Book Review – The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon
I’ve always loved Fairy Tales since I was very young. I had a great aunt who was an amazing storyteller and every time she would visit I would pester her to tell me a story. Most were folkloric tales from my culture but I loved any kind of story.
The Bird and the Sward by Amy Harmon is a fairytale-like story. It has magic, transformation, a King, romance, everything I love in a good story, yet I did not love this book. I didn’t hate it either, I just thought it was okay. The story is about a young woman who has inherited certain abilities from her mother, however, those abilities are forbidden by decree of the king. Our heroine, Lark, becomes mute after witnessing a terrible thing as a child. Fast forward and she’s 20 and still mute, she runs into the king and he captures her and holds her hostage in order to keep her scheming father in line (he’r father is a Lord and second in line to the throne). The king is not only dealing with scheming lords but also attacks from unnatural creatures that are overrunning parts of the kingdom, add to that the King’s own secrets and we have ourselves a story. In order for the king to resolve his many problems, he’ll need Larks help.
The book started very strong, the writing is whimsical and engaging but as the story progresses, there were elements of it that really dragged, especially in the middle. It did pick up steam towards the end, so it ends up an okay book.
My biggest gripe with the book was the love story. Both characters had good elements to their character but they came together in a very un-organic way. The relationship is supposed to be sped up but that can be done in an organic way. Also, while there was character development for the heroine, I don’t think the hero got the same treatment. He did grow a bit but not much and given his arc, there should have been more growth.
The book has gotten very good reviews so some people really loved it, I liked it but I wouldn’t recommend it as a “must read”. But if you are looking for an adult Fairytale romance you might really enjoy the book.
You can read the rest of my book reviews at this link: Oadara’s Book Reviews
