5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Good will always battle evil. Light will always fight the dark. In those moments, you’ll learn who you truly are.”
Odessa is separated from Ransom while protecting Evie. They travel toward Quentis using Caspia’s journal as a guide.
Caspia, a Quiescent princess, is a Starling, a shapeshifter who crossed the ocean after having prophetic visions of her sister’s murder. Calandra changes Caspia, as Starlings cannot shift in Calandra without becoming monsters.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
She falls in love with Andreas, who will become King Cross (Odessa’s father). When she and Andreas have Odessa, the Voster come for them. Caspia shifts into a crux to protect her family, and Andreas has no choice but to kill her, as she is no longer human.
In present day, Odessa learns that she is also a Starling, and she feels the call to shift for the first time. She decides to hide this from Ransom, repeating her mother’s story.
“Be bold, my Sparrow. Be brave.”
I actually enjoyed the dual-POV in this story, and I was convinced Odessa and Caspia would cross paths at some point, but surprise! They were in entirely different timelines, about two decades apart.
My heart broke for Andreas. He was so traumatized, barely able to look at Odessa who resembles her mother so much (this explains why Margot had Odessa dye her hair and wear gray).
I loved getting the backstory on Odessa’s parents and her origin. It is devastating that her entire life, Odessa believed her father did not love her, when all along he was trying to protect her and was forever grieving Caspia.
“You were always this woman. I knew it the day I watched you jump off this cliff. You were always my queen. It’s not your fault they weren’t paying attention.”
