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The Aurelian Cycle #3
Furysong
In this explosive conclusion to the epic trilogy that began with Fireborne, Annie and Lee are fighting for their lives—and for each other—as invading dragonfire threatens to burn their home to the ground.
A new revolution is underway, and nobody will emerge unscathed.
In New Pythos, Griff is facing an execution by the dragonborn, who are furious at his betrayal. He has allies on both sides seeking to defy his fate, but the price of his freedom might come at a dear cost. And Delo will have to make a choice: follow his family, or finally surrender to his conscience.
Meanwhile, Annie must race home to hatch a plan to save her Guardians and their dragons. With Callipolis on the brink of collapse and the triarchy set to be reinstated, she may be the one person who can save the city—if she can overcome her own doubts about her future.
Lee is a revolutionary at heart, but now he’ll have to find a way to fight with diplomacy. Going up against the dragonborn court and a foreign princess, he faces a test of loyalty that sets his head against his heart.
As the fate of Callipolis darkens, Annie and Lee must determine what they are willing to sacrifice in order to save each other, defeat their enemies, and reclaim their home.
A new revolution is underway, and nobody will emerge unscathed.
In New Pythos, Griff is facing an execution by the dragonborn, who are furious at his betrayal. He has allies on both sides seeking to defy his fate, but the price of his freedom might come at a dear cost. And Delo will have to make a choice: follow his family, or finally surrender to his conscience.
Meanwhile, Annie must race home to hatch a plan to save her Guardians and their dragons. With Callipolis on the brink of collapse and the triarchy set to be reinstated, she may be the one person who can save the city—if she can overcome her own doubts about her future.
Lee is a revolutionary at heart, but now he’ll have to find a way to fight with diplomacy. Going up against the dragonborn court and a foreign princess, he faces a test of loyalty that sets his head against his heart.
As the fate of Callipolis darkens, Annie and Lee must determine what they are willing to sacrifice in order to save each other, defeat their enemies, and reclaim their home.
486 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 2022
About the author
Rosaria Munda
7 books1,357 followersRosaria Munda grew up in rural North Carolina, where she climbed trees, read Harry Potter fanfiction, and taught herself Latin. She studied political theory at Princeton and lives with her husband in Chicago. Her debut young adult fantasy Fireborne was published in 2019 to critical acclaim, with sequels to follow.
For book recs and updates, follow her on instagram: @rosariamunda
For book recs and updates, follow her on instagram: @rosariamunda
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,393 reviews
August 21, 2022
4.5 stars
Wow, that is how you end a series! Seriously, this is one of the strongest trilogies I've read in a long time- excellent political fantasy with dragons, drama, romance, intrigue, betrayal, and characters you care about. This was such a satisfying conclusion (even if it might break your heart along the way!) and the fact that this author is willing to let things be dark and painful when it makes sense for the story keeps the stakes feeling high. This is one of few YA fantasy series I would recommend to readers who don't typically read in this age category. It's smart, engaging, and has excellent world-building.
The only (slight) downside to this final volume is the pacing. It does slow down and meander a bit through the middle, but I was so riveted in the final 200 pages it kind of made up for it. This series deserves all the hype! Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for sending a copy my way. All opinions are my own.
Content warnings include torture, death, grief, violence.
Wow, that is how you end a series! Seriously, this is one of the strongest trilogies I've read in a long time- excellent political fantasy with dragons, drama, romance, intrigue, betrayal, and characters you care about. This was such a satisfying conclusion (even if it might break your heart along the way!) and the fact that this author is willing to let things be dark and painful when it makes sense for the story keeps the stakes feeling high. This is one of few YA fantasy series I would recommend to readers who don't typically read in this age category. It's smart, engaging, and has excellent world-building.
The only (slight) downside to this final volume is the pacing. It does slow down and meander a bit through the middle, but I was so riveted in the final 200 pages it kind of made up for it. This series deserves all the hype! Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for sending a copy my way. All opinions are my own.
Content warnings include torture, death, grief, violence.
Want to read
March 28, 2021This book will probably rip my heart out and I’ll somehow be thankful for it.
August 25, 2023
y'all don't even understand how much I love this series. I'm going to try to form coherent thoughts here finally but I don't really know how because this is probably my favourite series ever and most of the thoughts I have are either complex analysis half-stolen from friends that I can't go into without spoiling things or else just nonsense noises of various emotions
this is honestly probably my least favourite of the series, just because it had so much to live up to, but it's still a fantastic conclusion! there's one thing at the end I wish had been set up a tiny bit better, and I do really wish we got a little more closure for some of the side characters, but honestly, there was so much going on in this series that I think in order to keep this last book to a reasonable length, she sort of had to pick and choose what to focus on, and I think it was done well! the important stuff was resolved, and I have my imagination and a bunch of friends who are also obsessed with this series for the rest. overall, I'd rather come away from a series wanting more than feeling like they overdid it, and for such an ambitious and complicated series, the more I sit with it, the more I feel like this finale was exactly what it needed to be
I think on a personal level, Lee and Annie's Furysong storylines are probably the least interesting to me, next to their storylines from the first two books and the other characters' storylines in this one, but that's not to say they're bad, either! they're still fun, and narratively speaking I think they're actually really good, they just don't focus on the things that give me, personally, the most brainrot about this series. all that said, I do still really love a lot of aspects of them!
going to get into some spoilers here, just briefly! I also really love
anyways on that note, Griff and Delo are so incredibly special to me as well. as much as I understand they were secondary main characters to Lee and Annie, and their story didn't need as much page time, I will forever wish I had gotten to see more of them, because I love them So Much. Griff is such a little shit and I love him and his attitude. his arc in this book. hurt. a lot. that's all I can really say without spoilers but. ow. anyways I love him!! and then Delo.... god I'm so obsessed with Delo. I can't believe we don't get a Delo POV until Furysong, because his POV is so fucking good holy shit. but at the same time, I think his POV was only really needed in this book, because of the way power dynamics shifted after Flamefall. and fuck his arc in this one.... god tier. it's so good. I love him so much. and then of course Griff and Delo together are so good too ohmygod I love when romances are a little messed up but also the softest thing I've ever read. best fucking dynamic I love them so much ohmygod
also the side characters? obsessed with them! it's very hard to talk about the ones that compel me most in Furysong without spoilers, so I'm gonna briefly say some spoiler things.
I think what I keep coming back to with this series is how much depth every single character has. even the worst of the worst characters feel so deeply human. that doesn't mean you like them, or even sympathize with them, but you understand how they got where they are. even Ixion, who I hate with every single cell in my body, feels human. he's awful and irredeemable and his past doesn't excuse it even slightly, but you still understand how his past has shaped him into who he is today. and this applies to all the characters, from the ones you hate, to the ones you love (all of whom are still so deeply flawed) to the ones you can't make up your mind on because they're so goddamn complicated and well-written
and then I could spend hours (okay let's be real I have spent hours) discussing all the themes and parallels and cycles in this series, but there is no way I can coherently make sense of them in this setting, so I'll just say there are so many layers here, and they make me absolutely insane. the way the series is both about cycles repeating and about breaking cycles, the way every single detail seems to matter so deliberately, the way this is a story about language and the stories we tell with it while also being an action-packed book about dragons, and I know I'm not making a lot of sense here (I swear I have way more intelligent things to say about these books when I'm not trying to boil it down to something easy to put in a review with very few spoilers) but you just have to read the books to understand I think
anyways this series is incredible and I loved rereading it so much!! also, the audiobooks are very good, 10/10 recommend
first read reaction, august 12, 2022: okay I need time to like. process. but I will say that (1) holy fuck this was so good, and (2) I had not finished a book since the beginning of june and I just finished the last third of the first book + the second and third books in this series in the past 25 hours. what I did not do is sleep. decisions were made and they were bad ones but rn I'm riding such a high from this fucking series that I don't even care
anyways do not be like me please sleep, but also please read this fucking series it will devastate you
pre-read comments, probably last summer lmao
I both need this and am absolutely terrified for this
this is honestly probably my least favourite of the series, just because it had so much to live up to, but it's still a fantastic conclusion! there's one thing at the end I wish had been set up a tiny bit better, and I do really wish we got a little more closure for some of the side characters, but honestly, there was so much going on in this series that I think in order to keep this last book to a reasonable length, she sort of had to pick and choose what to focus on, and I think it was done well! the important stuff was resolved, and I have my imagination and a bunch of friends who are also obsessed with this series for the rest. overall, I'd rather come away from a series wanting more than feeling like they overdid it, and for such an ambitious and complicated series, the more I sit with it, the more I feel like this finale was exactly what it needed to be
I think on a personal level, Lee and Annie's Furysong storylines are probably the least interesting to me, next to their storylines from the first two books and the other characters' storylines in this one, but that's not to say they're bad, either! they're still fun, and narratively speaking I think they're actually really good, they just don't focus on the things that give me, personally, the most brainrot about this series. all that said, I do still really love a lot of aspects of them!
