Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry: Release Day Guide (April 2026)

Last updated: April 7, 2026

IT'S HERE! April 7, 2026. Rites of the Starling is officially out. Hardcover, ebook, and audiobook available everywhere. Barnes & Noble has the Deluxe Limited Edition from the first print run (US/Canada, while supplies last — this thing is stunning and I'd grab it fast). I'm reading live today. My alarm went off at 5am. Come back here later for my full spoiler-free review with spice rating, pacing notes, and cliffhanger warning..

Rites of the Starling, the second book in Devney Perry's Shield of Sparrows trilogy, is out today, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. If you finished Shield of Sparrows last year and have been waiting to find out what the crux migration actually looks like, whether Ransom survived that final scene at Ellder, or why the woman on his sword looked like Odessa...today is the day we find out!

My full spoiler-free review is live! Head to Rites of the Starling Review: 5 Stars, No Notes for the complete verdict, spice rating, pacing breakdown, and cliffhanger warning.

I'm reading live. This guide will be updated throughout the day with spoiler-free reactions, and the full review goes up the moment I finish the last page.

For a complete refresher before you dive in, read my Shield of Sparrows recap. For the original series review, see my Shield of Sparrows review.

Order yours now! Amazon| Bookshop.org | Libro.fm

Today's reading plan (updated live)

5:00 AM Alarm. Coffee. Book in hand. Absolutely unwell about it.

Throughout the day I'll be posting reactions on Threads (@inkandimaginings) and Instagram Stories as I read. Come find me. Join the trauma cohort.

Tomorrow Full spoiler-free review posted on the blog with:

Spice rating (Shield of Sparrows was a 1.5/5, I'm expecting escalation)
Pacing notes (is it slow-burn book 2 or full-throttle?)
Cliffhanger warning (gently,I'll tell you how bad without spoiling)
Emotional damage report
My honest verdict

This week Separate full-spoiler discussion post for everyone who devours it in one sitting and needs to scream about it.

Subscribers to The Weekly Bookmark get the review in their inbox first, before it hits social.

The release basics

Title: Rites of the Starling

Series: Shield of Sparrows, Book 2

Author: Devney Perry

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books

Release date: Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Formats at launch: Hardcover, Kindle ebook, audiobook, UK editions

Barnes & Noble Deluxe Limited Edition: Available while supplies last (US and Canada only, first print run)

Book 3: Confirmed but title and release date not yet announced

What we know going in

Based on the publisher-released blurb and the ending of Shield of Sparrows, here's what readers should expect heading into book 2.

Odessa and Zavier start the book separated. The devastating attack at the end of Shield of Sparrows pulled them apart. Book 2 opens with Odessa on her own.

The crux migration is finally arriving. The event that's been foreshadowed across all of book 1 is now actively happening. This isn't theoretical anymore, monsters are moving, kingdoms are falling, and Odessa is in the middle of it.

Odessa is stepping into the Guardian role. The blurb confirms it directly. Book 1 was about her becoming. Book 2 is about her being.

There's a little girl. A completely new character the blurb introduces. Odessa is protecting her, and keeping her safe is what keeps Odessa going.

A priest is the antagonist. Odessa is kidnapped by a powerful priest. This suggests the religious and magical power structures of Calandra, barely touched in book 1, become central to book 2.

"The monsters we make." The blurb's tagline. This is a book about internal monsters as much as external ones. About what Odessa has to become to survive.

Where to buy Rites of the Starling

Standard hardcover: Available right now at Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, and indie bookstores. Many indies have limited stock so grab yours before noon today if you want a same-day pickup.

Ebook (Kindle): Available on Amazon and coming to KU immediately on release.

Audiobook: Available via Libro.fm (use code SWITCH for two free audiobooks when you sign up) and other major audiobook retailers

Barnes & Noble Deluxe Limited Edition: This is the collector's pick and it is GORGEOUS. Limited to the first print run, US and Canada only. These always sell out if you collect special editions, grab it now, not later today. I'm not kidding.

UK editions: Available through Waterstones, Blackwells, Foyles, Hive, and other UK retailers

Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon

Reading along today? Here's where to find the community

If you're reading Rites of the Starling today, you are not alone and you should not BE alone. Release day is a community event. Here's where to show up:

Come hang out with me on Threads. I'll be posting live reactions all day at @inkandimaginings. Drop your own reactions — no spoilers until everyone's caught up, but vibes are absolutely welcome. Bring your coffee setup, your reading corner, your unhinged theories.

Instagram Stories. I'll be sharing reading milestones in Stories throughout the day with Q&A stickers so you can share your reactions back.

Goodreads. Mark the book as "currently reading" and add me as a friend if you want to see live status updates from my reading day.

The Weekly Bookmark. Already sent, subscribers got the release day edition this morning. If you're not on it yet, sign up here and you'll get the full review first.

A quick request: If you finish the book before me (which you will, because I'm writing this post instead of reading), please for the love of all that is holy, no spoilers in the comments or my DMs until the end of the week. I'll open spoiler-specific spaces once my full review is up. Until then, vague screaming is encouraged. Specific screaming is a crime.

Do you need to reread Shield of Sparrows first?

