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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Last year I kept saying I wanted to watch the anime adaptation of this series. I never finished it in the end, and instead here I am picking up the light novel series. Oops.
Raven of the Inner Palace is a refreshing take on the inner court concept, in the sense that it has ghosts. Like, actual ghosts. Supernatural phenomenons. The main character, Jusetsu, is special in the sense that she's a consort who specializes in this sort of things. Obviously that's not the only thing that makes her special, but the other reasons would be major spoilers. Sometimes special doesn't always mean good though, and that's definitely the case here because her situation complicates things. A lot of things.
Anyway, this book has an episodic format. Each chapter deals with a separate case, except it always brings in more details about Jusetsu, Koshun the Emperor, and their backgrounds. Information about these two are revealed slowly and gradually, while also forming a bond between the stoic Koshun and the socially awkward Jusetsu. The cases are mostly sad instead of scary, so the book has an overall somber tone with light comedic moments sprinkled all over to balance it out. Mainly through Jusetsu's interactions with people.
Being the first volume, this book serves as an introduction to the characters and the world, and it does a pretty nice job at doing so. It's very easy to get into, even if the chapters are on the longer side. The translation has some issues, but not bad enough to bother my reading experience.
Raven of the Inner Palace is a refreshing take on the inner court concept, in the sense that it has ghosts. Like, actual ghosts. Supernatural phenomenons. The main character, Jusetsu, is special in the sense that she's a consort who specializes in this sort of things. Obviously that's not the only thing that makes her special, but the other reasons would be major spoilers. Sometimes special doesn't always mean good though, and that's definitely the case here because her situation complicates things. A lot of things.
Anyway, this book has an episodic format. Each chapter deals with a separate case, except it always brings in more details about Jusetsu, Koshun the Emperor, and their backgrounds. Information about these two are revealed slowly and gradually, while also forming a bond between the stoic Koshun and the socially awkward Jusetsu. The cases are mostly sad instead of scary, so the book has an overall somber tone with light comedic moments sprinkled all over to balance it out. Mainly through Jusetsu's interactions with people.
Being the first volume, this book serves as an introduction to the characters and the world, and it does a pretty nice job at doing so. It's very easy to get into, even if the chapters are on the longer side. The translation has some issues, but not bad enough to bother my reading experience.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolutely gorgeous gentle mystery novel; definitely has an emphasis on character development (and the external plot is often a metaphor for the characters' internal development).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Classism
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
The last chapter made me want to continue the series, but I really really hope it becomes a bit less episodic in it's form because it feels like reading a TV show made in late 90, early 2000.
The nature of the Raven Consort's magic is not super clear either. She does help ghost and such, but it's unclear what she can and cannot do. It isn't well explained, or explained at all for that matter.
It also seems like the world outside their own is not fully fleshed. The inner palace doesn't seem to exist outside of the "cases" that are investigated.
I did like the characters and some of the "mystery" behind their history, lives and such. I'm curious about the main character relationship.
Hopefully it improves narratively, but also, I wish Seven Seas did better proofreading because the frequency of mistakes at the end of the first chapter really pissed me off. I usually don't mind a certain amount of mistakes in a translation, but this was next level careless and made we feel like the publisher didn't care enough about the series to do better.
The nature of the Raven Consort's magic is not super clear either. She does help ghost and such, but it's unclear what she can and cannot do. It isn't well explained, or explained at all for that matter.
It also seems like the world outside their own is not fully fleshed. The inner palace doesn't seem to exist outside of the "cases" that are investigated.
I did like the characters and some of the "mystery" behind their history, lives and such. I'm curious about the main character relationship.
Hopefully it improves narratively, but also, I wish Seven Seas did better proofreading because the frequency of mistakes at the end of the first chapter really pissed me off. I usually don't mind a certain amount of mistakes in a translation, but this was next level careless and made we feel like the publisher didn't care enough about the series to do better.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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:
Yes