going to get into some spoilers here, just briefly! I also really love
anyways on that note, Griff and Delo are so incredibly special to me as well. as much as I understand they were secondary main characters to Lee and Annie, and their story didn't need as much page time, I will forever wish I had gotten to see more of them, because I love them So Much. Griff is such a little shit and I love him and his attitude. his arc in this book. hurt. a lot. that's all I can really say without spoilers but. ow. anyways I love him!! and then Delo.... god I'm so obsessed with Delo. I can't believe we don't get a Delo POV until Furysong, because his POV is so fucking good holy shit. but at the same time, I think his POV was only really needed in this book, because of the way power dynamics shifted after Flamefall. and fuck his arc in this one.... god tier. it's so good. I love him so much. and then of course Griff and Delo together are so good too ohmygod I love when romances are a little messed up but also the softest thing I've ever read. best fucking dynamic I love them so much ohmygod
also the side characters? obsessed with them! it's very hard to talk about the ones that compel me most in Furysong without spoilers, so I'm gonna briefly say some spoiler things.
I think what I keep coming back to with this series is how much depth every single character has. even the worst of the worst characters feel so deeply human. that doesn't mean you like them, or even sympathize with them, but you understand how they got where they are. even Ixion, who I hate with every single cell in my body, feels human. he's awful and irredeemable and his past doesn't excuse it even slightly, but you still understand how his past has shaped him into who he is today. and this applies to all the characters, from the ones you hate, to the ones you love (all of whom are still so deeply flawed) to the ones you can't make up your mind on because they're so goddamn complicated and well-written
and then I could spend hours (okay let's be real I have spent hours) discussing all the themes and parallels and cycles in this series, but there is no way I can coherently make sense of them in this setting, so I'll just say there are so many layers here, and they make me absolutely insane. the way the series is both about cycles repeating and about breaking cycles, the way every single detail seems to matter so deliberately, the way this is a story about language and the stories we tell with it while also being an action-packed book about dragons, and I know I'm not making a lot of sense here (I swear I have way more intelligent things to say about these books when I'm not trying to boil it down to something easy to put in a review with very few spoilers) but you just have to read the books to understand I think
anyways this series is incredible and I loved rereading it so much!! also, the audiobooks are very good, 10/10 recommend
first read reaction, august 12, 2022: okay I need time to like. process. but I will say that (1) holy fuck this was so good, and (2) I had not finished a book since the beginning of june and I just finished the last third of the first book + the second and third books in this series in the past 25 hours. what I did not do is sleep. decisions were made and they were bad ones but rn I'm riding such a high from this fucking series that I don't even care
anyways do not be like me please sleep, but also please read this fucking series it will devastate you
pre-read comments, probably last summer lmao
I both need this and am absolutely terrified for this
May 28, 2022
thanks to Tessa from PRH for securing me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
"when a government ceases to protect its people, it becomes necessary to overthrow it."
aaaaand Rosaria Munda sticks the landing to what is probably the best YA fantasy trilogy i've ever read.
the characters are all very well-written, no matter how late they were introduced into the story, and they are each given a satisfying arc. i couldn't have thought of a better way for my favorite YA fantasy series to end. Rosaria Munda's ability to deliver this story so competently has left me laughing hysterically at what she has written in this book. she has unknowingly changed the trajectory of my life with only half a sentence. knowing that the author draws from classics like Antigone, The Odyssey, and The Iliad to name a few, i was so confident that she could write this story well— and she did. i love when the plot is pretty simple and straightforward but it's executed so competently, so skillfully that i don't leave unsatisfied with an itch unscratched. Rosaria Munda respects her characters and writes them so properly. even though the YA genre is oversaturated with revolutionary stories with similar themes such as this, i find this story one of its kind because of its well-roundedness and simple writing.
indeed! the writing is simple, yet i find the word choices deliberate. every word that follows the other to make the whole of the sentence is intentional, so every sentence packs a punch. the author's ability to write so clearly makes her sentences— and by extension, her storytelling— all the more impactful. the importance of the story is maintained steadily while never losing its humor. i found every line so delightful and enjoyable; the story pulled every reaction out of me and i can't help but laugh, cry, and rejoice with them. Rosaria Munda is undoubtedly a very competent writer, and i am beyond excited to see her grow as a writer and an author.
i'm satisfied with the ending and Rosaria Munda definitely deserves recognition for writing such a well-rounded, nuanced story with such lovable and charming (and at times idiotic) characters. it's very solid thematically and narratively— and what little flaws it may have, i can easily overlook because of my very strong attachment to the characters. it will be a long time again before i find another series that will make me want to tear my hair out while laughing maniacally at 9am. i've been through SO MUCH it feels so surreal to write down my thoughts on it now because i still can't let go. i'd be hard-pressed to find another story like this, so thank you to Rosaria Munda for writing such a fantastic story peopled with brilliant characters! my brainrot starts here and i will be forwarding all my therapy bills (including imminent mental hospital confinement fees) to Rosaria Munda's residence.
"when a government ceases to protect its people, it becomes necessary to overthrow it."
aaaaand Rosaria Munda sticks the landing to what is probably the best YA fantasy trilogy i've ever read.
the characters are all very well-written, no matter how late they were introduced into the story, and they are each given a satisfying arc. i couldn't have thought of a better way for my favorite YA fantasy series to end. Rosaria Munda's ability to deliver this story so competently has left me laughing hysterically at what she has written in this book. she has unknowingly changed the trajectory of my life with only half a sentence. knowing that the author draws from classics like Antigone, The Odyssey, and The Iliad to name a few, i was so confident that she could write this story well— and she did. i love when the plot is pretty simple and straightforward but it's executed so competently, so skillfully that i don't leave unsatisfied with an itch unscratched. Rosaria Munda respects her characters and writes them so properly. even though the YA genre is oversaturated with revolutionary stories with similar themes such as this, i find this story one of its kind because of its well-roundedness and simple writing.
indeed! the writing is simple, yet i find the word choices deliberate. every word that follows the other to make the whole of the sentence is intentional, so every sentence packs a punch. the author's ability to write so clearly makes her sentences— and by extension, her storytelling— all the more impactful. the importance of the story is maintained steadily while never losing its humor. i found every line so delightful and enjoyable; the story pulled every reaction out of me and i can't help but laugh, cry, and rejoice with them. Rosaria Munda is undoubtedly a very competent writer, and i am beyond excited to see her grow as a writer and an author.
i'm satisfied with the ending and Rosaria Munda definitely deserves recognition for writing such a well-rounded, nuanced story with such lovable and charming (and at times idiotic) characters. it's very solid thematically and narratively— and what little flaws it may have, i can easily overlook because of my very strong attachment to the characters. it will be a long time again before i find another series that will make me want to tear my hair out while laughing maniacally at 9am. i've been through SO MUCH it feels so surreal to write down my thoughts on it now because i still can't let go. i'd be hard-pressed to find another story like this, so thank you to Rosaria Munda for writing such a fantastic story peopled with brilliant characters! my brainrot starts here and i will be forwarding all my therapy bills (including imminent mental hospital confinement fees) to Rosaria Munda's residence.
December 25, 2023
Dear Power sur Eater, I’m so sorry I was not your author. If I were your author, you would have been so loved.
August 13, 2023
i dont even want to guess how many times i cried reading this
December 1, 2023
"Sing me now your fury-song"
TW: animal death, blood, branding, child death, classism, death, death of a loved one, fire/fire injury, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, misogyny, sexual content, torture, violence, war.
Update: 11/30/23
There are really no words for how much this series means to me and every time I try to find them, I just feel more overwhelmed by the magnitude of love I have for this trilogy. As with the rest of the series, Furysong book only got better upon reread.
