The Celestial Trilogy is a series I’ve been a mega fan of since before I even read and loved A Spark of White Fire. And my love has only expanded thousand fold after reading A House of Rage and Sorrow.
Summary
“Maybe it’s time the great House of Rey came to an end. After all, what are we now? Just a house of rage and sorrow.”
Esmae once wanted nothing more than to help her golden brother win the crown of Kali but that dream died with her best friend. Alexi broke her heart, and she vowed to destroy him for it. And with her sentient warship Titania beside her, how can she possibly fail?
As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. Past lives threaten the present. Old enemies claim their due. And Esmae cannot outrun the ghosts and the questions that haunt her. What really happened to her father? What was the third boon her mother asked of Amba? For in the shadows, lurking in wait, are secrets that will swallow her whole.
The House of Rey is at war. And the entire galaxy will bleed before the end.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
A House of Rage and Sorrow is a powerful and spectacular sequel. As you can tell from the title, it is a story full of powerful, all consuming rage, of betrayal that leaves us blind, and sorrow that cuts a hole in our heart, a shadow on our brightest days. A story about our loss which is a raging fire, pushing us into the world as someone new and entirely unpredictable. While being an extremely emotionally charged sequel, it is one that oozes vulnerability, grief, and the hard truths we can only acknowledge in the darkest of night.
A House of Rage and Sorrow is full of gods, spaceships, sorrow, and grief. While it begins with a hilarious and informative list of characters, Mandanna constantly dances with the lines between humor, sorrow, and anger. How we can find a moment of laughter in the deepest pits of grief, or a chuckle in the face of an inferno. Once again, the characters are the true heroes of the story. And this story we even see a side queer relationship which wrenches all the emotions from your heart. Plenty of emotional scenes of love, rage, and grief alike. Never before have they been more relatable – especially as they are in the depths of their emotions and growth.
Whether it be the illusion of power which grants us power, or the trades we are forced to make in the name of war. Esmae’s grief is raw and gripping, it doesn’t allow us to look away. Screaming in the name of betrayal and grief. In A House of Rage and Sorrow Esmae is asked about the importance of her family. Is her family going to hold her back, make her stronger, or destroy her? Where is the line between revenge and forgiveness, history and destiny?
A House of Rage and Sorrow is a story about parenthood and family – the measures we do for the people we love, and hate, for family and duty, naivety and fear. Can we reconcile a dream of family? Of shared meals, tender glances, dispelled suspicion? But these characters exist in a world of sacrifice and bargains, fear and retribution. A decades long conflict and strife. Vengeance and, above all, love.
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