—a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there's power in being underestimated?

And what if—for the first time—I reached for it?

Contains mature themes.

©2025 Devney Perry (P)2025 Tantor Media

Buy the book - terrible audio balance issues

Your options are to blast this through your headphones so that you can hear the male characters' lines, or you can keep the audiobook going at a normal volume, only to have to rewind and temporarily up the volume every time male characters have lines. I've been on Audible for a decade and an audiobook listener for longer, and this is the only book I've ever been frustrated with for audio balancing issues. Do better by your authors and narrators, Tantor!

Well. What the actual what was that ending?!

This book is insane. It’s so good!! On your toes the whole time and let me tell you. No. You have not figured it out. At not point while reading have you figured it out.

This one just didn’t WoW me :/

I would not recommend this on audiobook. It wasn’t the best. The female voice just didn’t click with the main character for me and the male voices were all similar and so soft spoken I had a hard time understanding what he was saying.

The story was not completely unique. I guessed all the plot twists before they happened and was not impressed with the ending. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking I had read a similar story recently.

But! It’s a good story for those that want something similar to Captain America with The Witcher magic and brotherhood that hunt monsters.

However, if you want a better version of these tropes and similar story, look at the Broken Bones and Souls by LJ Andrews

Please get a new male voice actor

Enjoyed the story, but the audio was unbearable during the male parts. At first I thought it was the female actor trying to perform a male’s voice, then realized that wasn’t the case. Hard to listen to that voice (which sounded like a teenage boy going through puberty) while trying to envision the description of the Guardian and Zavier given in the book. Please find someone else for the sequel. I ended up mostly just reading on my Kindle.

On the edge of my seat, heart in my hands

Following this heroine, I do not feel swept into improbable tropes but rather plopped into the real life of an ordinary girl. As she is unwillingly thrown across the borders between people and lands, magic and mystery, stories and truths; I feel the anger bafflement, and yearning of a young woman aching to be seen and to be valued - truly chosen and beloved, for the first time. And I viscerally experience the pressure and angst of her own search for the answers that have been kept just outside her reach.
This is a story of becoming, within the rich, relational landscape of a people bound together in their fight to survive their unimaginably harsh world. As natural and unnatural dangers find them, pained histories play out, and underlying mysteries start to unfold, I am left on the edge of my seat, heart in my hands.

One of the best books I’ve read!

Im speechless! This book was so amazing! I went in blind and damn did it grab my attention from the start! The twists and turns, the mystery, the longing, the monsters, the ending, ugh I can’t believe I have to wait for the next book. I hope it comes fast-I need to find out what happens. And Samantha Brentmoor was phenomenal, amazing, spectacular as always. I can’t imagine anyone else narrating this book! Her male voice, and little kid voice are so spot on, I can’t write enough about how amazing she is at narrations, my absolute favorite! ❤️and Jason Clarke at the end was such a tease! CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK 2!

Worth your time!

It's definitely a book with a strong foundation in romance. The chemistry between the leads and the development of their relationship, along with the side characters, felt natural and engaging. The core plot of the arranged marriage and enemies-to-lovers dynamic is classic for a reason. If you can get over the same skeleton used to sell books found in Maas, Armentrout, Yarros, and many more.
The fantasy aspects needed more development, they were in the background and not integral to the overall story. The world-building has so much potential, and the initial glimpses of the Gods/Shades, alchemy, and the various magical elements were intriguing. The focus on the Lyssa and the crux was clear, but the other elements seemed to float around without strong connections, contributing to a sense of chaos for me. The moons especially felt like a dangling thread!
Odessa's quirky internal/external questioning, while perhaps meant to build intrigue, often stalled the narrative. That slow burn, while usually a treat in romance, felt less effective when the overarching plot wasn't moving forward at the same pace.
The ending. The sudden influx of twists felt more like a flurry of loose ends being hastily tied rather than a satisfying culmination of the story's threads. It left me with a sense of being slightly overwhelmed rather than excited for the next installment.
Despite these criticisms, I enjoyed it. The core ingredients are there, and the world itself is genuinely captivating. I'm also curious to see if the subsequent books will delve deeper into those initially intriguing but underdeveloped fantasy elements and weave them more seamlessly into the overarching narrative. It's a series I'll likely keep an eye on, hoping that the author can harness the strong romantic core and build a more cohesive and well-paced fantasy world around it.

Great writing, non annoying FMC

I really loved her writing style and it was a great story that you just get caught up in. My only complaint is that it’s the female narrator the entire time and the male narrator only comes on at the very end like the prologue section. I don’t know why they list a male and female voice narrator, and then they use the female the entire time with a deep voice for the male role and then switch it at the end of the book.

Fantastic story

Loved this book! Only complaint is the male voice was quieter than the female characters and made it hard to listen sometimes

<3

Love the book! Yet sorry not sorry but Jason for our Guardian voice is not it. Sounded like a 60yr old man voice. Ugh.