The things that broke me the first time were just as heartbreaking. The beautiful moments were even more beautiful. I don't know how Rosaria Munda manages it, but every time I reread one of these books, I end up just a bit more in awe of it than I already was.
To say that this book - this series - is perfect is honestly an understatement for just how special it is to me.
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Original Read: 8/22/22
If there was ever a perfect book in my mind, it's this one.
This is the kind of book that has made me question if I've ever truly loved a series before this one. Never before has a book made me feel so much. I had to set this book down because I was so devastated I needed to step away for a bit. I have literally never had to do that before.
There isn't much I can say without spoiling this or the rest of the trilogy so I'll just say that this book was perfect. Any concerns I had over this book not living up to my (extremely high) expectations were pointless. Rosaria Munda truly outdid herself.
Not that it needed to, but this book has confirmed the Aurelian Cycle's place as my favorite series of all time. I care so much for these characters and this world. (For someone that never cries while reading, I cried when someone brushed a little kid's hair. That's how gifted Rosaria Munda is at making mundane moments emotionally charged and devastating.)
Overall, I mean it when I say this book is perfect and I will continue trying to force everyone I know to read it. I genuinely kind of feel like there's a hole in my heart now that I've completed this series.
Seriously, read this series. You won't regret it (she says, sobbing uncontrollably.)
TW: animal death, blood, branding, child death, classism, death, death of a loved one, fire/fire injury, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, misogyny, sexual content, torture, violence, war.
Update: 11/30/23
There are really no words for how much this series means to me and every time I try to find them, I just feel more overwhelmed by the magnitude of love I have for this trilogy. As with the rest of the series, Furysong book only got better upon reread.
The things that broke me the first time were just as heartbreaking. The beautiful moments were even more beautiful. I don't know how Rosaria Munda manages it, but every time I reread one of these books, I end up just a bit more in awe of it than I already was.
To say that this book - this series - is perfect is honestly an understatement for just how special it is to me.
------------------------------------------------
Original Read: 8/22/22
If there was ever a perfect book in my mind, it's this one.
This is the kind of book that has made me question if I've ever truly loved a series before this one. Never before has a book made me feel so much. I had to set this book down because I was so devastated I needed to step away for a bit. I have literally never had to do that before.
There isn't much I can say without spoiling this or the rest of the trilogy so I'll just say that this book was perfect. Any concerns I had over this book not living up to my (extremely high) expectations were pointless. Rosaria Munda truly outdid herself.
Not that it needed to, but this book has confirmed the Aurelian Cycle's place as my favorite series of all time. I care so much for these characters and this world. (For someone that never cries while reading, I cried when someone brushed a little kid's hair. That's how gifted Rosaria Munda is at making mundane moments emotionally charged and devastating.)
Overall, I mean it when I say this book is perfect and I will continue trying to force everyone I know to read it. I genuinely kind of feel like there's a hole in my heart now that I've completed this series.
Seriously, read this series. You won't regret it (she says, sobbing uncontrollably.)
August 24, 2024
“When they don’t give you the tools to win, you make your own.”
Furysong is a high stakes final instalment infused with revolution, suspense, heartbreak, political unrest, and brave protagonists who stop at nothing to bring down their enemies. the book starts off with heart-stopping action sequences from the first chapter and it only gets better from there. the dragons and the bond they shared with their riders is hands down one of the best i’ve ever read.
THE PLOT
annie’s plan went conveniently well and everything pretty much unfolded the way she and lee wanted it to in the first part of the novel, which gave the impression of a plot armour but that was quickly proven wrong. things got more intense after that, especially when a certain death occurred that really gutted me and made me bawl my eyes out because it was enormously heartbreaking. i almost gave the book 5 stars because of how emotional i got over it but i also nearly knocked down a star because the death felt unnecessary.
THE CHARACTERS
we’re introduced to a brand new pov - delo - who was torn between choosing loyalty towards his family or the man that he loves. his perspective was an interesting addition to the story but the audiobook narrator lacked emotion while conveying delo’s chapters which made it difficult for me to connect with him as a character. his delivery of the lines was subpar. there was hardly any emotion or inflection while he narrated them. not to mention, there weren’t any changes in pitch either when he voiced other characters. half the time i didn’t know if he was narrating delo’s monologue or having a convo with another character. most of the time he sounded painfully bored. unfortunately, i struggled to get through his chapters and had to read along the ebook to keep track of what he was saying.
lee had my eyebrows rising all the way to the scalp in the first half, because of how “tolerable” he was with the glory that he experienced while his home was usurped. it was shocking but not entirely surprising. this sentiment was short-lived thankfully, and i quickly sympathised with what happened to him after. his chapters became more emotionally charged as the story progressed. for the most part of the book, i felt bad for him and i couldn’t help but think that his character could’ve been developed better.
annie found her way back from the indecisive girl she was in book 2 and had her aim set for what she planned to do to take back Callipolis from the new conquerors. i empathised with her more here. my heart ached for her suffering. her later chapters made me cry more than once and i really wanted her to find the happiness she deserved.
annie and lee’s romance was so tender and heartfelt to read. i get that it’s mainly because of their solid friendship but i’m generally indifferent towards the friends-to-lovers trope so i surprised myself when i ended up liking this one so much. the author really nailed that trope and i couldn’t get enough of their little domestic moments with each other.
griff wasn’t his usual self in the first half of the book and drowned himself in grief instead. he had a fantastic arc in Flamefall but i guess the author didn’t really know what to do with him in this book up until his role again became crucial to further the plot. he was just kinda there until then. however, when his pov was back i could’ve jumped in joy because of how badly i missed him!!
FINAL THOUGHTS
i wish i could’ve given this 5 stars but the ending was bittersweet and for me personally, it didn’t feel very satisfying because some plot points should’ve been explored further. my heart still hurts for the characters and i’ll be thinking about them in the days to come. if im being honest, this book made me quite sad.
overall, i enjoyed the trilogy immensely and i’ll definitely be recommending it to anyone who loves dragons, political intrigue and defiant characters.
May 28, 2023
For me, Furysong was my most anticipated read of the year. After the incredible plot and character development of the past two books, I was hoping that Furysong would provide the epic finale for Lee, Annie, and the rest of the Guardians. However, I have to say, I was a bit disappointed by the book as a whole. Please be warned, SPOILERS AHEAD.
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Going into it, we had major cliffhangers to dive into, with Duck being alive, Lee being trapped by Ixion and the Bassileans. However, a majority of the first portion of the book blends in to me, mainly due to the presence of the additional POVs of Delo and Griff. Now, Griff is likeable enough, and I actually enjoyed his relationship with Annie in Flamefall. However, I felt like his character fell short after the first section of the book where he leads the Woad-riders in revolution against the aristocracy. Griff experienced major loss, but I feel like we, as readers, didn't fully get to experience and immerse ourselves in his emotions, mainly because after Annie leaves and the Woad-riders are left to rebuild New Pythos, we mainly view Griff through Delo's point of view as he shows up drunk on Delo's doorstep multiple times throughout one week. It's later revealed that Griff has no recollection of that week, and as readers, we are mainly deprived of Griff's grief. Of course, we do get snippets of where he reminisces about his sister, grandfather, and nieces, but we don't get any heart-wrenching moments of agony beyond the actual death scene of his family. Griff's own sentiments towards being ruler also felt muddled to me. I didn't fully understand him as a ruler, mainly because we didn't get a lot of his own perspective.
Moving onto Delo. I disliked having his perspective included in this book. I can understand why Munda chose to do so; Delo and Griff's story served as an odd parallel to Lee and Annie's, but I found that Delo as a whole was a flat and underdeveloped character. Other than getting beat up by a group of homophobic peasants, Delo has no real moments of conflict and resolution. In my opinion, he never gets full closure with Griff, even though their relationship was muddled with complexity, with Delo's sister being responsible for the death of Griff's family, and Griff widowing most of the members of Delo's family and holding them hostage. Delo only seems to demonstrate surface-level frustration with Griff's grief coping mechanisms, and one of the only significant interactions they have in the novel is when Griff rescues Delo from the humiliation imposed upon him and his family at the feast for the Callipolan riders. Overall, although I like the idea of Griff and Delo, I don't think they were done justice in the novel.
