As a huge fan of The Bones of Ruin, and the utter unique premise, I was so excited for The Song of Wrath. And while this sequel has a bit of meandering, it has a strong foundation of character journey and development. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Iris Marlow can’t die. For years, she was tormented by her missing memories and desperate to learn her real identity. So when the mysterious Adam Temple offered to reveal the truth of who she was in exchange for her joining his team in the Tournament of Freaks, a gruesome magical competition, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. But the truth would have been better left buried.
Because Adam is a member of the Enlightenment Committee, an elite secret society built upon one fundamental idea: that the apocalypse known as Hiva had destroyed the world before and would do it again, and soon. But what the Committee—and Iris—never guessed is that Hiva is not an event. Hiva is a person—Iris.
Now, no matter how hard Iris fights for a normal life, the newly awakened power inside her keeps drawing her toward the path of global annihilation. Adam, perversely obsessed with Iris, will stop at nothing to force her to unlock her true potential, while a terrifying newcomer with ties to Hiva’s past is on the hunt for Iris.
All Iris wants is the freedom to choose her own future, but the cost might be everything Iris holds dear—including the world itself.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Considering the events of The Bones of Ruin I wasn’t sure where The Song of Wrath could go, but wow! This sequel is not only full of actions, and some side character development, but it’s also focused on Iris. At the beginning, when new characters are being introduced, as well as catching back up with some loose ends, it can feel a little loose, but it comes together. Picking up immediately where the first ends, I loved Iris’ character development in this sequel.
The Song of Wrath examines the burden of power and responsibility. With Iris’ new powers, what is her responsibility to the world, her friends, and herself? Iris struggles throughout this book to figure out if she’s a god, a monster, or something in between. Is it something she has inherited, something she can choose? The Song of Wrath delves into this question by forcing Iris to act, to figure out her own past, and to plan her future. Furthermore, Raughley explores the idea of sacrifice.
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Of what we are willing to do for the ones we love, and who it turns us into. Do we become monstrous in the name of love? In the pursuit of our own ability to influence our future? There’s still a steady sense of action in The Song of Wrath, but for me, the most compelling and long lasting feature of this book has to be the character exploration. Our universal struggle to figure out what kind of person we can be, what we can do in our own future. Find The Song of Wrath on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.