Ideally, yes. Realistically, no if you have my Shield of Sparrows recap handy, you can skip the reread and still understand what's happening in book 2.

If you're reading the recap today as prep, you're in good company! My recap post got more traffic this weekend than any other Shield of Sparrows content I've ever written. We are all forgetting the same things. It's fine. That's why the recap exists.

The recap covers Odessa's arc, Zavier's character, the five kingdoms of Calandra, the crux and the other monsters, the ending of book 1, and every unanswered question heading into Rites of the Starling. It's built specifically for readers who don't have time to reread 500 pages this week.

The Shield of Sparrows trilogy reading order

Shield of Sparrows: Book 1 (published 2025)
Rites of the Starling: Book 2 (April 7, 2026)
Book 3: Title and release date TBD

The series is best enjoyed in publication order. Start with Shield of Sparrows, then come here.

Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry Book Cover

Preorder: Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon

If you're the kind of reader who wants the object to match the experience, there's a deluxe limited edition of Rites of the Starling worth knowing about. It's a first print run hardcover with special sprayed edges, available in the U.S. and Canada only and once it's gone, it's gone.

Perry's publisher has not announced a second run. You can preorder the deluxe edition on Amazon or check with your local indie bookstore for availability.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. We earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you. It's one of the ways we keep this site running and the recommendations coming.

What We Know About the Plot

Perry and the publisher have confirmed the broad strokes of where the story picks up, and it's immediately clear that Rites of the Starling is not a soft sequel. The stakes from Shield of Sparrows don't just continue, they escalate.

Here's what we know based on the official description:

The five kingdoms of Calandra are on the edge of destruction. The Crux migration, the event that Shield of Sparrows spent an entire book building dread around, is finally here. And Odessa is not where she's supposed to be.

In the aftermath of a devastating attack, Odessa has been separated from Ransom. She's been kidnapped by a powerful priest, she's protecting a young girl, and she's on the run through a cursed realm while hunted by the very monsters the character guide warned you about. If you spent Shield of Sparrows thinking Odessa needed to find her own strength independent of the people protecting her and it sounds like Perry heard you.

The description also signals that Odessa's identity crisis is shifting. In Shield of Sparrows, everyone wanted her to be something, a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

Rites of the Starling seems to be asking what happens when she stops resisting all of those roles and starts choosing which parts to claim on her own terms.

We don't know yet whether the book is told entirely from Odessa's perspective or if Perry will introduce other POVs. We also don't know where Ransom is during all of this which, if you've read the first book, is exactly the kind of gap that keeps you up at night.

Audiobook Details

If you're an audiobook listener and especially if you're planning to relisten to Shield of Sparrows before the sequel drops the Rites of the Starling audiobook features the same narrator team as book one: Jason Clarke, Samantha Brentmoor, and Megan Wicks.

Audiobook rereads are how I prep for sequels, and having consistent narrators makes a huge difference for staying in the world.

Right now, Libro.fm is offering two free audiobooks when you sign up through our link which means you could grab both Shield of Sparrows and Rites of the Starling at no cost and support an independent bookstore while you're at it.

Where Shield of Sparrows Left Off

Spoilers for Shield of Sparrows follow

If it's been a few months since you read Shield of Sparrows and you need a refresher before diving into the sequel, here's where things stood.

By the end of Shield of Sparrows, Odessa has gone from a princess who was never meant to matter to someone at the center of every political and personal conflict in the story. Her relationship with Ransom has moved from suspicion to trust to something much more complicated.

The truth about Ransom's family, his connection to Odessa's mother, and the blood magic binding the kingdoms together has started to surface, but not all of it.

Mae's loyalties are still a question mark. King Ramsey remains a threat. The Voster High Priest is positioned as a figure with far more power than anyone is comfortable with. And the Crux migration that everyone has been dreading is no longer a distant threat, it's imminent.

The book ends with enough unresolved threads that a sequel wasn't just likely, it was necessary. Rites of the Starling picks up in the immediate aftermath.

For a full refresher on who everyone is and what they want, our Shield of Sparrows Character Guide covers every major player without spoilers for the sequel.

My reading plan

I've had an alarm set for this release for weeks. I'm reading Rites of the Starling today, April 7. My plan is to get through it in a few days. The crux migration setup has been haunting me since I finished book 1.

Spice rating: Low-Medium. A step up from book one's 1.5/5 call it a solid 2.5/5. The romance has more room to breathe in this one, but this is still a plot-and-worldbuilding-forward romantasy, not a spice-forward one.

Pacing notes: Full throttle. This is not a sophomore-slump book two where everyone takes a breath and processes. Devney Perry hits the ground running on page one and does not stop. The dual timeline structure means you're getting forward momentum on two tracks at once, and both of them are moving. I read it in a single day and I have been awake since 5am. Make of that what you will.

Cliffhanger warning: Yes, and it's a 7-8 out of 10. The good news: the journey itself reaches a natural pause point, so you're not left mid-action. The bad news: the book wrecks you in the final pages that is going to haunt you until book three drops. It's the kind of ending where the plot lets you exhale and then the implications punch you in the throat. Plan your reading accordingly. Maybe don't start this one the night before something important.

