Hey birdies, long time no see! *nervous laughter*
I came back from the dead to take part in L. Penelope’s Song of Blood and Stone blog tour. To be honest, I thought I’d snagged a copy of Children of Blood and Bone (by Tomi Adeyemi), but by the time I realized my mistake I’d already signed up for the blog tour. I figured I’d give the book a try; the premise was interesting enough:
“Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive–an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.
Jack’s mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it’s people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda’s Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps.”
In the end, L. Penelope really delivered with this novel.
The Review
When I actually got around to reading Song of Blood and Stone, I’d forgotten the premise. Within the first few pages, it became clear to me that Jasminda, a dark-skinned citizen, is an outcast among her light-skinned peers. She suffers humiliation and discrimination at the hands of countrymen who refuse to believe she belongs there. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? My immediate recognition of Jasminda’s plight drew me into the novel.
In the beginning, Jasminda’s ferocity, intelligence and strength of character are the center of focus. She’s determined to keep the rights to her land and make a life for herself, despite the government working against her. She knows how to navigate the mountains and make herbal medicine, and she even stops to heal an Elsiran, despite having no real reason to do so. When the Lagrimari soldiers invade her house and attempt to abuse both her an Jack, she doesn’t hesitate to defend herself with whatever weapons she could find.
Later, as Jasminda falls in love with Jack and as she starts to take on more responsibility to saving the country, Jasminda’s original fire seems to die a little (booo ☹️). She fails to connect dots and starts making stupid mistakes that threaten her life more than once. Jack’s thoughts, motivations and emotions take center stage, and his motivations almost always have to do with keeping Jasminda near him.
Fortunately, the “save-the-world” storyline isn’t completely lost in the “star-crossed lovers” subplot. Though L. Penelope’s set up leaves no doubt as to how the novel will end, the execution was near-flawless and I found myself literally gasping as all of the threads came together. I was so engrossed in the action I stayed up until 3 AM one night to finish the last 100 pages.
Was Song of Blood and Stone perfect? No, not by a long shot. I received an uncorrected advance reader copy, so I’ll leave comments about awkward word choices and sentence fragments out of my assessment. Instead, I’ll focus on the actual content.
For one, the main plot was too predictable. Fortunately, there are plenty of subplots and secondary characters to focus on, which make the story all around more interesting. Second, each chapter begins with “collected folktales,” which are L. Penelope’s version of Aesop’s Fables for Song of Blood and Stone. While I commend her for the effort, I often found the folktales confusing and distracting. If I put thought into it, I probably could have figured them out, but as the action in the novel got more intense I was less willing to put my mental energy into decoding the folktales. Lastly, Jack and Jasminda’s characters are both rather flat. They experience very little character growth throughout the novel. Song of Blood and Stone is the first novel in the Earthsinger series, so I sincerely hope they develop more over the course of the saga.
All in all I’d give this book 4.5 stars. It had its flaws, but I found it incredibly difficult to put down and I don’t regret reading it. Be forewarned: there are multiple detailed (but not explicit) descriptions of sex throughout the novel. People who are triggered by tales of discrimination, race wars, wartime violence, refugee camps, family death and rape might want to proceed with caution.
I recommend Song of Blood and Stone to people who enjoys tales of magic, afro-futurism connection with nature. I’d also recommend it to anyone looking for a strong(ish) black female protagonist. Though St. Martin’s Press classifies the book as YA, the themes are mature and suitable for an older audience as well.
Song of Blood and Stone goes on sale today. If you plan on grabbing a copy, I’d be greatly appreciative if you purchase it through my Amazon link. You’re under no obligation to do so, but the few cents I earn on every novel are helpful to me and cost you nothing. 🙂 For more purchasing options, visit the book’s page on the St. Martin’s Press website. Undecided? Check out other people’s reviews on Goodreads.
Like most of my books, I received this ARC from St. Martin’s press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. If you think this review is too positive to be honest, check out some of my other reviews. I promise I’m not always so nice, haha.
The Q & A
Due to the nature of the blog tour, some of these questions and answers may be the same as on other blogs. I’ve included both my questions and the general Q & A put forth in the Song of Blood and Stone press release.
1. What inspired you to write this series? What came first: The characters or the world? What was your inspiration for the magic of Earthsong? Were you inspired by other books? Movies?
When I first wrote this book, up until the time I gave it to my first editor, I thought it was going to be a novella. It was always meant to be a fairytale-esque story of a girl’s journey from the margins of society straight to its upper echelons. The characters Jack and Jasminda were there before the world was ever clear in my mind. The first scene I wrote was the one where they meet in front of her cabin. I knew they were from different, warring countries and they came from very different sorts of lives, but that was all. Through the magic of revision (lots and lots of revision) I discovered the journey that the characters would go on and all the conflicts they would face.
