A Sky of Emerald Stars Book Review

I read “A River of Golden Bones” a while back, and while it had a satisfying conclusion, I was still looking forward to the sequel. Well, now I’ve read it. “A Sky of Emerald Stars” picks up right where we left off in the last book. Calla is now queen and merem, a non-binary ruler who’s come into their own after rescuing their twin, Briar, from the evil sorceress queen, Sawyn. But in doing so, they created a rift between the Golden Court and the Silver Wolves, the pack their fated mate, Grae, is from. Oh noes!

To help diffuse all of this trouble brewing between courts, we immediately turn to Sadie for help.

Who Is Sadie?

Yeah, I forgot, too. She was in the first book, but only as a side character. She is one of Grae’s royal Silver Wolf guards and defected to join him and Calla at the Golden Court. You might remember her traveling in the wagon, lusting over the long-fingered human musician Navin, and generally being a warrior. It all kind of took a backseat to Calla’s story, so she didn’t make an impression in my mind.

But, Sadie shares more than half of the POVs in this book, so you’ll definitely get to know her a bit better. The main premise is that she needs to go to a rival wolf court to try and secure their alliance – all while trying to uncover secrets from Navin, the long-fingered human musician. While she does that, Calla is going to the Ice Wolves to basically do the same thing.

As you can see, there’s a lot of wolf politics going on, but it never feels stuffy or as calculated as an episode of “Game of Thrones.” The politicking is mainly used as a plot device so that… uh… sexy times can happen.

Underdeveloped Characters

Navin is a completely underdeveloped character. Yes, we get a little of his backstory about his father and his brother, but it’s not really interesting. Him as a person? Really have no idea. All I know is that he’s got long fingers and a big… uh… you know.

That’s sweet that Sadie’s into that, but I would have liked to have seen him more developed. Same goes for Sadie, actually.

She’s a strong, fierce warrior who’s constantly stroking her knives and stubbornly disagreeing with figures of authority. But… that’s it?

To be honest, it was hard to tell the difference between her POV and Calla’s POV. They are very similar, fierce characters who defy traditional feminine stereotypes with their badass warrior muscles and curves. That’s cool, it really is. But they honestly seem like the same person to me.

And don’t even get me started on Grae. He has the personality of a loaf of bread. He feels like an unpaid extra. All I know about him is that he has hooded eyes?

This is obviously a recurring problem in this series, and I don’t really see it getting better. But I’m alright with that, because the story is fun and the plot rolls along fast enough that we don’t need to linger on character development.

Other Gripes, From Silly Sex to Pronouns

Ok, I’ll admit it – I’m a prude. But some of the steamy scenes in this book had me cackling.

I’ll try not to spoil too much, but there’s one in particular, where a certain character is about to… butter his lady’s biscuit. Instead of getting on with it, he waits for her to say she loves him. So what does she do? She screams out that she hates him. Obviously, she doesn’t, and he knows that (this isn’t an assault scene). I just can’t get over the cringe, lol. He waits to “sheath his sword” until she gives in and says she loves him. If enemies-to-lovers is your thing, this scene is probably the gold star for that trope.

Another small gripe is the very apparent attempt to shoehorn in gender/pronoun issues when it’s really not important. For example, there’s a point in the novel where Navin reveals he’s agender. He doesn’t care if you call him he, she, or anything in between. That’s cool… but how is that relevant? This whole time, he’s presented as masculine, wearing male clothes and having stereotypical male characteristics. Why even mention it at all?

Even the romances. These books are being marketed as queer romantasy, and… I guess that’s technically true? But all of the sex scenes come off as very heteronormative, with P going into V.

I’ll say it – it feels like a woke marketing strategy, capitalizing on these issues without really committing to writing them into the story in a meaningful way.

From Werewolves to Sand Monsters to Dragons

Without spoiling too much, this book definitely turns the magical creature quota up to the max. We’ve got a lot of new monsters joining the lore, and it gives this world more fun to play with. I think that’s my favorite part of this series – we keep building on the world, and each new thing we learn helps to unfurl the story a bit better.

We learn more about the different kinds of magic (there are several) and visit new places that have wildly varying landscapes (I’m talking deserts, floating sky castles, ice villages, etc.). It really just is a fun adventure, especially as we see Sadie struggle through acceptance of her new path and what it might mean for her future.

All in all, this isn’t award-winning literature, but not everything has to be. I had a lovely time exploring the world of Aotreas, even if I think it’s hilarious that humans are depicted as the accepting and understanding people who eschew gender norms, normalize non-heterosexual relationships, and promote feminine equality. But I guess this is a fantasy, after all!

Overall, this book really turned up at the end, where everything starts crashing and burning, setting us up nicely for the final book. We’re left hanging in both POVs, and I can’t wait to jump into “A Heart of Crimson Flames” to see how it all goes down.