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bookcaptivated's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexism, War, and Medical content
shelbibroeking's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I was really not a fan of main character (and thus the book) until about 1/3 of the way through. Katya was written to be headstrong/outspoken, but it was honestly overwritten at first until some of the major events happened that softened the characterization a bit and helped the book focus a bit more on the plot (and helped me become a little less agitated with her). By the end of the book I was eager to see what happened next, but it was a bit marred by the tough beginning. I liked learned about some of the mythology I hadn’t been familiar with before though!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
bookishgia's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Murder, War, Death of parent, and Violence
e_flah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove follows Katyani, who is the head of the royal guard of Chandela and has a soul bond with the queen. With the exception of some assassination attempts on the king and queen and the fact that Katyani is being sent to the gurukul -- a remote school similar to a monastery -- in order to keep an eye on the two princes, Ayan and Bhairav, Katyani thinks she knows where her life is going. This is definitely a book I'd recommend going into not knowing much about the plot in order to fully enjoy the ride.
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove was a mixed experience for me. The setting is full of magic and monsters, which were very interesting but not really explained at all. I don't need hand-holding in my world-building but more explanations of what things looked like and/or how Katyani experienced them would have made the reading experience more immersive.
I also found the character development of the main characters, particularly Katyani, underwhelming. The prose does a lot of telling, not showing. A big example of this is that we're told over and over Katyani is the best guardswoman in Chandela, which is why she heads the royal guard. We see Katyani do well in a fight but not have any other skills that would explain why a teenager is leading the royal guard over adults who have fought in war. I kept hoping for more character development because I really wanted to root for Katyani. She's a determined person who is always trying to make the best of a terrible situation. Her grit was my favorite thing about her and definitely kept the story moving forward at a brisk pace.
My favorite thing about Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove was the pacing. After a somewhat slow start while the reader gets to know the characters a bit, the book is very fast paced. There's lots of political machinations and action scenes that kept me wanting to know what happened next. I also appreciated that there were some well-done pauses in the story that gave the characters time to process and react to what was happening rather than having them run from crisis to crisis.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove was a mixed experience for me. The setting is full of magic and monsters, which were very interesting but not really explained at all. I don't need hand-holding in my world-building but more explanations of what things looked like and/or how Katyani experienced them would have made the reading experience more immersive.
I also found the character development of the main characters, particularly Katyani, underwhelming. The prose does a lot of telling, not showing. A big example of this is that we're told over and over Katyani is the best guardswoman in Chandela, which is why she heads the royal guard. We see Katyani do well in a fight but not have any other skills that would explain why a teenager is leading the royal guard over adults who have fought in war. I kept hoping for more character development because I really wanted to root for Katyani. She's a determined person who is always trying to make the best of a terrible situation. Her grit was my favorite thing about her and definitely kept the story moving forward at a brisk pace.
My favorite thing about Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove was the pacing. After a somewhat slow start while the reader gets to know the characters a bit, the book is very fast paced. There's lots of political machinations and action scenes that kept me wanting to know what happened next. I also appreciated that there were some well-done pauses in the story that gave the characters time to process and react to what was happening rather than having them run from crisis to crisis.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Torture
Minor: Kidnapping
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent
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