Review: Cry of Metal & Bone by L. Penelope

Title: Cry of Metal & Bone

Author: L. Penelope

Series: Earthsinger Chronicles #3

Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Adventure

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: August 11th, 2020

Edition: Kindle Edition

Source: NetGalley

Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis:

   Six weeks after the fall of the Mantle, centuries-old enemies Elsira and Lagrimar struggle to unite. The will of the goddess is that the two nations become one, but while the war may be over, peace is still elusive. As desperate Lagrimari flee their barren land for a chance at a better life in Elsira, a dangerous faction opposed to the unification rises.

   When a shadowy group with ties to the Elsiran government takes responsibility for a fatal attack and promises more, an unlikely crew is assembled to investigate. Among them are Lizvette Nirall, a disgraced socialite seeking redemption for past mistakes, and Tai Summerhawk, a foreign smuggler determined to keep a promise he made to a dead man. Powerful Earthsinger Darvyn ol-Tahlyro is sent with a secret assignment, one that Queen Jasminda can’t know about. And in a prison far away, Kyara ul-Lagrimar searches for a way to escape her captors and save a family long thought dead.

   It’s a race against time in this world of deadly magic, secret agendas, and court intrigue to discover those responsible for the bombing before the next attack. And in another land, a new enemy awakens—one that will strike terror into the hearts of gods and men.

  This series has quickly become an all-time favorite series. The characters are always a stand out in her books, and this book added more fantastic characters while not overshadowing characters introduced in past books. This book does a great job of expanding not only the world but the characters introduced previously. The world itself was always the part of this series that I struggled the most in visualizing, but this book really added so much to the world that I was finally able to see more of it. This book had a lot of storylines and POVs, and that is probably my only complaint. They were all done well, but for me, some of the storylines that I expected to get more page time were left to the wayside a little. Nobody was ignored, outright not really, but there were just somethings that I thought were going to be covered in this book that aren't, or just glossed over.

  Since it's been a while since I've read the first book in this series, I didn't instantly remember who Lizvette was. And it took me a while to care about her character and to connect with her. Tai was a great addition to this series and needed foil to her character and being her complete opposite in many ways. I wish I had read the novella that takes place before the start of this book. I think it could have added just that much more to his character and understand better whey he was so motivated in his task.

I was happy to see Darvyn back, his character arc has been one of the more interesting in this series. I look forward to where it goes from here. His waining allegiance to the Keepers felt like ti was a longtime coming scenario, and I am starting to see that they might not be as altruistic as they let on. Based on the morally gray things they've already done brings me to wonder if they are going to become an antagonist for the rest of the series, however many books this is going to be. Kyara continues being a favorite character. With her backstory, and even how through a lifetime of manipulation she at her core is still a good person. I really loved reading the chapters of her in that facility. I thought it brought more to her character arc.

The investigation that Ella and Benn were doing, I wish that plotline had more focus than it was given. I am unsure how much importance the adoption plot is going to have in the next book, I hope it wasn't wasted page time that could have been given to them doing a more thorough investigation. The kids were cute, yes, but I was very interested in the mystery they were trying to solve.

Clove and Vanesse, I wish they had more page time than they were given. The race that Clove was participating in,  I assumed that it was going to have a little more importance than it seemed to. But I love those characters, and can't wait to see more of them in future books.

Oola, The Awakened Goddess, for most of this book, I was highly suspicious of her. Not really sure what her deal is. She's very much a "person out of her time" and comes across as cold and detached most of the time. I am very curious about where her story is headed in the next book.