Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - In the Ravenous Dark

I have been complaining for ages that no book has a pansexual main character, and when I say this one does, I mean it. The way I feel so represented with this book as a pans/poly person made my little bitter heart flutter.

Rovan, a hidden bloodmage with a drinking problem makes a mistake, and she's found out. She then is suddenly thrust into a world full of schemes, luxury and betrayal, Rovan will need to learn how to navigate the royal palace without losing her head. A dead ward, an alluring princess, and a secret that is poisoning the world. What could go wrong?

⭐️- World building and background characters
0.75- Plot
⭐️- Main character
0.75- Love interest
0.25- Tension

The world building and background characters in this book are amazing. The detail, representation and how complete they are makes literally half of the allure of the book. The idea of the plot is amazing, and throughout the whole book is very well developed, is just the ending I didn't like too much, but it wasn't bad. Rovan as a main character an amazing character and a good representation (in my opinion) of a pansexual (the chaos pleaseee that was so on point). The love interests are lovable and the dynamic between all of them was good, I just feel like they fell in love out of no where. And the tension (which for me, s one of the most important things in a love story) was lacking. The story was so good I could have forgiven anything but this. But overall, a very good book that left me satisfied.

Content Warnings

andromeda_1998's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed the ravenous dark, it’s an amazing book! These are the reasons I loved it:

Characters
I really enjoyed the characters some of theme are precious little beans that should be protected others are plain evil. The writer navigates these extremes with ease and really shows off her talent of writing multidimensional characters.

Plot
The plot is a bit well predictable, and this sounds weird, in a good way. It’s a real fantasy with a girl finding out that she had magical powers and now she has to save the world but in a gothic kind of way.

The plot is dark and before you decide to pick this book up you need to check the triggerwarnings. The writer doesn’t shy away from harsh subjects so be safe.

Writingstyle
This book is fast paced and I would consider it to be an easy read. It’s a book to finish in one setting and while I did precisely that. Did I finish it at around 2 in the morning? Yes… do I regret it? No…. Who needs sleep anyways?

Recommendations
Yes I would for sure recommend this book. I just don’t really know to whom. I think readers who are looking for a darker story with a pansexual polyamorous main character would really enjoy this one.

Content Warnings

danny_thereader's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

mhs_197's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

jamieleepilk's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Dark, angsty and death magic filled YA story.
I'll start with the good points... the premise for this book is brilliant. The representation in the story is incredible, a pansexual lead, lesbian love interest and a character that is non-binary & asexual, the main central "love story" is also polyamorous which is brilliant and never something I thought I would see in a YA novel. It's effortlessly queer. The magic and world building is slow to begin with, you are kind of thrown in at the deep end without much information and it builds over time. I am and always will be a sucker for court intrigue so that was great.
Now for the slightly less great points... the plot is a little bit all over the place and it ended up falling flat for me. It had so much potential but just felt certain plot points were purely for shock value rather than to actual move the story along is any way. A lot of the "romance" in this book is largely instalove or rather instapassion in this books case which some times makes me disconnect from a story.
I can admire what she was trying to do with this story and the ambition behind it but I think this just wasn't the book for me and by the looks of the other reviews I'm very much in the minority here.

Content Warnings

wrenxavier's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

Content Warnings

sageleafpark's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing for the e-arc of this book.

Rovan has been hiding the fact that she is a bloodmage her whole life--ever since she watched her father die for being one. Bloodmages are surrounded by death and forced to work for Theopolis, and Rovan will do anything she can to avoid that life...except letting her friend die. When she reveals she is a bloodmage, she is forced to the palace to except a bloodline and a life she wants no part of, and is beset with a Guardian--a spirit that seems to be more there to guard others from her than her from them. But there is something else going on in the city, causing the world-wide blight, and it stinks of death. Rovan will risk her own life to find out what it is.

I was all in on the premise of this book: the bloodmage, reluctant hero, secret plots and royal intrigue! The setting is also really interesting and I was so curious to find out what was causing the blight. There are a lot of twists and reveals that I didn't see coming, and I was kept on the edge of my seat for the entire time! I really love the plot.

The queer rep in this book is also amazing! Rovan is pansexual and polyamorous. There is a main character who is nonbinary panromantic-asexual, and lots of other queer characters. I thought it was all well-done and was glad that it wasn't looked down on in this world (as long as characters still reproduced, that is).

The only real complaint I had with this book (and not much of one) is that I didn't really feel the connection between Rovan and her love interests until...very far into the book. I didn't think the chemistry between them was that great and it seemed like much more of a visual-only attraction for a long time. It did get better though!

The found family element made me want to cry. So precious. Definitely get this book!

Pub Date: May 18, 2021

Content Warnings

More...