Review by BuzzingQuill -- The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis

[BuzzingQuill]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Sparrow" by Denna M. Davis.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Sparrow by author Denna M. Davis is the first installment in the fantasy series Emaji Nation. Our story begins with Amanda Stephenson, who upon a visit to her grandparents’ home discovers said home has been housing an interdimensional portal. Amanda (with a push from her grandparents) finds herself in the colourful (literally) world of Emaji.

Step into Emaji and you will find people that come in just about every colour imaginable, there are winged and gilled protectors of the skies and seas, and so much more. After landing in this strange world alone, Amanda happens by Solomon—a handsome, silver-skinned Shomerakiya (protector of the sky). It is because of this meeting we discover Amanda’s true identity, she is the Ha’Ankor, which in English translates to the Sparrow. It is Amanda’s destiny to deliver the people of Emaji from the tyrannous reign of Zorn, as well as her destiny to marry her winged companion, Solomon. Aside from having the world’s fate on her shoulders, Amanda has other concerns; she is being hunted down by an assassin who just so happens to have been romantically linked to Amanda’s prophesized husband.

Firstly, let us discuss the positives. The strongest element this book has going for it is the exceptional level of detail Davis has put into the creation of Emaji. From her development of the world’s language and histories, to the meaning behind the myriad of skin colour. I can say that as a reader, it was incredibly easy to lose myself in Emaji. Davis use of prose lends well to the description of environments, thusly allowing readers to paint a vivid portrait of locations, buildings, etc.

Now for the negatives and unfortunately the biggest negative this book features tends to be the one thing that makes or breaks a novel for me; characters. The story is told in the third person and alternates character perspectives during the course of the novel, this style of writing usually lends to the reader sharing a deeper connection with the characters; however, this was not the case for me. I felt like the author failed to develop the characters more than the functions that they serve to the plot. I cannot definitively list the traits of the either Amanda or Solomon beyond the fact Amanda has a sarcastic/humorous quip at hand, and Solomon is a romantic. The author’s attempt at giving them distinct characterizations often falls flat for me, for example, it is discovered that Amanda is afraid of heights, this would be an interesting development if the author was consistent with the matter and didn’t only bring it up when it was needed to serve the plot. And as for Solomon, the only defining trait as I had previously mentioned is that he is a romantic and what bothers me about this is that we are told that Solomon is a romantic by Solomon, we are not explicitly shown he is. One could make the argument that he is a romantic because he fell in love with Amanda during their first meeting, but to them, I would say that Solomon only exhibited romantic feelings for her when he had known that Amanda was the person that he was prophesized to marry.

The character’s perspective that I had ended up enjoying the most was Zorn’s—our antagonist. The reason for this is because I could easily distinguish Zorn’s character within the real, he was a sadistic tyrant, who lost temper easily. I think when the reader enjoys reading the arguably one-note villain’s perspective more than the protagonists’, more work is required in developing said characters.

Another grievance I have with this book is that it follows the cliché ‘chosen one’ narrative. Amanda is your average girl—oh wait no, she isn’t, because there just so happens to be a prophecy that cites her as the chosen one. This is a really common fantasy trope and if the author doesn’t give nuance to the chosen one narrative by either dissecting or challenging it during the novel, the plot can feel predictable and thus unremarkable.

Moving onto the editorial quality of the novel. The novel features its fair share of mistakes, which causes me to feel that this was not professionally edited. However, those mistakes are not so severe that it distracts the reader from the work.

Overall, I would have to rate The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis a 2 out of 4 stars. I think the sheer quantity and quality of the world-building present in the novel prevents it from getting a lower rating. Also, I could not score it higher due to the lack of compelling protagonists and a tired plot structure. I believe that the Sparrow has a fantastic framework, which could benefit from the inclusion of more character-centric moments that would aid with character building. If I had to recommend this book to someone it would be to those of you who are looking for pure escapism in your fantasy novel, to feel immersed in the world and culture you’re reading about.

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The Sparrow
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[Sanju Lali]

Interesting fantasy story on Emaji Nation which begins with Amanda Stephenson, who upon a visit to her grandparents’ home discovers said home has been housing an inter-dimensional portal. Hope you enjoyed the book. Nice review!

[Letora]

I enjoyed the world of Emaji I did sometimes find Solomon annoying when reading. He tries too hard and I'm not interested in love at first sight stories. But I did find it fun. Great review!

[danielleamy]

I reviewed this one also. I agree with your thoughts on the lack of character development. I think the author focussed more on word building when creating the world of Emaji, rather than the characters or their relationship. I still enjoyed reading this though despite these flaws. Thanks for a great review, I liked reading your perspective!

[BuzzingQuill]

Interesting fantasy story on Emaji Nation which begins with Amanda Stephenson, who upon a visit to her grandparents’ home discovers said home has been housing an inter-dimensional portal. Hope you enjoyed the book. Nice review!

Thank you so very much for commenting, really appreciate it!

[BuzzingQuill]

I enjoyed the world of Emaji I did sometimes find Solomon annoying when reading. He tries too hard and I'm not interested in love at first sight stories. But I did find it fun. Great review!

Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it. I gotta agree sometimes Solomon felt like a bit of a pill and love at first sight stories aren't my favourite either--they feel a bit outdated.

[BuzzingQuill]

I reviewed this one also. I agree with your thoughts on the lack of character development. I think the author focussed more on word building when creating the world of Emaji, rather than the characters or their relationship. I still enjoyed reading this though despite these flaws. Thanks for a great review, I liked reading your perspective!

Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting, I'm really glad you enjoyed the book and yes I think the author focused on worldbuilding rather than characters, but maybe in her next book she'll focus more on characters since she's already established Emaji as a world

[kdstrack]

I enjoyed your insightful description of the character development - or lack thereof! I also agree with your "chosen one" comments. Great comments! Thanks.

[BuzzingQuill]

I enjoyed your insightful description of the character development - or lack thereof! I also agree with your "chosen one" comments. Great comments! Thanks.

Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it and sorry for the late reply

[YL_Eytka]

I felt similarly about the romance and the characters in the book. Definitely could use a bit more development. Thank you for the review

[Nisha Ward]

I felt like the author failed to develop the characters more than the functions that they serve to the plot. I cannot definitively list the traits of the either Amanda or Solomon beyond the fact Amanda has a sarcastic/humorous quip at hand, and Solomon is a romantic.

I had the same problem, though less so with Amanda and Solomon. I thought they were the most well written of the characters, though given that almost everyone was flat that's not saying very much, is it?

[BuzzingQuill]

I felt like the author failed to develop the characters more than the functions that they serve to the plot. I cannot definitively list the traits of the either Amanda or Solomon beyond the fact Amanda has a sarcastic/humorous quip at hand, and Solomon is a romantic.

I had the same problem, though less so with Amanda and Solomon. I thought they were the most well written of the characters, though given that almost everyone was flat that's not saying very much, is it?

Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. Good point about background characters feeling flat

[BuzzingQuill]

I felt similarly about the romance and the characters in the book. Definitely could use a bit more development. Thank you for the review

Thank you so much for your feedback, really appreciate it

[allbooked+]

Interesting story line but maybe needs more fleshing out of the characters. Thank you for the thorough review!