Moving onto one of my favorite characters, Power. I think everything about Power was done wonderfully in this novel, except for his death. I loved how he was playing "traitor," only because he knew that he had to be the man on the inside to protect Annie and the rest of the Guardians. His nobility was demonstrated throughout this novel, especially in the prison cell, when he admitted that he chose between Rock and Crissa to save Crissa because he was afraid of the atrocities she might face at the hands of the dragonborn. I also love how well he works with Annie, and how he, rather than Lee, was the one to pull her out of her slump and motivate her to return to her city and save Callipolis. Annie and Power are both extremely pragmatic characters, and I loved seeing the parallel with how Power worked with the dragonborn regime to protect the rest of the Guardians in this book, to how Annie stayed with Atreus's regime to protect Lee and the Passi. I think that Power deserved a better death than he got, however. I can understand that Munda may have wanted his death to be jarring and sudden, but honestly, you could see his death coming from pages away. I'm glad he got those moments of closure and closeness with Annie, (him calling Annie "Commander" was my absolute favorite) but I think we were deprived of seeing Annie grieve one of her closest friends and partners because his death was so sudden before the Firstrider battle. (Power's death was one of the two times I cried during this book). I wish we could've seen Annie honor Power in some tangible way after the final battle, and also maybe her interacting with Power's mother, especially because we've met Power's mother before, and it's been mentioned by Annie how close Power was to his mother.
Okay. Onto the main event. Lee and Annie. There's so much to get into. Firstly, I was overall disappointed with their dynamic. I think the reason they make such compelling protagonists is because of their tension, both romantically and ideologically. In book 3, we finally see Lee and Annie come to a peaceful resolution and pursue a relationship, but their serenity takes an element of tension and excitement away from their character development. Especially in book 2, we consistently see Annie and Lee being put on opposite sides of a battle because of their approaches, with Annie being the pragmatic, and Lee being the radical. With where we left at the ending of the second book, with Annie stepping fully into the role of Firstrider, leaving Lee to fulfill his own political goals, I expected to see more of that dynamic going into this book, to see them balance each other out as they focused on their revolution. However. I feel like we catapulted backwards and into an entirely different character development plotline. Annie throws herself into freeing New Pythos at the beginning of the novel, but when that results in the Bassilean invasion, she loses all her confidence in herself as Firstrider. I disliked how we slid so far backwards from Annie's status as a poised Commander, as we saw her take the lead at the end of Flamefall. I can understand the setback, but I feel like the climb back to the Annie we know and love was staggering and too drawn-out. It was satisfying when she decided to fight Ixion after being found not-guilty by the court, but it was frustrating to me that Annie never forgave herself until the jury declared her innocent. I can understand her grief and frustration and disappointment, but her resignation to giving up her title of Firstrider and blaming herself felt overly self-deprecating and was a disservice to her determined, passionate, and practical character traits.
Also, I feel like we never got a fulfilling resolution of Annie and Lee's dynamic, with Lee never fully addressing the frustration he felt when he thought Annie was being too passive (when in reality, she was trying to work within the system to maintain her power so she could continue to effect change in Callipolis). Similarly, Annie never fully addressed her feelings of abandonment and betrayal that she felt in book 2 when Lee abandoned the Guardians to pursue his radicalism with the Passi, leaving Annie to shoulder the burdens of a failing regime (I'm fully Team Annie, and I feel like my bias shows). Lee does admit to Annie at the manor house in the Highlands that as Alternus, it was his duty to defend Callipolis while Annie was on the offensive, but I felt that it was too little, too late. Again, I feel like the complexities in Lee and Annie's relationship were mainly glossed over, whether it be because the author didn't know how to address these issues, or whether the character growth was skipped in favor of advancing the many plotlines within this book.
Another small detail that irked me within this book was the bits of folklore that were scattered throughout, but never fully developed. From the poem about the Skysung Queen to the Spring Beyond the Stars, it would've been interesting to see these myths more fleshed out, especially if it pertained to the dragons and riders separating permanently, as hinted by Lee at the end of the novel. Without a definitive conclusion (also the fact that its mentioned that Griff's father is alive(?!) and is the one who discovered the Star Spring), these threads just feel loose and messy, unless Munda is planning on writing a fourth book. Another thing that stood out to me was that the connection between Aela and Annie is mentioned to be stronger than other dragonriders, as Annie can summon Aela even without her wristlet. I wish that had been explained more in terms of proving that those who weren't born of dragonblood still were able to foster deep connections with dragons, because I feel like this was an idea that wasn't fully fleshed out. Also, the fact that Lee could bond with Aela and share her emotions after Pallor's death, as well as ride her, was infuriatingly glossed over, and it just felt like lazy writing.
As for Lee and Annie's endings, I'm conflicted. Pallor's death and Lee's widowing was heart-wrenching (it was the only other time I cried in this book), but honestly, with the details of the charter being determined, I saw a door opening for Lee that I expected him to take. Lee was the radical in book 2, the political one, who was engrossing himself in leadership society, who was writing reform articles with the Passi. Without his dragon, Lee was in a position to take up more of a leadership role without the bindings of a dragon and the unfair power balance that Pallor granted him. However, him stepping back to lead a new generation of dragon-riders seemed odd to me, as his ending didn't seem to suit him. Initially, I thought it suited Annie more than him, but on a second thought, the ending simply doesn't fit. Lee had dreams of reform, but also came to the revelation that he was meant to light the way for Annie, which is the reasoning that backs his and Pallor's sacrifice. I could see Lee stepping back to write a newspaper, to work with Lo Teiran on a publication, but seeing him step out of the city completely was a bit too jarring. Also, the fact that Lee never had an explicit discussion with Annie about his reasoning and how he believed that Annie was the right person to take on that responsibility bothered me, because again, I just feel like it was something important that was glossed over. Another thing that bothered me was that Power was the one to reinforce to Annie that it was her duty to rescue Callipolis, but Lee never had a similar discussion with her. I did like Annie's ending, I think it suits her to work with the leadership to ensure a safer, fairer future, but I think that idea should've been more developed, especially after she went through a whole process of wanting to leave the whole world of dragonriding and politics behind previously in the novel.
Overall, I still enjoyed the book, but didn't feel a strong emotional connection to it as I did with Fireborne and Flamefall. I'm a little disappointed, but it still was a decent read.
*************************************************************************
Going into it, we had major cliffhangers to dive into, with Duck being alive, Lee being trapped by Ixion and the Bassileans. However, a majority of the first portion of the book blends in to me, mainly due to the presence of the additional POVs of Delo and Griff. Now, Griff is likeable enough, and I actually enjoyed his relationship with Annie in Flamefall. However, I felt like his character fell short after the first section of the book where he leads the Woad-riders in revolution against the aristocracy. Griff experienced major loss, but I feel like we, as readers, didn't fully get to experience and immerse ourselves in his emotions, mainly because after Annie leaves and the Woad-riders are left to rebuild New Pythos, we mainly view Griff through Delo's point of view as he shows up drunk on Delo's doorstep multiple times throughout one week. It's later revealed that Griff has no recollection of that week, and as readers, we are mainly deprived of Griff's grief. Of course, we do get snippets of where he reminisces about his sister, grandfather, and nieces, but we don't get any heart-wrenching moments of agony beyond the actual death scene of his family. Griff's own sentiments towards being ruler also felt muddled to me. I didn't fully understand him as a ruler, mainly because we didn't get a lot of his own perspective.
Moving onto Delo. I disliked having his perspective included in this book. I can understand why Munda chose to do so; Delo and Griff's story served as an odd parallel to Lee and Annie's, but I found that Delo as a whole was a flat and underdeveloped character. Other than getting beat up by a group of homophobic peasants, Delo has no real moments of conflict and resolution. In my opinion, he never gets full closure with Griff, even though their relationship was muddled with complexity, with Delo's sister being responsible for the death of Griff's family, and Griff widowing most of the members of Delo's family and holding them hostage. Delo only seems to demonstrate surface-level frustration with Griff's grief coping mechanisms, and one of the only significant interactions they have in the novel is when Griff rescues Delo from the humiliation imposed upon him and his family at the feast for the Callipolan riders. Overall, although I like the idea of Griff and Delo, I don't think they were done justice in the novel.
