The Bird and the Sword (The Bird and the Sword Chronicles, #1)

by Amy Harmon

I turned my head, peering up at the sky, unable to resist the lure of the lurid.

I just like this sentence.

“Maybe it belonged to one of those soldiers your father sent, think you?” Tiras answered with a mocking twist of his lips. “We found him two days ago not far from Kilmorda.”

Ohh REALLY, hmmmm??? IM ON TO YOU KING. Or should i say EAGLE MAN??

He took the charcoal from my hands and drew a straight line with another line laid above it. “This is a T. For Tiras.” He wrote more letters and tapped them. “Tiras.” He wrote an L and an A followed by shapes I didn’t recognize. “Lark. This is the word Lark.” I couldn’t pull my eyes away from my name. My name! I traced it reverently. “Practice your name. Practice my name. I will be back tomorrow to teach you more.”

Uh! This is so cute. He’s going to teach her! Already better than fuckin rhysand’s lessons lol

I could hardly breathe. I clasped my hands against my chest to calm my heart and stared down at the beauty he’d created. Then I raised my eyes and it was my turn to smile. I couldn’t hold it in. I wanted to. I didn’t want to reveal my wonder and the thrill that coursed through my veins. But I couldn’t hold it in. So I smiled at him and did my best not to cry happy tears.

This adorable paragraph made me think about something. I’ve read quite a handful of fantasy books with female leads and romance lately. And I feel like I rarely see such genuine joy like this from the characters (esp the female lead) OUTSIDE of the romance. I mean I guess this is tangential to their budding relationship, but her happiness is tied to regaining some form of agency. I like this. Edit: It’s the next day and I just reread this scene because it was just too wonderful.

I shook my head. No. No. No. I couldn’t explain how it felt to converse with another human being. To actually converse. I had been reduced to sharing nothing of my innermost thoughts for most of my life. Reduced to throwing things when I was angry. Reduced to tears when I was sad. Reduced to the simplicity of nods and bows, of having people look away from me or become frustrated when they didn’t know what I was trying to communicate.

Oh my god man this is beautiful.

“What?” Kjell roared. He couldn’t have looked more stunned if Tiras had told him I was actually a lark and could lay eggs.

Bro this book is actually quite funny. Or rather Lark the narrator is quite funny. I like her very much, very endearing

I felt claimed without being wanted. It was a feeling I knew well. It was a feeling that made me long for Boojohni, the only soul on earth who loved me.

Bro :(

“If I die, she dies,” Tiras said, just like he’d said the day he took me from my father’s keep. I’d confessed so easily. I’d told the king my secret, my father’s secret, and he used it without compunction. I refused to release the words that bubbled inside me. The king would not have my words. He was no different from my father; neither loved me and both used me for their own purposes. I suddenly hated them both with a fury that blinded me.

OOOOOOFFFF, DAMN THIS TENSIONN. Yeah SCREW HIM. We love a book that doesnt excuse this shit just cause a guy is hot

She didn’t know that I was simply a weapon. A tool.

In this book, who is the sword? And who is the bird? It is unclear. Thats kinda cool

I agreed to be his queen, Boojohni. “Of course ye did! He’s a fine bit o’ man flesh.”

Don’t worry, Kjell. I will keep your secret. His brow lowered and his mouth tightened. “And what secret would that be, Milady? My paternity is known by most.” It has come to my attention that I can only communicate with the Gifted . . . and animals. So you are either one or the other. You know my opinion on which it is.

OH DAAAMMNNNN

“Your skin is like ice,” he observed. I don’t feel cold, I responded. My inner voice was calm. Level. I wanted to punch the air in triumph at my control.

LOL i love lark. Wanting to punch the air in triumph for keeping your cool in such a scenario

“Let me in,” he demanded, and I could feel his yearning rise again, the yearning that had an origin separate from us. From me. From him. Tiras.Tiras.Tiras. It was the only thought in my head, and it seemed to satisfy him, though I felt sorrow rise from his skin, like a cloud had drifted across the moon.

Why must all the intimate scenes in this book leave me feeling kinda sad :(

“Jeru needs you more. Our child needs you more! And it is not safe. You aren’t a sword. You aren’t a weapon. Remember? What if something happens to Kjell, and I’m a bloody bird? Will you lead the men into battle alone? You will stay here, and you will do as I say!” He was so adamant. So sure. So cold and hard. Telling me what to do. But I was a Teller. And I would not be told.

If you cannot keep me, let me go. I felt his heart pounding against my cheek, but his arms fell to his sides, and he stepped back, as if he were truly mine to command. “Where? Where do you want to go?” he asked, his voice so heavy I longed to call the wind again to lift us up and carry us away. Wherever you are. “I can’t do that either,” he whispered. “Where I’m going, you cannot follow.”

Bro I’m actually tearing up over here

“If I could, I would kill you myself,” he hissed, and the moment of hope was dashed.

Man fuck this guy

“Yes. You don’t need wings to fly,” she chirped. “What do you need, Daughter?” I asked softly. She looked up at me, her big, black eyes alight with knowledge, and she smiled. “Words.”

THIS BOOK WAS SIMPLY LOVELY AND I ADORED IT VERY MUCH