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Honor the Words
Newly (and reluctantly) chosen as the divine champions of the fallen gods, Masaomi, Shiori, Youji and Hinami have joined the Magpie rebels and plot their next steps to overthrowing the tyrannical rule of the grand dragons while coming to terms with the much-regretted psychic bond between them. Their next mission? Infiltrate Silver Pearl, the realm of the White Dragon, to steal his artifact of power. The White Dragon who also happens to be Masaomi's grandfather.
Almost as soon as they enter Silver Pearl, disaster strikes. An unknown enemy for grand dragons and Magpie rebels alike attack the city and steal the artifact before they can. Separated from each other, surrounded by enemies, and not sure who to trust, the four divine champions have to find a way to complete the mission and exit the city. Worst of all, they're beginning to learn they aren't in control of their new powers, and perhaps the biggest threat of all is the divine aspect that connects them.
Honor the Words, second in the Magpie Chronicles, is an epic fantasy inspired by East Asian mythologies.
Almost as soon as they enter Silver Pearl, disaster strikes. An unknown enemy for grand dragons and Magpie rebels alike attack the city and steal the artifact before they can. Separated from each other, surrounded by enemies, and not sure who to trust, the four divine champions have to find a way to complete the mission and exit the city. Worst of all, they're beginning to learn they aren't in control of their new powers, and perhaps the biggest threat of all is the divine aspect that connects them.
Honor the Words, second in the Magpie Chronicles, is an epic fantasy inspired by East Asian mythologies.
304 pages, Paperback
Published August 9, 2021
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 22, 2021
Just like the first installment in the series, this book is extremely fun and easy to read.
The four main characters are as delightful as ever, with bonus points for:
-Youji's ever-increasing mysteriousness and disregard for his own mysteriousness
-The ghost of Shiori's great-grandmother showing up to tell her to get over her crush on Hinami
-Hinami and Masaomi agreeing on the seemingly-suicidal nature of the Magpie mission and on how they deserve better answers from Madhuri and hating that they agree
Lots of new characters to love and enjoy too! Like Yumeko, who hates social interaction and working and putting in any effort at all (total mood). Also Setsuna and Michiru, sly trickster sisters who can banter with the best of them. And let's not forget Hayato, who swooped in to claim the award for "character who surprised me the most." On the surface, he seems very calm and unassuming, but in reality he's probably one of the most calculating, clever people in this book.
Still think Madhuri and her explanations definitely need some work in the transparency department, but some of my distrust for her has evaporated. At least, she's probably
Can't wait to see where the series goes next!
The four main characters are as delightful as ever, with bonus points for:
-Youji's ever-increasing mysteriousness and disregard for his own mysteriousness
-The ghost of Shiori's great-grandmother showing up to tell her to get over her crush on Hinami
-Hinami and Masaomi agreeing on the seemingly-suicidal nature of the Magpie mission and on how they deserve better answers from Madhuri and hating that they agree
Lots of new characters to love and enjoy too! Like Yumeko, who hates social interaction and working and putting in any effort at all (total mood). Also Setsuna and Michiru, sly trickster sisters who can banter with the best of them. And let's not forget Hayato, who swooped in to claim the award for "character who surprised me the most." On the surface, he seems very calm and unassuming, but in reality he's probably one of the most calculating, clever people in this book.
Still think Madhuri and her explanations definitely need some work in the transparency department, but some of my distrust for her has evaporated. At least, she's probably
Can't wait to see where the series goes next!
September 7, 2021
I will have two parts to this - the first part being non-spoilery and general overview, and the second part will have spoilers. I'll clearly delineate the two.
Non-spoilery review section:
As a follow up to Shine the Brightest, Honor the Words (HtW from hereafter) was stellar. In a book like this - where you are desperately hoping the main four characters could skip to the 'found family' part - I often worry that the author will want to do the same, and skip all the necessary character development. But Ro doesn't do this, and instead, makes the characters work to slowly trust each other (some slower than others. Looking at you, Masaomi.) This is incredibly rewarding when they do, and I can tell it'll be a slow burn to that found family, which is great because the author quite seems to know what she's doing.
The worldbuilding continues to be fantastic - as I have mentioned in my previous review, the focus is on East Asian mythologies, and I had such fun looking up the different creatures mentioned. There's a humor to the book that I love, especially when the characters are set in serious situations but there are moments of humor in there that highlight how the characters react under stress. Overall, I really enjoyed this sequel to Shine the Brightest and very much look forward to the next book in The Magpie Chronicles series!