Moving onto one of my favorite characters, Power. I think everything about Power was done wonderfully in this novel, except for his death. I loved how he was playing "traitor," only because he knew that he had to be the man on the inside to protect Annie and the rest of the Guardians. His nobility was demonstrated throughout this novel, especially in the prison cell, when he admitted that he chose between Rock and Crissa to save Crissa because he was afraid of the atrocities she might face at the hands of the dragonborn. I also love how well he works with Annie, and how he, rather than Lee, was the one to pull her out of her slump and motivate her to return to her city and save Callipolis. Annie and Power are both extremely pragmatic characters, and I loved seeing the parallel with how Power worked with the dragonborn regime to protect the rest of the Guardians in this book, to how Annie stayed with Atreus's regime to protect Lee and the Passi. I think that Power deserved a better death than he got, however. I can understand that Munda may have wanted his death to be jarring and sudden, but honestly, you could see his death coming from pages away. I'm glad he got those moments of closure and closeness with Annie, (him calling Annie "Commander" was my absolute favorite) but I think we were deprived of seeing Annie grieve one of her closest friends and partners because his death was so sudden before the Firstrider battle. (Power's death was one of the two times I cried during this book). I wish we could've seen Annie honor Power in some tangible way after the final battle, and also maybe her interacting with Power's mother, especially because we've met Power's mother before, and it's been mentioned by Annie how close Power was to his mother.
Okay. Onto the main event. Lee and Annie. There's so much to get into. Firstly, I was overall disappointed with their dynamic. I think the reason they make such compelling protagonists is because of their tension, both romantically and ideologically. In book 3, we finally see Lee and Annie come to a peaceful resolution and pursue a relationship, but their serenity takes an element of tension and excitement away from their character development. Especially in book 2, we consistently see Annie and Lee being put on opposite sides of a battle because of their approaches, with Annie being the pragmatic, and Lee being the radical. With where we left at the ending of the second book, with Annie stepping fully into the role of Firstrider, leaving Lee to fulfill his own political goals, I expected to see more of that dynamic going into this book, to see them balance each other out as they focused on their revolution. However. I feel like we catapulted backwards and into an entirely different character development plotline. Annie throws herself into freeing New Pythos at the beginning of the novel, but when that results in the Bassilean invasion, she loses all her confidence in herself as Firstrider. I disliked how we slid so far backwards from Annie's status as a poised Commander, as we saw her take the lead at the end of Flamefall. I can understand the setback, but I feel like the climb back to the Annie we know and love was staggering and too drawn-out. It was satisfying when she decided to fight Ixion after being found not-guilty by the court, but it was frustrating to me that Annie never forgave herself until the jury declared her innocent. I can understand her grief and frustration and disappointment, but her resignation to giving up her title of Firstrider and blaming herself felt overly self-deprecating and was a disservice to her determined, passionate, and practical character traits.
Also, I feel like we never got a fulfilling resolution of Annie and Lee's dynamic, with Lee never fully addressing the frustration he felt when he thought Annie was being too passive (when in reality, she was trying to work within the system to maintain her power so she could continue to effect change in Callipolis). Similarly, Annie never fully addressed her feelings of abandonment and betrayal that she felt in book 2 when Lee abandoned the Guardians to pursue his radicalism with the Passi, leaving Annie to shoulder the burdens of a failing regime (I'm fully Team Annie, and I feel like my bias shows). Lee does admit to Annie at the manor house in the Highlands that as Alternus, it was his duty to defend Callipolis while Annie was on the offensive, but I felt that it was too little, too late. Again, I feel like the complexities in Lee and Annie's relationship were mainly glossed over, whether it be because the author didn't know how to address these issues, or whether the character growth was skipped in favor of advancing the many plotlines within this book.
Another small detail that irked me within this book was the bits of folklore that were scattered throughout, but never fully developed. From the poem about the Skysung Queen to the Spring Beyond the Stars, it would've been interesting to see these myths more fleshed out, especially if it pertained to the dragons and riders separating permanently, as hinted by Lee at the end of the novel. Without a definitive conclusion (also the fact that its mentioned that Griff's father is alive(?!) and is the one who discovered the Star Spring), these threads just feel loose and messy, unless Munda is planning on writing a fourth book. Another thing that stood out to me was that the connection between Aela and Annie is mentioned to be stronger than other dragonriders, as Annie can summon Aela even without her wristlet. I wish that had been explained more in terms of proving that those who weren't born of dragonblood still were able to foster deep connections with dragons, because I feel like this was an idea that wasn't fully fleshed out. Also, the fact that Lee could bond with Aela and share her emotions after Pallor's death, as well as ride her, was infuriatingly glossed over, and it just felt like lazy writing.
As for Lee and Annie's endings, I'm conflicted. Pallor's death and Lee's widowing was heart-wrenching (it was the only other time I cried in this book), but honestly, with the details of the charter being determined, I saw a door opening for Lee that I expected him to take. Lee was the radical in book 2, the political one, who was engrossing himself in leadership society, who was writing reform articles with the Passi. Without his dragon, Lee was in a position to take up more of a leadership role without the bindings of a dragon and the unfair power balance that Pallor granted him. However, him stepping back to lead a new generation of dragon-riders seemed odd to me, as his ending didn't seem to suit him. Initially, I thought it suited Annie more than him, but on a second thought, the ending simply doesn't fit. Lee had dreams of reform, but also came to the revelation that he was meant to light the way for Annie, which is the reasoning that backs his and Pallor's sacrifice. I could see Lee stepping back to write a newspaper, to work with Lo Teiran on a publication, but seeing him step out of the city completely was a bit too jarring. Also, the fact that Lee never had an explicit discussion with Annie about his reasoning and how he believed that Annie was the right person to take on that responsibility bothered me, because again, I just feel like it was something important that was glossed over. Another thing that bothered me was that Power was the one to reinforce to Annie that it was her duty to rescue Callipolis, but Lee never had a similar discussion with her. I did like Annie's ending, I think it suits her to work with the leadership to ensure a safer, fairer future, but I think that idea should've been more developed, especially after she went through a whole process of wanting to leave the whole world of dragonriding and politics behind previously in the novel.
Overall, I still enjoyed the book, but didn't feel a strong emotional connection to it as I did with Fireborne and Flamefall. I'm a little disappointed, but it still was a decent read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2022
It's such a great feeling when the ending to a story you love is everything you hoped it would be. Rosaria Munda is officially an auto buy author for me and this trilogy is now an all time favorite.
August 7, 2022
A stunning series conclusion. Clever, brutal, equally heartbreaking and hopeful.
January 7, 2024
"I used to imagine we would be heroes."
A constant trend of my reading this year has been attempting to find something that supplements the way I feel about another story, another world, another group of characters I can find myself in. I read this series in the wake of missing Fourth Wing, and while it didn't sit in the same spot of my brain, it soothed something inside me. Isn't that what we search for in fiction, constantly, without fail? Who we are, who we want to be, and who we wish to be.
I loved the way this series started, centered, and ended. It was about friendship, power, corruption, and the joy you can find in being in love. How: no matter how powerful you are, love still fights for dominance, to be the brightest parts of our lives. I love that in fiction, no matter what the story revolves around, that point stands. It reminds us all that one day we'll find something to love as brightly as the love in this book shined.
Whether it be for friendship, for family, for grief, for dragons, or for the people you serve, there is so much love to sustain humanity that a book can't survive without it thriving inside the pages.
What made this series so unique for me, however, was the different take on what it means to be a hero. What it means to feel like you are, but never truly live up to it. What it is to have the responsibility of the word, but never feel like you earned it, or deserved it, or ever should have had it in the first place. It's questioning what the word even means, how it gets defined, if it ever should be. I loved how much it came into question, and how much my theory of it was proven constantly in all three books.
Being a hero isn't about anything other than knowing you are doing everything you can to help those that can't help themselves. Putting yourself on the line when you want someone else to do it for you. Knowing that in your choice to forsake yourself, not question yourself, you are the person that is hero. Even if nobody ever calls you that.
Being a hero is questioning whether you deserve it because only the real ones ever do. I love how this series exemplified and capture that. I felt it in every word, every page, and every character. I loved being inside its pages.
A constant trend of my reading this year has been attempting to find something that supplements the way I feel about another story, another world, another group of characters I can find myself in. I read this series in the wake of missing Fourth Wing, and while it didn't sit in the same spot of my brain, it soothed something inside me. Isn't that what we search for in fiction, constantly, without fail? Who we are, who we want to be, and who we wish to be.
