The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)

by Andrea Stewart

Yo. Why is this the FOURTH characters pov in 6 chapters 😭 my brain is so confused

No. She was Sand. She was Sand collecting mangoes. That place in her memories wasn’t one she’d ever seen. But she could still smell sandalwood and the damp morning mists.

Did she somehow get the first characters memories?

If that were true, I could do nothing to change it. What I needed to focus on were things I could change – and that included staying my father’s heir so I could take his place when he died.

I mean when he dies it'll still be your problem so idk why we aren't concerned with it

I would show him that even broken daughters could wield power.

No. It wasn’t true. How could it be true? They hadn’t sprung up from the rocks like some storied monsters. They were people, and people had parents. People had places they’d come from. Her eyes darted over the people waiting in line.

🤔 are these the people that were taken by the boat with the blue sails? Don't tell me Sand is dudes wife or something 😭

Coral bit her lower lip. She raised her bowl, ready to receive her dinner. Sand seized her wrist. “Think!” The words fell from Coral’s mouth. “The sails. They were blue.”

YUP

Bird parts, monkey parts, cat parts, parts of animals I’d never seen or even heard of stacked in an insulated icebox. The room itself was dark and cold, carved from the stone below the palace. Even so, it smelled faintly of decay and musk. I’d taken some parts I was sure wouldn’t be missed – small ones. A sparrow’s wings, the soft little body of a rat, the head of a salamander. I squinted as I crouched over the pieces on my bedroom floor. The stitching was harder with body parts this small,

This book is so odd 😂🤣

She gave me a sidelong look. “Nearly as vain as the Emperor. Will you clamor next to have your face stamped onto coins?” “With as big a head I’m growing, it wouldn’t fit.” She placed a hand over her heart in greeting, and I returned the gesture. “My name is Ranami. I’ve heard about you.”

The threads are weaving together 🤔🤔

He turned to face her then, and though he gave her a forbidding look, she was not afraid. “They said I could have married more advantageously than you.” Memory-Sand felt her lips curve into a smile. “There’s still time, you know. You can tell everyone you’ve made a mistake. Nullify the marriage. Go marry one of those dull women your advisers put before you.”

The plot twists are twisting 😭😭😭

Gio’s parting message was far more cryptic. “Keep Mephi close,” he said. “You’ll need him.” I studied his face. As far as they knew, Mephi was merely a beloved pet. Gio knew more, though I didn’t know how.

I feel like he was the one who used magic to dispose of that soilder and just said it was Jovis. I think he knows what Mephi is. And I wouldn't be surprised if he had some connection to the Alanga? Or whatever they're called.

A snout broke the surface, and then a head, and then a chin, large as a horse’s, came to rest on the stone next to the chest. One cerulean eye rolled from within the skull to look at me. A translucent eyelid blinked. The creature had some patches of thick hair, though most looked as though it had fallen out. It had a face like a cat’s, but with a longer snout, whiskers twitching as it exhaled. Two spiraling horns rose from its skull, just over its ears.

Wish I could go back and see how mephi was described. Is it the same?

And then a creature appeared beside him. I blinked, trying to believe what I saw. It was smaller than Thrana, with much more fur, but it was the same sort of creature.

I was right... interesting. I have no idea where this is going 🤣🤣