Book Review: The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Genre: Romantasy/Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Vampire romance, undead/zombies/spirits, cruel gods, journey, forced proximity, grumpy sunshine, emotional healing, mind-reading MMC, dealing with past trauma, slow burn
Synopsis:
In The Songbird and the Heart of Stone, Carissa Broadbent returns us to the world of Obitraes and characters we know and love from The Serpent and The Wings of Night & Ashes and the Star-Cursed King. This time, it’s Mische (who played the bubbly best friend role previously) taking center stage. After the events of Ashes and the Star-Cursed King, Mische leaves the House of Night in a desperate attempt to protect her friends from the fallout of her decisions. But running doesn’t keep her safe for long.
Captured by the House of Shadow, Mische narrowly avoids execution and is instead placed under the cold, unyielding watch of Asar, the vampire prison warden (aka the Wraith Warden). As Mische embarks on a perilous mission through the underworld to resurrect the god of death, she must face her own inner demons, wrestle with her complicated history with the sun god Atroxus, and learn to trust her companions—specifically, the grumpy, stone-faced Asar. What begins as a battle for survival evolves into an emotional journey of healing, self-discovery, and unexpected connection.
My Review:
Carissa Broadbent has done it again. I was immediately obsessed with this book, and let me tell you, I didn’t think it could get better than Raihn and Oraya from the Nightborn Duet. Oh, how wrong I was!
Mische is such a beautifully complex character, and I felt every ounce of her struggle. From her self-loathing to her bubbly, (literally and figuratively) sunshiny mask, her journey was raw, emotional, and utterly gripping. And Asar? The brooding, mind-reading vampire warden who loves to fix broken things has officially stolen my heart. Their dynamic is the perfect blend of grumpy sunshine and slow burn goodness.
The world-building is, as always, breathtaking. Broadbent’s ability to weave intricate settings and lore while keeping the focus on character development is incredible. I loved diving deeper into this world and uncovering new layers through Mische’s story.
I buddy-read this with a friend, and we couldn’t stop theorizing about what might come next. (no-spoilers!) The emotional depth, the twists, and the high-stakes journey kept us hooked from start to finish.
If you loved the Nightborn Duet, this book will absolutely wreck you—in the best way. And if you haven’t started this series yet, what are you waiting for? I can’t wait to see what Carissa Broadbent has in store for us next!