I loved the way this series started, centered, and ended. It was about friendship, power, corruption, and the joy you can find in being in love. How: no matter how powerful you are, love still fights for dominance, to be the brightest parts of our lives. I love that in fiction, no matter what the story revolves around, that point stands. It reminds us all that one day we'll find something to love as brightly as the love in this book shined.
Whether it be for friendship, for family, for grief, for dragons, or for the people you serve, there is so much love to sustain humanity that a book can't survive without it thriving inside the pages.
What made this series so unique for me, however, was the different take on what it means to be a hero. What it means to feel like you are, but never truly live up to it. What it is to have the responsibility of the word, but never feel like you earned it, or deserved it, or ever should have had it in the first place. It's questioning what the word even means, how it gets defined, if it ever should be. I loved how much it came into question, and how much my theory of it was proven constantly in all three books.
Being a hero isn't about anything other than knowing you are doing everything you can to help those that can't help themselves. Putting yourself on the line when you want someone else to do it for you. Knowing that in your choice to forsake yourself, not question yourself, you are the person that is hero. Even if nobody ever calls you that.
Being a hero is questioning whether you deserve it because only the real ones ever do. I love how this series exemplified and capture that. I felt it in every word, every page, and every character. I loved being inside its pages.
June 6, 2023
This was so good, I fucking balled my eyes out!!
I loved the ending of this series, and all 3 books kept the same momentum until the very end. I could not stop reading these books, the stakes were high and I had to know what happened next. You could definitely tell the author had thoroughly mapped out the story arc for this series, every decision was deliberate. (Even the decisions/tropes I didn't like or normally am not a fan of, didn't hold me back from how invested I was in the story and characters.) If you haven't already, pick this series up. I will def be reading anything else this author writes.
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Fireborne, #1 ★★★★★
Flamefall, #2 ★★★★★
Furysong, #3 ★★★★★
I loved the ending of this series, and all 3 books kept the same momentum until the very end. I could not stop reading these books, the stakes were high and I had to know what happened next. You could definitely tell the author had thoroughly mapped out the story arc for this series, every decision was deliberate. (Even the decisions/tropes I didn't like or normally am not a fan of, didn't hold me back from how invested I was in the story and characters.) If you haven't already, pick this series up. I will def be reading anything else this author writes.
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Fireborne, #1 ★★★★★
Flamefall, #2 ★★★★★
Furysong, #3 ★★★★★
September 2, 2022
The story lagged a little, when the stakes were so high but the ending wasn't rushed .
The characters in this book go through so much, and I'm just left here hurting for Lee because if anything he has had so much loss, I just wish he had one clear win for himself.
I'm just sitting here bawling my eyes out .. that ending hurt me so bad and yet made my heart feel ok.
Never thought I would love a political fantasy but this was just so very good.
Highlights :
•“Then what’s even the point—”
“—of trying? I would say, the point is trying.
•“Some of the bravest women in our lives have been peasant women, Annie. They’re why we’re here. Even if they go unsung.”
•The only way forward is to look into the face of the one who deserves my hatred and do better.
The characters in this book go through so much, and I'm just left here hurting for Lee because if anything he has had so much loss, I just wish he had one clear win for himself.
I'm just sitting here bawling my eyes out .. that ending hurt me so bad and yet made my heart feel ok.
Never thought I would love a political fantasy but this was just so very good.
Highlights :
•“Then what’s even the point—”
“—of trying? I would say, the point is trying.
•“Some of the bravest women in our lives have been peasant women, Annie. They’re why we’re here. Even if they go unsung.”
•The only way forward is to look into the face of the one who deserves my hatred and do better.
May 29, 2024
THIS is the dragon series everyone should be raving about. The plot, the characters, the emotions. I can’t recommend this enough.
The first book was a solid start but it really took off in the second book. I blew through books two & three. I couldn’t put them down. I even cried a bit in book three. If you like fantasy &/or dragons, you should check this series out.
The first book was a solid start but it really took off in the second book. I blew through books two & three. I couldn’t put them down. I even cried a bit in book three. If you like fantasy &/or dragons, you should check this series out.
May 22, 2023
Rating: All-Time Favorite
Series Rating: All-Time Favorite
Easiest 5 stars I've ever given in my life.
I wept, I raged, I laughed, I cheered, I gasped, and when I turned the last page and had to leave this world behind, I was so incredibly satisfied, but it was so bittersweet as I had to leave my beloved characters.
I have put off writing my review of Furysong for an entire day at this point because I honestly haven't figured out a great way to talk about it without spoilers because it was SUCH a RIDE! I read this book in 24 hours, and I have to say that a lot of those hours were spent weeping because Rosaria Munda does NOT pull punches. This is a series with STAKES. But as a conclusion, I'd say it is one of the strongest that I have read, definitely in YA, but in all of fantasy as well.
Okay, so Fireborne was one of the first books I read in 2020. I immediately thought upon reading it that it was something special, and after just one book, her debut, I put Rosaria Munda on my list of absolute favorite authors. She has shown that she absolutely deserves it with Furysong because while Flamefall was even better than Fireborne, Furysong blew them both out of the water and really stuck the landing.
Obviously there are going to be spoilers for Fireborne and Flamefall in this, but I will be keeping this spoiler free until after Furysong's release (at which point I will go back and add in my animal friend spoilers and favorite quotes). I tried to break this into sections so that it's not *quite* such a rambly gush-fest.
Plot, Pacing, & Themes:
So, Furysong picks up immediately after the explosive ending of Flamefall, and we hit the ground running with both the events taking place on Norcia and in Callipolis. I think that this could have wound up being an exhausting book to read because SO MUCH has to happen in it, but I thought that Rosaria Munda handled the pacing extremely well. Even though we start out at breakneck speed, it naturally slows down and picks up speed throughout, and I was never once bored. There is a decent chunk of time that is covered in this book but it never felt choppy or disjointed.
Furysong continues the exploration of questions that were asked at the beginning of the series: what happens when the new regime repeats the mistakes of the old regime, how quickly to the oppressed become oppressors themselves, what makes someone a good leader, what makes a government a "good" government, how do you know what or who deserves your loyalty, and what is your personal line in the sand? We continue to build on the themes of different kinds of grief, and different effects trauma can have on people. Lots of other themes as well, but these stuck out to me. The political maneuvering was incredibly well handled and nuanced as always. There were some things that really reminded me of our political climate, so it was really interesting to see those pieces crop up.
Characters:
Annie and Lee's relationship continues to be messy and tangled, but we ultimately get resolution. There is not quite so much yearning as in the first two books, but something that I loved was that this changes in proportion to the level of threat. We get to see enormous growth and stretching of both characters. Same with Griff, who has grown so much in just one book. We get a fourth POV, which I won't spoil, but I appreciated the addition! I will say that this POV felt a little less distinct than the other three, but it was really well executed.
I think that relationships between characters is one of Rosaria Munda's strengths as an author. She really captures the complexity of different relationships and interactions so well, and they feel so real. I love that all of the characters have different mindsets, temperaments, and their own past baggage that influence these relationships. Just really, really well done.
I think that the addition of Freyda and her Goliath dragon was really interesting and added another layer of different forms of female oppression and difficulties facing the women in this society, even though she is a princess. Crissa continues to be one of my favorite side characters. She is just so supportive and lovely, even to complete strangers. I love to see women supporting women, and this story is full of them.
Dragons & Animal Friends:
Something I appreciated about Furysong is that it feels as though we got to spend a lot more time with the dragons. I feel like Aela and Pallor have always felt a little bit just like horses. We have some characterization, but they really felt a lot more like characters in this one. We saw more interactions with their riders and with each other, which was so lovely.
Also seeing these dragons in the context of a full out war was really fascinating too. It really felt like a commentary on the way that we as humans can twist animals and they really get the raw end of the deal. These dragons bond with such young humans, and they have no real recourse if their rider turns out to be a terrible human, and they just trust and love them even when they hurt them.
Overall Takeaways:
So this book was really tough to read at parts because our characters are at war. They are dealing with real danger, and they are at the mercy of some really awful people at different points. There are stakes. There are losses. There is torture. There is just a lot to deal with. It never felt too over top, and I felt like it all made sense, but it really was difficult to read at times.
Overall, this was an incredible end to an incredible series, and has cemented it as one of my two all-time favorite series. I will read anything that Rosaria Munda writes next, and I will be pushing this series on everyone.