I love fantasy and there were so many inspiring series that I soaked in prior to writing the book, from Graceling* by Kristin Cashore to Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. But I think this book owes its biggest inspiration to the Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. Her fantasy world felt well realized and complex, filled with incredibly detailed characters, groups, nations, and settings. But I also wanted to write a kinder, gentler fantasy novel that wouldn’t double as a doorstopper. And mix in a really strong romance like some of my favorites Nalini Singh or Kresley Cole.
*Sarabi’s note: Graceling is also a great series. I remember loving it in high school.
2. What were your favorite scenes to write for SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE? What was the hardest scene to write? Is there a scene or moment that really sticks with you?
Though Usher, Jack’s valet, spends relatively little time on the page, I loved writing the scenes with him and Jack. When two characters have known each other for a long time, it can be really fun to play with how to show their relationship. Usher has known Jack his entire life and so the way they interact is unique. I also loved writing the visions that Jasminda gets from the stone. They were in a different voice, from a totally different perspective and the peeked in on a vibrant, fully formed world that’s different to the one of the main story. Hardest to write were the ones where Jasminda is confronted with the racism and bias of Elsirans.
The scene that sticks with me is when Jack and Jasminda are in the army base and he sleeps on the ground beside her, holding her hand. I find it really sweet and romantic.
3. How involved were you in the cover art process?
Since this book was initially self-published, and St. Martin’s Press decided to keep the cover when I signed 
on with them, I was extremely involved in the cover art process. I choose the designer after over a year of looking for the right artist, while I was writing the book. And that was probably the best decision I made. He was fantastic, and took all of my notes and ideas and created a cover that I just wasn’t ready for. It seriously blew my mind the first time I saw it.
4. Is there a character in SONG OF BLOOD & STONE that you most relate to? How do you select names of your characters?
I think Jasminda represents various aspects of myself both as I am and as I’d like to be. She’s definitely bolder than I am, but her struggle to feel a part of things is one that I understand.
As for naming my characters, for each nation, I asked questions about how the names should generally work. Things like: which prefixes and suffixes are common? Which letters and sounds are prevalent? Which letters or sounds either don’t exist or are more rare? So the Elsirans have a lot of double vowels in their names. Qs, Vs, and Zs are prominent, but there are no hard Cs.
Lagrimari names generally don’t use Js. I set up which suffixes were for men and women and the types of sounds the names would have. There are only 9 last names in Lagrimar, corresponding with the Houses. Jasminda as a name is an exception. Her parents didn’t follow the naming conventions of either country for her or her brothers. Because their interracial relationship was unique, they wanted their children’s names to be distinctive as well.
. Have you heard Emily Wapnick’s TED talk about being a multipotentialite? Both the talk and your bio really resonate with me, because I’m also interested in doing many different things. Do you or did you find it difficult to switch careers and make all of your interests work together?
I hadn’t heard of that before, but I listened to the TED talk and wow! Mind blown! I’ve found my people J It can absolutely be hard having so many different interests. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how I can start taking Krav Maga classes and obstacle course racing classes at the local Ninja Warrior gym. While I continue to rock climb and practice with my piano lessons app and still have time to make websites and write books! I can’t do all the things! It’s frustrating. But usually things happen in cycles, because they need to. At one period in my life, it was relatively easy to get a group of people together and make a short film—these days it’s much tougher. So I do other things.
And if/when you are making money from your interests, focusing becomes easier. The closest deadline gets the most attention. When deadlines converge, however, you’re in for some rough days, and some things you just need to let go of. For me, that aligns with when those things stop making me happy. I’m in a constant juggling act of letting something old go to make room for a new interest or opportunity, but life is cyclical like that. And if you think of it as your super power instead of a detriment, you can use your power for good!
6. What advice would you give aspiring authors, especially authors or color, striving to have their stories and truths shared?
I would tell aspiring authors to really investigate your goals and be frank with yourself about why you want to do this. It’s a difficult path emotionally, creatively, and professionally and what will get you through the low points is being very clear about your “why”. It can also be incredibly rewarding, but knowing what you’re getting yourself into is key.
Writing and publishing are two different disciplines. Your “why” will inform whether you pursue traditional publishing or seek to self-publish. It will keep you going through rejections, delays, bad reviews, disappointment, and the imposter syndrome that we all go through.
The other very important thing is to have a community to fall back on. Whether that’s a chapter of a professional organization like RWA, SFWA, SCWBI, and others, or a Facebook group, critique group, or writer’s circle, having others to commiserate and celebrate with you makes the journey much easier.
I’d like to thank L. Penelope for taking the time to answer blogger questions. 🙂
Perfect Leaves 
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