A Prince of Song and Shade (A Tale of Stars and Shadow #2)

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

My Opinion

(5 / 5) I’m still amazed at the quality of storytelling by Cassidy. It’s very easy to get lost in getting to know her characters and living in the world she has created.

In this book, she was able to answer many questions from book one but to also give you just enough to make you want more answers for book three. You get to know Talyn a bit more, her past and her family but also you get new experiences and characters while still keeping the same beloved Wolves.

For the content, the language is higher than the last one but still no F words. The sex is there again but no real details. It’s very tastefully done. There are some intense murder scenes with quite a few details. This is where the majority of the violence lies.

*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A Prince of Song and Shade (A Tale of Stars and Shadow #2)

Lisa Cassidy

Emboldened by the effect Talyn Dynan had on the humans of Mithranar, the Shadowhawk is working harder than ever to make a difference for those struggling to survive on the streets of Dock City. But when violence spreads to the citadel in a horrific murder, he finds himself torn between protecting the humans and keeping his identity secret from the increasingly determined prince of night and his Falcon hunters. Meanwhile, Talyn has returned home to the Twin Thrones ready to begin rebuilding her life. Yet there are more secrets shrouding the Dumnorix family’s past than she realized, and when the Callanan ask her to undertake a highly dangerous mission, Talyn is faced with a difficult choice–between duty to her family and country and trusting the shadowy criminal she met in Mithranar. And after their failed assassination attempt on Prince Cuinn, Vengeance are far from done. Their reach is deeper than either Talyn or the Shadowhawk could ever have imagined, and now they’ve got a new target in their sights…

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the books ratings. 

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 6

S***- 45

A**- 2

B****-

D***- 18

Bas****- 14

Religious Cursing-

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 3

L***-

Derogatory terms and curses unique to the book-

Six thrices 

Skies

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A group of three sip wine. 

A couple drink wine with dinner. 

A man serves wine at a party. 

A group of friends goes out drinking. 

A man drinks spirits. 

A man sips wine. Another man drinks also. 

A man gets too talkative after drinking too much.

A woman visits her lover with a bottle of wine. They drink. 

A group of soldiers drinks wine. 

A man finishes a bottle of spirits. 

Wine is served at a party. 

A man drinks too much at dinner. He continually is drinking on a retreat to dull his emotions. 

A family sips wine with dinner. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

A man and woman embrace and kiss. He holds her face and kisses her deeply. She kisses him.

A couple tear off their clothes and reacquaint with each other’s bodies. He’s an eager but intense lover. She comments to herself that she’s naked. She wakes to him gone. They kiss again mentioning he doesn’t have to be anywhere just yet. 

A woman kisses a man sliding her hands under his shirt, promising the night with him. 

A man says he loves a casual relationship and she’s fun in bed. She kisses him. He takes off her dress and lowers her to the bed. 

A woman remembers a man attempting to rape a woman and her being forced to leave. 

A man states that another man only likes male bed partners. 

A woman strips down to just her shirt while with her boyfriend. She calls their relationship “lovers without any promises.” She kisses him. They kiss again. She unbuttons his shirt, he slides his hands up hers. Later, they lay panting and tangled. (Sex is assumed, but no details.)

A man offers to share his nights with a woman. She declines. 

A man asks another man if he has his way with servants too or if he asks first. 

A man kisses a woman lightly. Again two more times. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A young woman punches a young man who is pickpocketing her. His nose bleeds. 

A young man is arrested for stealing from the rich. He was beat up during his time in jail. 

A man and his men regularly steal from the rich or the government and distribute it to the poor. 

A man tries to attack a man with a knife. He cuts his arm, it bleeding. Another man throws himself on the attacker. They wrestle and punch back and forth until one is unconscious. 

People are kidnapped and sold as slaves. 

A man is murdered. Blood covers the wall, ceiling and floor. The smell of blood and gore is strong. The man’s body is naked, stomach ripped open, intestines spilling out. Claw marks cover his chest, throat and face. Another man is found similarly. They look like they’ve been attacked by an animal, and intestines look like they’ve been chewed.  Later, a woman is found similarly. 

Three men individually break into an apartment. 

A woman tackles a man to get him away from an oncoming arrow. A woman attacks a man, causing a pool of blood. A man knocks a man down. Two men fight, a woman throws a knife in a man’s back, knocking him down. She knocks down another then stabs a knife in his chest. She slashes a throat, moving to avoid the spurt of blood. 

A man is shot in the chest and close to dying. 

A prisoner hangs himself in his cell. 

A group of soldiers surrounds a man. They fight with swords, one soldier is knocked over with a sickening thud as his head hits the floor. A man is cut, blood soaking his clothes. Kicks and fighting continue. 

Slavery. 

Three people try to escape slavery. Two die. 

A captain tell many soldiers that she’ll beat them if they step out of line. 

A group of people steal a slave.

A group of people chase a man, throw knives at him and hold a knife to him. 

A woman is hung outside a man’s window as punishment to him. The story is that it was suicide. 

A man is surrounded and knocked unconscious. His ankle is hit by man with a rock. It is bleeding, swollen and bruising. 

A large cat attacks and tears a man’s throat, blood spurting. His paws drip with blood. 

A woman comes behind a man and draws her knife against his throat, killing him. Blood spurting while he gurgled. The cat kills more, then people come and attack with knives, axes, arrows and swords. “It was a bloodbath.”  The cat is covered in blood and gore. A woman straddles a man and threatens him with a knife. Then holds a knife to his groin and slides it in when he doesn’t speak. She slices his throat.

A man is caught in a tunnel cave-in. People try to dig him out. Bones are broken and he’s bleeding. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A man and his family were executed for the man’s crimes. 

In a dream, a woman relives her partners death. 

A man dies, his family prepares a funeral. Then a few check out the murder scene and examine blood spatter etc. 

The book refers to the pain of grief many times.

There is an avalanche and many people need to be dug out. Some are found alive, some are not.  People caused the avalanche. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.