Check back this week for updates.

My full spoiler discussion is live. Every reveal, the ending explained, the Caspia timeline in full, character guide, and the theories heading into book 3. Spoilers from the first word. You've been warned. 👉 Rites of the Starling: Full Spoiler Discussion, Ending Explained & Theories

Is Shield of Sparrows being adapted?

Yes. Shield of Sparrows is in development as a feature film with Amazon MGM Studios. John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad is attached to write the script. No cast or release date has been announced. I'll cover adaptation updates as they come.

Other Devney Perry books

Devney Perry has written over forty romance novels before Shield of Sparrows — most in the contemporary romance and small-town romance space. Shield of Sparrows is her debut romantasy, and it's been her biggest commercial hit to date (#1 New York Times bestseller). If you love her romantasy and want to explore her backlist, her Eden Series (Indigo Ridge, Juniper Hill) is a great place to start for her contemporary work.

📖 Buy on Amazon | Buy on Bookshop.org | 🎧 Listen on Libro.fm

My first reactions (updating throughout the day)

I'll be filling this section in live as I read. Check back every few hours.

Reading update (morning): Prologue done. Devney Perry opened this book with a theory bomb. I'll say no more until my full spoiler review but do not skim the prologue. It matters!

Chapter 1 reaction: He's alive. That's all I'm saying. He's alive and he is looking for her. I'm going to need a minute.

Quarter of the way through: Devney Perry is alternating chapters between Odessa's present and a second timeline I did not see coming, and the second timeline is doing so much heavy lifting that I had to put the book down and stare at a wall. If you loved the worldbuilding in book one, the structure of this book is going to wreck you in the best way. That's all I can say without spoilers.

Halfway point: 50% in. Physical copy just arrived (I now own this book in two formats and zero regrets). Theory count: unhinged. I have so many threads I need to start a spreadsheet. Coffee incoming, diving back in, cannot put it down.

Three-quarters through: Odessa is back in Quentis and I am furious on her behalf. The meeting with her father went exactly as badly as you'd expect and now everyone in this castle wants her to shrink back into the meek invisible princess she was before the Sparrow claim and reader, she will NOT. Watching her refuse to make herself small again is the the moment we all needed. Devney Perry understands rage.

Final reaction: I am not okay. The last twenty pages broke me. I need to lie on the floor. Send help. Send book three. Send a support group. The full spoiler review is coming the second I can form sentences again.

Full spoiler-free review: Posting as a separate blog post once I finish processing a little, and I'll link it here. (Preview: it's a 5-star no-notes situation and I have THOUGHTS about the dual timeline.)

FAQ

Is Rites of the Starling worth reading on release day, or should I wait? If you loved Shield of Sparrows, yes read it today. The crux migration is finally happening, Odessa is becoming the Guardian, and the answers to the biggest mysteries from book 1 are in this book. The community energy on release day is also part of the experience. That said, if you're the kind of reader who prefers to binge a trilogy all at once and can wait for Book 3, there's no shame in holding off until we have a Book 3 release date.

How long does it take to read Rites of the Starling? Most readers will finish Rites of the Starling in 8-12 hours of reading time, depending on pace. The hardcover is approximately 500 pages. Audiobook runtime is around 16-18 hours. If you're planning a one-day binge, block out your morning and afternoon. If you're reading across multiple days, expect to finish within a week.

When does Rites of the Starling come out? Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Hardcover, ebook, and audiobook are all available at launch.

Where can I buy the Deluxe Limited Edition? Barnes & Noble carries the Deluxe Limited Edition. It's limited to the first print run and is US/Canada only. Once it sells out, it's gone.

Do I need to reread Shield of Sparrows first? Not if you read my Shield of Sparrows recap. The recap covers every plot point and character you need to remember going into book 2.

Is there a Book 3? Yes. Devney Perry and the publisher have confirmed Shield of Sparrows is a trilogy. Book 3's title and release date haven't been announced yet.

Is Rites of the Starling on Kindle Unlimited? No. Devney Perry's romantasy series is published by Entangled: Red Tower Books, which does not participate in Kindle Unlimited. You can buy the Kindle ebook or borrow it from your library via Libby/Hoopla.

How spicy is Rites of the Starling? I'll update this section after I finish reading. Shield of Sparrows was a 1.5/5 on the spice scale slow-burn with mild spice. Expect Rites of the Starling to be similar, though typically romantasy sequels escalate.

Is there a cliffhanger? I'll update this after I finish. Shield of Sparrows ended on a major cliffhanger, so expect book 2 to end somewhere dramatic as well it's the middle book of a trilogy.

What is the crux migration? The crux are intelligent winged predators that migrate across Calandra. Their migration is a catastrophic, kingdom-threatening event that was foreshadowed throughout Shield of Sparrows. In Rites of the Starling, the migration is actively happening. For the full breakdown, see my Shield of Sparrows recap.

Which character are you most worried about going into Rites of the Starling? Drop it in the comments. And if you want new releases, reading guides, and recommendations like this in your inbox every week, subscribe to The Weekly Bookmark, it's free!