SPOILERY REVIEW BELOW
------
As I mentioned above, the characters are the key to this book, and in this you not only see the four main characters developed, but the side characters as well. While the main four characters are intelligent and powerful in their own ways, we are consistently reminded that the characters around them are also very strong. This is fantastic if they are allies to our main four, and pretty terrifying if they are enemies. The arcs the main four characters go through are fantastic, and they're far from over.
As I mentioned above, it's a slow burn, and nothing feels rushed. This does not mean the book itself is slow - on the contrary, the action pacing and plot is going along very well. But for the characters who have intense backstories, secrets, and have been thrown into this challenge/connection, they're reacting appropriately without any sort of rushed feeling of 'pushing them together for the found family/romance' aspects.
For example, Shiori's point of view several times refers to attraction to Hinami, but given that her character is cautious and stuck in an unfamiliar situation with allies she in truth doesn't know all that well, she's not rushing to try to start something with Hinami. Similarly, Masaomi senses some sort of attraction to Youji, but is dealing with so many other issues at the moment that it would seem almost laughable for any sort of real, stable relationship to be addressed during the plot of this book. Therefore, the subtle realizations - acknowledged but not acted on - are a great way to build up to perhaps eventual romance or found-familyship.
Youji's arc with his bulgae identity is one that also does not feel rushed - while you get to see more of who he is and how he reacts to other bulgae, there's still much more that is to be revealed. One of my favorite parts of this series is Youji's character as a whole - it's honestly a tie between him and Shiori as my favorites. (Not that Hinami and Masaomi are not spectacular in their own ways!)
Per what I said above, really enjoyed this sequel! Very thrilled that the next one is slated to come out summer 2022.
Non-spoilery review section:
As a follow up to Shine the Brightest, Honor the Words (HtW from hereafter) was stellar. In a book like this - where you are desperately hoping the main four characters could skip to the 'found family' part - I often worry that the author will want to do the same, and skip all the necessary character development. But Ro doesn't do this, and instead, makes the characters work to slowly trust each other (some slower than others. Looking at you, Masaomi.) This is incredibly rewarding when they do, and I can tell it'll be a slow burn to that found family, which is great because the author quite seems to know what she's doing.
The worldbuilding continues to be fantastic - as I have mentioned in my previous review, the focus is on East Asian mythologies, and I had such fun looking up the different creatures mentioned. There's a humor to the book that I love, especially when the characters are set in serious situations but there are moments of humor in there that highlight how the characters react under stress. Overall, I really enjoyed this sequel to Shine the Brightest and very much look forward to the next book in The Magpie Chronicles series!
SPOILERY REVIEW BELOW
------
As I mentioned above, the characters are the key to this book, and in this you not only see the four main characters developed, but the side characters as well. While the main four characters are intelligent and powerful in their own ways, we are consistently reminded that the characters around them are also very strong. This is fantastic if they are allies to our main four, and pretty terrifying if they are enemies. The arcs the main four characters go through are fantastic, and they're far from over.
As I mentioned above, it's a slow burn, and nothing feels rushed. This does not mean the book itself is slow - on the contrary, the action pacing and plot is going along very well. But for the characters who have intense backstories, secrets, and have been thrown into this challenge/connection, they're reacting appropriately without any sort of rushed feeling of 'pushing them together for the found family/romance' aspects.
For example, Shiori's point of view several times refers to attraction to Hinami, but given that her character is cautious and stuck in an unfamiliar situation with allies she in truth doesn't know all that well, she's not rushing to try to start something with Hinami. Similarly, Masaomi senses some sort of attraction to Youji, but is dealing with so many other issues at the moment that it would seem almost laughable for any sort of real, stable relationship to be addressed during the plot of this book. Therefore, the subtle realizations - acknowledged but not acted on - are a great way to build up to perhaps eventual romance or found-familyship.
Youji's arc with his bulgae identity is one that also does not feel rushed - while you get to see more of who he is and how he reacts to other bulgae, there's still much more that is to be revealed. One of my favorite parts of this series is Youji's character as a whole - it's honestly a tie between him and Shiori as my favorites. (Not that Hinami and Masaomi are not spectacular in their own ways!)
Per what I said above, really enjoyed this sequel! Very thrilled that the next one is slated to come out summer 2022.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2023
it was a delightful surprise to find out michaela ro had dropped a sequel to shine the brightest! i do wish it was available somewhere other than amazon (i hate being platform locked to the kindle app) but we accept such losses in exchange for characters as good as these. tbh i don't have a lot of commentary; it's a fun read and i love everyone in this bar
4 stars
4 stars
April 25, 2024
Utterly fantastic
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews