The Bird and the Blade

• Rating: 4.5/5 stars
• Author: Megan Bannen
• Genre: Historical Fiction/YA Lit
• Publisher: Blazer + Blay
• Release Date: June 5, 2018

Synopsis:

The Bird and the Blade is a lush, powerful story of life and death, battles and riddles, lies and secrets from author Megan Bannen.

Enslaved in Kipchak Khanate, Jinghua has lost everything: her home, her family, her freedom . . . until the kingdom is conquered by enemy forces and she finds herself an unlikely conspirator in the escape of Prince Khalaf and his irascible father across the vast Mongol Empire.

On the run, with adversaries on all sides and an endless journey ahead, Jinghua hatches a scheme to use the Kipchaks’ exile to return home, a plan that becomes increasingly fraught as her feelings for Khalaf evolve into an impossible love.

Jinghua’s already dicey prospects take a downward turn when Khalaf seeks to restore his kingdom by forging a marriage alliance with Turandokht, the daughter of the Great Khan. As beautiful as she is cunning, Turandokht requires all potential suitors to solve three impossible riddles to win her hand—and if they fail, they die.

Jinghua has kept her own counsel well, but with Khalaf’s kingdom—and his very life—on the line, she must reconcile the hard truth of her past with her love for a boy who has no idea what she’s capable of . . . even if it means losing him to the girl who’d sooner take his life than his heart.

Review:

I first picked up this book through a Once Upon a Book Club subscription box. Honestly, I didn’t expect to love it—but since I’d paid for the box and wanted to open the gifts, I gave it a try. I’m so glad I did.

Bannen’s storytelling is stunning—lush, immersive, and woven in a way that doesn’t rely on straightforward chronology, yet flows seamlessly. The novel is based on a classic Chinese play (which I had never heard of before), and it’s refreshing to see a retelling that explores a time and culture rarely centered in Western literature.

Jinghua is a beautifully written heroine: resilient, layered, and forced to face impossible choices. Khalaf is equally compelling, a male lead defined by his sense of justice and integrity rather than brute force. Together, their relationship is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Instead of an instant spark, the romance grows out of kindness, deepens into friendship, and slowly blossoms into a love grounded in sacrifice and mutual respect.

This is exactly the kind of romance I love to see in YA—tender, believable, and powerful.

I highly recommend The Bird and the Blade to readers looking for a story that will sweep them away and break their hearts in the best possible way.