I set my alarm for 5am to read Rites of the Starling on release day. I finished it late last night. I am going to try to write this review like a functional adult and I am not sure I will succeed.
The short version: 5 stars. No notes. Better than Shield of Sparrows. If you loved book one, this book is going to ruin you in the best way. If you were on the fence about book one, I am telling you right now, this is a sequel that turns a promising series into a genuine obsession.
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Deluxe Limited Edition of Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry
📖 Amazon | Bookshop.org | 🎧 Libro.fm
For collectors: Barnes & Noble has the Deluxe Limited Edition from the first print run, US and Canada only, while supplies last. I grabbed mine the second it was available and it is genuinely gorgeous.
The quick verdict
Star rating: 5/5, no notes
Spice rating: 2/5 (up slightly from book one's 1.5/5)
Pacing: Full throttle. Devney Perry throws you back into the chaos of Ellder on page one and does not let up until the last page.
Cliffhanger level: Devastating. Not quite "I need to lie down" territory, but close enough that I needed a minute before I could speak.
Do you need to read book one first? Yes, and if you need a refresher before diving in, I wrote you a full Shield of Sparrows recap so you can skip the reread.
What Rites of the Starling gets right
I went into this book terrified that Devney Perry wouldn't be able to match what she built in Shield of Sparrows. Book one ended with a cliffhanger so specific and so brutal that every answer book two had to give felt like it could break the series if it wasn't handled just right.
She got it just right.
Rites of the Starling is the rare middle book of a trilogy that is better than the first one. It is the kind of book you finish in one day and then sit on the floor for a while. It expands the world without getting lost in the world-building. It introduces a structural choice I did not see coming that reframes the entire series in the best way possible. And it gives us an Odessa who has been through something, who has survived it, and who is done letting people tell her who she is allowed to be.
If Shield of Sparrows was about Odessa learning the cage door was never locked, Rites of the Starling is about her walking out of the cage and setting the whole thing on fire behind her.
The moment I knew Devney Perry understood the assignment
There is a scene in the back half of this book (I cannot describe it without spoiling things) where Odessa's family tries to force her back into the role she played in book one. The invisible princess. The obedient daughter. The girl in gray who does not speak unless spoken to.
She refuses.
Not with a speech. Not with a dramatic declaration. With the kind of quiet, complete refusal that only happens after a woman has spent months surviving things that should have killed her and has decided she is not going back.
Devney Perry knew what women needed to read right now and she gave it to us. That scene alone is worth the price of the hardcover. It is the moment I fully committed to this series being one of my all-time favorites. It's a moment that will make alot of women feel seen.
Watching Odessa refuse to make herself small again will live rent free in my head for a long time.
The dual timeline structure is a masterclass
Without spoiling who the second POV belongs to, I need to talk about what Devney Perry does structurally in this book, because it is the thing that makes Rites of the Starling a genuine leap forward from Shield of Sparrows.
Book two is split between Odessa's present-day journey and a second timeline that unfolds in parallel. The two timelines are connected by a single physical object, a journal, that Odessa carries with her as she travels. The timelines talk to each other. People Odessa meets on her journey turn out to have been written about in the journal. Locations she visits were locations the journal-writer visited first. Characters she has never met have been waiting for her, sometimes for generations.
It is the kind of structure that sounds gimmicky when you describe it and is actually devastating and perfect when you read it. The book gives you the two stories side by side and lets you watch them be braided together, and by the time you realize what Devney Perry has been building towards the entire book, you are too far in to emotionally protect yourself.
This is the thing that pushed Rites of the Starling from a good sequel to a great book, full stop.
Is Rites of the Starling spicy?
Book one was a 1.5 out of 5 on the spice scale, slow-burn with mild heat, very much in the "the tension is the point" category. Book two lands around a 2 out of 5. Still not a romance where the spice is the focus, but the payoff when it arrives feels earned in a way book one was building toward. If you were hoping for escalation, you get it. If you were worried Devney Perry would lose the slow-burn tension, she does not. It just evolves in a way that makes sense for a couple who are now together.
The pacing is unrelenting
Shield of Sparrows had some slower stretches like the training sequences at Treow, the political setup, the long travel scenes where Odessa was learning who to trust. Those stretches served the story but some readers found them uneven.
Rites of the Starling has none of that.
From the prologue to the final page, Devney Perry keeps her foot on the accelerator. There are no filler chapters. There are no moments where the book pauses to catch its breath. Every scene is doing at least two jobs. Advancing the plot, deepening a character, or planting a piece of setup that pays off fifty pages later. This is what it looks like when a writer knows exactly what book she is writing and refuses to waste a single line.
If you struggled with the pacing of book one, I am telling you: book two is a completely different reading experience. I read all 500 pages in roughly twelve hours and did not notice the time passing.
The cliffhanger-how bad is it?
Bad. Not quite "I need to lie down" bad, but bad enough that I sat staring at the last page for a full minute trying to process what I had just read. Then ranted to my husband about it for a solid hour.
I will not tell you what happens. I will tell you that the final chapter contains a vision, and the vision contains information that changes how you have to reinterpret everything you just read in the book AND everything in Shield of Sparrows. It is the kind of ending that makes you want to start book three immediately but also makes you grateful book three does not exist yet because you need time to recover.
If you are a reader who hates cliffhangers go in knowing. This one is earned, it is devastating, and it is exactly the right ending for this book. I would not change a single word of it even though I am still not okay.
What Rites of the Starling is really about
Book one was about Odessa becoming someone. Book two is about her becoming a Queen.