Thank you so, so much to James Akinaka at Penguin Teen for giving me access to an eARC of Furysong in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on August 9, 2022.
I realized after the fact that I was remiss in not including my Animal Friend Check-In:
Series Rating: All-Time Favorite
Easiest 5 stars I've ever given in my life.
I wept, I raged, I laughed, I cheered, I gasped, and when I turned the last page and had to leave this world behind, I was so incredibly satisfied, but it was so bittersweet as I had to leave my beloved characters.
I have put off writing my review of Furysong for an entire day at this point because I honestly haven't figured out a great way to talk about it without spoilers because it was SUCH a RIDE! I read this book in 24 hours, and I have to say that a lot of those hours were spent weeping because Rosaria Munda does NOT pull punches. This is a series with STAKES. But as a conclusion, I'd say it is one of the strongest that I have read, definitely in YA, but in all of fantasy as well.
Okay, so Fireborne was one of the first books I read in 2020. I immediately thought upon reading it that it was something special, and after just one book, her debut, I put Rosaria Munda on my list of absolute favorite authors. She has shown that she absolutely deserves it with Furysong because while Flamefall was even better than Fireborne, Furysong blew them both out of the water and really stuck the landing.
Obviously there are going to be spoilers for Fireborne and Flamefall in this, but I will be keeping this spoiler free until after Furysong's release (at which point I will go back and add in my animal friend spoilers and favorite quotes). I tried to break this into sections so that it's not *quite* such a rambly gush-fest.
Plot, Pacing, & Themes:
So, Furysong picks up immediately after the explosive ending of Flamefall, and we hit the ground running with both the events taking place on Norcia and in Callipolis. I think that this could have wound up being an exhausting book to read because SO MUCH has to happen in it, but I thought that Rosaria Munda handled the pacing extremely well. Even though we start out at breakneck speed, it naturally slows down and picks up speed throughout, and I was never once bored. There is a decent chunk of time that is covered in this book but it never felt choppy or disjointed.
Furysong continues the exploration of questions that were asked at the beginning of the series: what happens when the new regime repeats the mistakes of the old regime, how quickly to the oppressed become oppressors themselves, what makes someone a good leader, what makes a government a "good" government, how do you know what or who deserves your loyalty, and what is your personal line in the sand? We continue to build on the themes of different kinds of grief, and different effects trauma can have on people. Lots of other themes as well, but these stuck out to me. The political maneuvering was incredibly well handled and nuanced as always. There were some things that really reminded me of our political climate, so it was really interesting to see those pieces crop up.
Characters:
Annie and Lee's relationship continues to be messy and tangled, but we ultimately get resolution. There is not quite so much yearning as in the first two books, but something that I loved was that this changes in proportion to the level of threat. We get to see enormous growth and stretching of both characters. Same with Griff, who has grown so much in just one book. We get a fourth POV, which I won't spoil, but I appreciated the addition! I will say that this POV felt a little less distinct than the other three, but it was really well executed.
I think that relationships between characters is one of Rosaria Munda's strengths as an author. She really captures the complexity of different relationships and interactions so well, and they feel so real. I love that all of the characters have different mindsets, temperaments, and their own past baggage that influence these relationships. Just really, really well done.
I think that the addition of Freyda and her Goliath dragon was really interesting and added another layer of different forms of female oppression and difficulties facing the women in this society, even though she is a princess. Crissa continues to be one of my favorite side characters. She is just so supportive and lovely, even to complete strangers. I love to see women supporting women, and this story is full of them.
Dragons & Animal Friends:
Something I appreciated about Furysong is that it feels as though we got to spend a lot more time with the dragons. I feel like Aela and Pallor have always felt a little bit just like horses. We have some characterization, but they really felt a lot more like characters in this one. We saw more interactions with their riders and with each other, which was so lovely.
Also seeing these dragons in the context of a full out war was really fascinating too. It really felt like a commentary on the way that we as humans can twist animals and they really get the raw end of the deal. These dragons bond with such young humans, and they have no real recourse if their rider turns out to be a terrible human, and they just trust and love them even when they hurt them.
Overall Takeaways:
So this book was really tough to read at parts because our characters are at war. They are dealing with real danger, and they are at the mercy of some really awful people at different points. There are stakes. There are losses. There is torture. There is just a lot to deal with. It never felt too over top, and I felt like it all made sense, but it really was difficult to read at times.
Overall, this was an incredible end to an incredible series, and has cemented it as one of my two all-time favorite series. I will read anything that Rosaria Munda writes next, and I will be pushing this series on everyone.
Thank you so, so much to James Akinaka at Penguin Teen for giving me access to an eARC of Furysong in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on August 9, 2022.
I realized after the fact that I was remiss in not including my Animal Friend Check-In:
July 17, 2024
UTTER PERFECTION
Cried for I think 150 pages.
Cried for I think 150 pages.
May 15, 2023
Not a surprise that Rosaria Munda knocked it out of the park once again.
The way these characters feel so real is something I think I will never experience again. They feel like ppl who I grew up with. Parts of my heart were given to them in the series.
And on top of that the way she handles good vs evil and that really it's all this messy grey area. CHEFS KISS.
I really don't want to say much in this and spoil the other two books. But just know that if you are looking for
- strong characters who motives make sense
- dragons
- politics
- trauma handled so well
And so many more things just check this series out.
I will be picking up anything and everything by Rosaria Munda.
If you want more of my thoughts on this third book I have a video about it
https://youtu.be/z5_pUxw1bro
The way these characters feel so real is something I think I will never experience again. They feel like ppl who I grew up with. Parts of my heart were given to them in the series.
And on top of that the way she handles good vs evil and that really it's all this messy grey area. CHEFS KISS.
I really don't want to say much in this and spoil the other two books. But just know that if you are looking for
- strong characters who motives make sense
- dragons
- politics
- trauma handled so well
And so many more things just check this series out.
I will be picking up anything and everything by Rosaria Munda.
If you want more of my thoughts on this third book I have a video about it
https://youtu.be/z5_pUxw1bro
May 23, 2022
people (me) died
October 8, 2023
How was this the shortest book?? So much happened! So good! Check TWings, she’s DARK
June 16, 2024
read my full review on my blog
rep: bisexual main character, gay main character
cw: burnings, blood, branding, grief; mentions of past coercive sexual relationship, threat of rape
**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley (thank you, Penguin Teen!). These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
But sing me first her vengeance and her reckoning.
Sing me now your fury-song.
If you’ve followed me on anywhere within the past 2.5 years, you probably know how much I adore this series. So of course, when I received an ARC of the last book, I dropped everything to read it and somehow finished it in one day amidst a reading slump. And just, wow, what a book! I hope I can capture what I loved about it without going into too much detail. A bold and explosive finale, Furysong handles the outcomes of two revolutions.
This review contains spoilers for books one and two.
This book picks up where Flamefall left off: Lee must put aside thoughts of rebellion in favor of diplomacy when Ixion arrives on his shores with Freyda, a Bassilean princess with a dragon that is impossible to fight against. Meanwhile, Annie has no knowledge of what’s going on at home because she’s in New Pythos, trying to incite a rebellion there. Griff is about to be dropped for his crimes but has always had a penchant for getting out of sticky places. Amidst this, Delo must decide what’s more important: his family or his conscience. All of them must work together to overcome Ixion and Freyda in order to reclaim their respective homes.
I want to start this review with something that wasn’t necessarily bad but is really the main thing that I didn’t entirely love about this book: the fact that it’s more plot- than character-based. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! I just found it interesting after the first two books managed to balance both, although there had to have been more plot to get through here. Obviously, this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book while reading. After finishing, I started thinking about how there was less of the yearning intertwined within this book as in the previous two.
In my review of the second book, I described the tension in Fireborne as “dancing along the edge of a cliff” and Flamefall as “walking closer and closer to the edge while not quite knowing just how close it is.” To continue this metaphor, Furysong makes a decisive choice to jump over the edge, feet-first and ready to handle any consequences along the way. There’s more surety in this book that the characters can handle anything that’s thrown at them.
