Thank you to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for letting me read an e-ARC of Sound the Gong by Joan He! This book releases today, April 30th, 2024, so head to your local bookstore or library to get a copy now.

This book hits the ground running right where we left off in Strike the Zither. Zephyr’s godly powers have gotten her this far, but will they be able to take her all the way to the end and see Xin Ren seated at the throne of the three kingdoms? With her guts, daring, and tenacity - she just might succeed. Readers will be delighted to get more one-on-one time with our favorite swornsisters (Cloud, Tourmaline, Ren), more face time with enemies Miasma and Cicada, as well as some very personal time with the competitive strategist, Crow. Zephyr faces complete destruction of the realm, her leader, and her own immortality.

He does an excellent job at packing a punch in the span of two books, and this installment is particularly brutal. While readers can imagine there is not a perfectly happy ending where everyone rides off into the sunset, the conclusion is open-ended and extremely satisfying. I love these morally grey characters with all their quirks and flaws, and I’m sad to part from them. Once again, this book travels at a breakneck pace with plenty of twists and turns for the readers who love to try and predict where the plot is going. I recommend that new readers pick up both Strike the Zither and Sound the Gong at the same time, if at all possible. You certainly won’t want a lot of downtime between them! Happy reading!!