Short Life of Sparrows (Cole)

The Short Life of Sparrows
Emm Cole, 2014
Self-published
430 pp.
AISN: B00NGR7NDQ


Summary
Beneath the light of a full moon, the Nightbloods and Seers are dancing. They are dancing as they await another Awakening, a dream that defines every witch's destiny. It doesn't matter that the coven is cheering and anticipating her turn into womanhood, because Calli doesn't want any of it.

She doesn't want to see the face of the hired hand Isaiah, nor does she desire the pursuits of a very determined Nightblood as she runs from a future with the Ordinary help. She knows that regardless of whether she taps into forbidden magic or not, an Awakening is rumored to hold ultimate power over the Seer who dreams it.

While the other Seers her age are given to their parties, their enchantments, and the lust of Nightblood suitors, Calli must choose how she'll endure the worst of her visions. There may be a way to survive her sleep, but she's not sure she can defeat the truth that will find her when she's wide awake.

Does real love even stand a chance against the darkest of magic?

Author Bio
Emm Cole is the author of the Dark Fantasy novel, The Short Life of Sparrows, as well as the Young Adult Fantasy series, Mermina. She lives with her husband and two spunky children. When she’s not writing, she is often highlighting favorite passages in books.

Her funky imagination tends to be equal parts whimsically pretty and morbidly sinister. Emm believes that every new story she writes should challenge the limits of her creativity further than the last one, and she plans to keep developing unique magical realms, one book at a time.

According to Emm, authors Laini Taylor, Maggie Stiefvater, and John Green are pen-wielding super heroes. Don’t share your Sour Patch Kids or Swedish Fish with her, because she’ll eat them all. Emm is a fan of everything supernatural and finds that drama in stories is always more entertaining than the real kind.

She also enjoys thought-provoking art and is an admitted TV series junkie who has The Vampire Diaries and Friday Night Lights memorized. If a pop culture reference wasn’t acknowledged on Gilmore Girls, she probably finds it irrelevant. (From the author's website.)

Book Reviews
(For more extensive reviews, see Amazon Customer Reviews.)

The message is profound. The prose enrapturing. And the journey...unforgettable.
Tiana Dalichov, Author of Poison


I'm a huge fan of building relationships, not wham-insta-love. The Short Life of Sparrows has meaningful relationships in spades. Not just between the love interests, but in the relationships of the secondary characters as well.
Sara Mack, author of The Guardian Trilogy

Discussion Questions
1. By the end, most of the characters have all in some way told a lie of their own that has led to some severe consequences. Which characters do you believe were justified in their secrets? Or do you think they were all wrong to hide their secrets from each other?

2. A lot of the secondary characters evolve from who we believe them to be in the first chapters. Who would you say is the most surprising during the course of the story? Why?

3. Do you think if Lil had chosen differently in the past that it would have changed anything for the better?

4. Which scene stands out to you most in The Short Life of Sparrows? And why?

5. Which relationship, romantic or not, did you feel most connected to?

6. Who was the most selfish of the bunch and why? The most selfless, and why?

7. Which character did you resonate with most? The least?
(Questions written and donated to LitLovers by Marie from Utah.)

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