There’s less focus on the characters’ personal journeys because they’ve all (minus Delo, I’ll get to him later) had so much growth and development over the course of the past two books. The events of the previous two books have slowly progressed to where Furysong begins, and now we’re dealing with the explosive outcome of Fireborne and Flamefall. It’s still a bit of a slow-burn in that retrospect, I guess, in that it takes time to develop plans to overthrow Ixion, who has won over the people, initially with the bread and grain Freyda provides and then with force and dragon-fire.
read the rest of my review here
original review:
[silence]
but wow what a book how did I finish this in one day ???
def had the most plot out of all three books (no waffling, just planning and then action) and didn’t pull any punches like I was reading behind my fingers a lot of the time 🫣
I will say this book does lack the yearning that I found so deeply intertwined in the previous two books, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing esp bc the whole point of the two books was that it was pushing lee and annie to be the ppl they are in this book.
July 18, 2024
Just perfect.
Best series in the world
Best series in the world
June 9, 2023
This book has destroyed me for reading other books for a few weeks now. I have really complicated feelings about it! For about 85% of the book, this was perfect. I felt it was shaping up to be a good / fitting ending, even though the pacing went a little wonky (slow) in the middle, I understood why, but then the final chapter came so abruptly, with a time jump that had everything resolved off page, and some odd choices for the two MCs moving forwards, that made me feel dropped and disappointed. It's a sad, intense book for the most part and you really, really feel it. Every step of the way.
Overall, I highly recommend this series. It's unique, the character development is incredible, the connection between humans and dragons is beautifully done, writing is beautiful, the political developments make sense, the world building is so well thought out, and you end up falling in love with the characters so deeply, without even realising. The romance is the slowest, slow burn, (so slow I switched ships in Flamefall but not because it wasn't done amazing), and has such an emotional undercurrent.
Overall, I highly recommend this series. It's unique, the character development is incredible, the connection between humans and dragons is beautifully done, writing is beautiful, the political developments make sense, the world building is so well thought out, and you end up falling in love with the characters so deeply, without even realising. The romance is the slowest, slow burn, (so slow I switched ships in Flamefall but not because it wasn't done amazing), and has such an emotional undercurrent.
August 5, 2022
1) burst into gasping sobs at the end of part 3
2) this series has not a single flaw
3) I WILL SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF THIS UNDERRATED MASTERPIECE
2) this series has not a single flaw
3) I WILL SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF THIS UNDERRATED MASTERPIECE
August 10, 2022
3.5
damn…
definitely ignoring how utterly bored i was in certain parts bc of the second half and overall ending. what i really liked about the other two books was how fast paced they were but furysong just felt sm slower in comparison, probably bc it felt more plot central and little dragged out but it was definitely harder to get into (also probably bc there were several side characters i didn’t even remember being part of the series).
damn…
definitely ignoring how utterly bored i was in certain parts bc of the second half and overall ending. what i really liked about the other two books was how fast paced they were but furysong just felt sm slower in comparison, probably bc it felt more plot central and little dragged out but it was definitely harder to get into (also probably bc there were several side characters i didn’t even remember being part of the series).
September 15, 2022
This book is as good as they say. I think I'm still just a little off balance considering I've read almost nothing this year and then I just zoomed through this in like 3 or 4 days. It's been an anticipated release since I finished book 2 last summer. And it just did everything right.
The beginning of the book builds off the cliffhangar from book 2. Then it slopes down in the middle for some respite from all the drama (and trauma) before a powerful ending.
And that trauma I just spoke of? Yeah there's alot of it. There's alot of fresh trauma, but also people healing. The book is very nuanced as it ebbs and flows from the rotating perspectives of Norcian / Calipolan characters.
I will say, the addition of Delo and Griff in book 2 was some of my favorite parts. But their story (particularly Griff's) was weirdly navigated, and not as satisfactory.
This finale has consequences and triumphs in droves that will have you emotional in almost all the ways, sadness, anger, and joy.
I have loved this series and the way it navigates some incredibly difficult decisions, both with it's nations and people, but the individual characters and their relationships as well.
Superb ending to this trilogy, one of my favorites. Lastly I want to give my feelings and the conclusions for our titular character Antigone sur Aela and Lee Sur Pallor.
The beginning of the book builds off the cliffhangar from book 2. Then it slopes down in the middle for some respite from all the drama (and trauma) before a powerful ending.
And that trauma I just spoke of? Yeah there's alot of it. There's alot of fresh trauma, but also people healing. The book is very nuanced as it ebbs and flows from the rotating perspectives of Norcian / Calipolan characters.
I will say, the addition of Delo and Griff in book 2 was some of my favorite parts. But their story (particularly Griff's) was weirdly navigated, and not as satisfactory.
This finale has consequences and triumphs in droves that will have you emotional in almost all the ways, sadness, anger, and joy.
I have loved this series and the way it navigates some incredibly difficult decisions, both with it's nations and people, but the individual characters and their relationships as well.
Superb ending to this trilogy, one of my favorites. Lastly I want to give my feelings and the conclusions for our titular character Antigone sur Aela and Lee Sur Pallor.
May 8, 2024
“I just wanted it to be in writing, somewhere. I wanted it to be in writing that it was you. For me. It's always been you.”
“Sing me now your fury-song.”
Seconds after closing this book, I feel such a dichotomy of emotions. This was one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching stories I have ever read. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this experience was. It has been a VERY long time since a book made me feel this strongly.
This is a story about loss, grief, death, and failure. It's about how tempting it is to give up when everything around you seems futile. But it's also about sacrifice, love, friendship, and the willpower to stand up for yourself and what is right. And above all, it's about hope and dreaming of a better world for the future.
I'm not going to lie, this was a painful journey. I had to shut the book a few times and walk away with tears streaming down my face. This book wrecked me. It irrevocably changed my brain chemistry. It left me thinking about these incredible characters who deserved much more than they were given.
This was god-tier status. Hats off to Rosaria Munda for writing this masterpiece. She is now a must-buy author for me. Please read this trilogy, you will not regret it!
“Sing me now your fury-song.”
Seconds after closing this book, I feel such a dichotomy of emotions. This was one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching stories I have ever read. I can't even begin to explain how amazing this experience was. It has been a VERY long time since a book made me feel this strongly.
This is a story about loss, grief, death, and failure. It's about how tempting it is to give up when everything around you seems futile. But it's also about sacrifice, love, friendship, and the willpower to stand up for yourself and what is right. And above all, it's about hope and dreaming of a better world for the future.
I'm not going to lie, this was a painful journey. I had to shut the book a few times and walk away with tears streaming down my face. This book wrecked me. It irrevocably changed my brain chemistry. It left me thinking about these incredible characters who deserved much more than they were given.
This was god-tier status. Hats off to Rosaria Munda for writing this masterpiece. She is now a must-buy author for me. Please read this trilogy, you will not regret it!
November 4, 2022
I can’t help but feel disappointed in this last installment of this trilogy. The pacing was off by margins which affected my reading mood when reading this, honestly if I hadn’t been so invested in the characters, I’d probably have DNF’d this one because of the pacing. I don’t know a lot of things felt rushed at the end, and the pay off wasn’t the greatest in my opinion.
January 23, 2023
Gut-wrenchingly perfect
April 20, 2024
losing my mind. ms munda how did you do this and also how COULD you do this. perfect conclusion 1000/10 no notes but also so much pain.
eta, second read: i actually have like 37493 notes but all of them are analysis and/or screaming (generally both) because this book is so so so good. the goodreads review box does not have the space to handle my notes. i could talk about this series forever.
fourth read: annotated this for sara! i'm incapable of sitting still while reading furysong - i was constantly up and pacing and waving my arms around and making small involuntary noises. god. there is so much going on this book and all of it is insane and fantastic and layered and i love it so much. the writing is gorgeous and so so many passages just hit me. this happens across the series but i do think it happens the most here, because these beautiful passages are also a culmination of themes and cycles and character arcs that have been building the entire series.
eta, second read: i actually have like 37493 notes but all of them are analysis and/or screaming (generally both) because this book is so so so good. the goodreads review box does not have the space to handle my notes. i could talk about this series forever.
fourth read: annotated this for sara! i'm incapable of sitting still while reading furysong - i was constantly up and pacing and waving my arms around and making small involuntary noises. god. there is so much going on this book and all of it is insane and fantastic and layered and i love it so much. the writing is gorgeous and so so many passages just hit me. this happens across the series but i do think it happens the most here, because these beautiful passages are also a culmination of themes and cycles and character arcs that have been building the entire series.
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