Not in the literal sense. Odessa does not suddenly have a crown and a council. But Devney Perry spends this entire book dismantling the machinery that tried to make Odessa small in book one, and she does it with a specificity that made me want to highlight every other paragraph. The family dynamics. The political pressure. The cultural expectation that a woman who has been through something traumatic should come back quieter, more manageable, more grateful.
Odessa refuses all of it. Loudly. Quietly. With every choice she makes from the moment Brother Dime takes her and Evie out of Ellder through the final page. And watching her refuse, watching her model what it looks like to not shrink yourself back down after you have grown, is the thing that made me cry twice and text my book bestie a 200-word.
Devney Perry knew what women needed to read in 2026 and she delivered.
Who should read Rites of the Starling?
- Readers who loved Shield of Sparrows obviously. This book is better than book one. Do not wait.
- Readers who liked Shield of Sparrows but thought it was a little slow book two fixes every pacing complaint you had. Trust me and come back.
- Fourth Wing fans waiting for book 4 this series scratches the exact same itch. Political intrigue, slow-burn romance, a heroine discovering her own power, monsters, morally gray men, and a worldbuilding reveal that will live rent-free in your head for weeks.
- ACOTAR fans missing the court intrigue of ACOMAF the political maneuvering in Rites of the Starling is some of the best I have read in romantasy in years.
- Quicksilver and From Blood and Ash readers if you love a morally complicated hero, a heroine with a hidden bloodline, and a world where the magic system ties directly to the romance, this is your next obsession.
Who should maybe wait
- Readers who hate cliffhangers and cannot handle unresolved endings. Book three is confirmed but there is no release date yet. If you need closure now, you might want to wait for the trilogy to finish.
- Readers who prefer a slow, cozy romantasy. This is not that. Rites of the Starling is emotionally devastating and structurally ambitious and relentless. If you are looking for comfort reading, save this for a week when you can handle it.
My final verdict
5 stars. No notes. Better than Shield of Sparrows. A lesson in what a middle-book. can be. The rare sequel that makes the first book better in retrospect.
Devney Perry opens with a prologue that reframes the entire series, throws you directly into the aftermath of the ending of book one, and does not let up for 500 pages
If you loved book one, read this immediately. If you were lukewarm on book one, this is the book that will convert you. Rites of the Starling is romantasy doing the thing romantasy is supposed to do: making you feel like you were seen, like the woman on the page was living out something you needed to watch, and like the story matters.
Read it. Come talk to me about it. I'll be on Threads and Instagram @inkandimaginings screaming about the journal structure for the rest of the week.
📖 Grab Rites of the Starling on Amazon | Bookshop.org | 🎧 Libro.fm
Barnes & Noble has the Deluxe Limited Edition while supplies last.
Frequently asked questions
Is Rites of the Starling good? Yes. It is a 5-star read and in my opinion the best romantasy sequel of 2026 so far. It is better than Shield of Sparrows, which is rare for a middle book of a trilogy. If you loved book one, you will love book two. If you were lukewarm on book one, book two is the book that will convert you.
How spicy is Rites of the Starling? Rites of the Starling is approximately a 2.5 out of 5 on the spice scale — up from book one's 1.5 out of 5. It is still a slow burn, and the focus is still on the emotional build rather than the heat itself, but the payoff when it arrives is absolutely worth the wait.
Does Rites of the Starling have a cliffhanger? Yes. The cliffhanger is devastating. Without spoiling anything, the final chapter contains a vision that reframes both Shield of Sparrows and Rites of the Starling in ways you will need time to process. Book three is confirmed but does not have a release date yet.
Do I need to read Shield of Sparrows first? Yes. Rites of the Starling assumes you know the ending of Shield of Sparrows and builds directly from it. If you need a refresher, my full Shield of Sparrows recap covers every character, every reveal, and exactly how book one ends so you can walk into book two without rereading 500 pages.
How long is Rites of the Starling? Rites of the Starling is approximately 500 pages in hardcover. The audiobook is around 16 hours. Most readers will finish in 8 to 12 hours depending on pace. I read it in a single day.
Is Rites of the Starling on Kindle Unlimited? No. Devney Perry's Shield of Sparrows series is published by Entangled: Red Tower Books, which does not participate in Kindle Unlimited. You can buy the ebook on Amazon or borrow it from your library through Libby or Hoopla.
Is Rites of the Starling better than Shield of Sparrows? In my opinion, yes. Rites of the Starling has tighter pacing, a more ambitious structural choice (the dual timeline), and a more emotionally resonant arc for Odessa. Shield of Sparrows is the necessary setup. Rites of the Starling is the payoff.
When does book three of Shield of Sparrows come out? Book three has not been officially announced yet. Devney Perry has confirmed the series is a trilogy, so book three is coming but no title or release date has been revealed as of April 2026. I'll update this post when we know more.
Who should read Rites of the Starling? Fans of Fourth Wing, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Quicksilver, From Blood and Ash, and slow-burn romantasy with political intrigue and morally complicated heroes. If you love a heroine with a hidden bloodline, a dual-timeline structure, or a book that argues women do not owe anyone their smaller selves, Rites of the Starling is for you.
Further reading
- Shield of Sparrows Recap: Everything You Need to Remember full spoiler recap of book one
- Rites of the Starling Release Day Guide living guide with purchase links, release details, and my reading day reactions
- Shield of Sparrows Characters: The Crux & Full Guide every character, the crux migration, the full monster bestiary
- Books Like Fourth Wing if you loved Rites of the Starling, start here for your next read
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