Song of the Forever Rains is E.J. Mellow’s first book in the Mousai series. The Mousai are three sisters, each with a special, magical gift and a powerful place in the kingdom. Larkyra, the youngest of the sisters, has a voice that can soothe, enchant, or harm. After her coming of age, her father places her in the path of an evil duke and his mysterious nephew, Darius. Larkyra goes undercover in the duke’s home to find out why his people are suffering and where he’s getting a drug that he shouldn’t have access to.
I enjoyed Song of the Forever Rains, though I am curious to see what the next two books are like. Mellow plans to focus each book on one of the sisters, and I wonder if the other two might get more compelling stories (Mellow gives you hints of who might be in the next books, and I’m definitely interested to see what’s to come).
This novel starts with Larkyra out on a coming-of-age mission, living on the streets in the Thief Kingdom and learning how to control her magic even more than she already does. I absolutely loved this beginning and wished Mellow had chosen to focus the whole book on this part of Larkyra’s life. Unfortunately, the pacing of the book somewhat slows down once she goes to stay with the duke, and it’s a bit more of a drag to get through.
I really loved the characters, though, and overall, this was a good read. The three sisters are hilarious together, and they each have very distinct personalities. I loved every time they were together and wish the book had been able to spend more time with just them. Overall, I do recommend Song of the Forever Rains, and I’m excited to see what else Mellow does with this series. She’s created a really interesting world and good characters, so I think it can only improve from here.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Montlake, for review.
