Review: The Song Rising

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After enjoying both The Bone Season and The Mime Order, I was more than excited to dive into The Song Rising. Aware of the expected wait between books three and four, though, I delayed my reading of The Song Rising. In the end, though, I found I was unable to wait any longer.

If I’m being honest, The Song Rising is a three-point-five-star rating rather than the three-star rating I gave it. I spent some time debating whether I was going to round this one up or down, but in the end I realised I couldn’t quite bring myself to round up. It’s an important book in the series, it certainly moves us forward and takes us to new places, but I felt it didn’t quite pack the same punch as the prior two books.

For about the first half of the story, I felt as though we were dragging our feet. It was interesting to see where things were going, but it wasn’t gripping me in the way I had hoped. I was interested in seeing where things were going, but I wasn’t invested in the way I was with the prior books.

Things picked up later in the book. Elements came together well, things really moved forward, and it was much more in line with the prior two books. I was hooked, unable to put the book down, and found myself hating the fact I was unable to dive into book four.

Although The Song Rising failed to hit all of the right spots from the start, it certainly kept me entertained later in the book and has left me willing to read book four.

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