“”Maybe I could have liked you. Maybe we could have been friends.” It flowed out of me as if I had already dreamed it. “Maybe, if I was just me and dreamwalkers had never been hunted, I could have overheard you playing this old music and realized it was the same music I loved . . . and maybe we could have got talking about it over coffee. If we’d met in another world.””

Wow I really missed these characters!! I love Paige and Warden so much I cannot wait for the fourth book, The Mask Falling, to come out next February. So excited!! This was a great addition to the series and even though I wish it had been longer, I enjoyed this novella very much.

This story picks up a couple of weeks after the events of The Song Rising. Paige and Warden are on the run in Paris, and hiding out in a safe house while Paige recovers from the her ordeal in Scion. Paige is in really bad shape, both physically and psychologically, and the author definitely does not gloss over how everything has affected her. I applaud Shannon for taking the time to show that Paige is not okay and that it will take time for her to return to her former self. Her recovery is slow and frustrating and sometimes gruesome, but that is okay. She survived and that is what matters. The subtle touches, such as her fear of water now and her self loathing felt very authentic and heartbreakingly true to character.

The story takes place in both the present and the past, showing us before-unseen glimpses of Paige’s time in Sheol 1. If I am being honest, this was the weakest part of the story for me. I enjoyed seeing Paige and Warden in the beginning again, it was interesting to compare their relationship and how far it has come since then. However, it got a little redundant fast and I was more interested in them in the present. I can see why the author did this, to emphasize the differences and parallel how they came to trust each other the first time to now, when Paige is relearning to trust Warden’s trust. And of course, I am sure she wanted to give us little bits of them together, but not so much that it was spoilery or we’d expect too much of a progression in their interactions. I understand this, sure, but I still wanted more page time with them in the present. I am a sucker for the ‘healing/relearning to trust someone who wants to care for you’ trope and my poor little heart was begging for more.

What we got was so good, but I just wanted like 300 more pages of it! I guess I’ll just need to wait a few more months for The Mask Falling ughhhhh 🙄. It’s too far. I wonder if there will be a time jump or if we will start that book in the safe house still. I kind of hope so, but I am nervous about how their relationship will continue over the course of the series. We are only on the fourth book still! Out of seven! It’s stressing me out.

Highly, highly recommend this novella though, if you are a fan of the series. Shannon’s very skilled at character growth and handling trauma in a respectful, true way. I think it was a smart move to release this in between the long wait from book three to four, both so that we can reacquaint ourselves with the characters, but also so that Paige’s PTSD and healing are given the attention they deserve without it taking up half the next book. I was pleased with the story and thought it was very very good!

Now I’ll just be rereading the whole series while I impatiently wait for book four 😭.

What did you guys think of this little crumb we were given?? Did you like it?

Thanks for reading!

Title: The Dawn Chorus (The Bone Season Series #3.5)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: Fantasy | Dystopian | Adult | Young Adult | Trauma | Novella|
Publication Date: July 9th, 2020
Page Count: 78 pages
Buy It: Wordery | Book Depository