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rogue_lurker's review
4.0
Ms Elizabeth had me at the book blurb. Lesbians. Pirates. It’s the perfect pairing. Okay, so Branna Kelly isn’t a pirate per se … but she’s a daring sea captain intent on revenge against the despicable pirates who killed her parents and have been terrorizing the seas for years. That’s close enough for me.
The Raven and Banshee is a great adventure set in the 1700s that brought back a lot of good memories of the old swashbuckler movies I loved as a kid – but with two female leads which is even better. Julia Farrow and Branna Kelly were young and in love, but the potential scandal led to Julia’s father threatening to destroy Branna’s father’s career as a captain. Forced to spurn Branna’s declaration of love and sending her off on a voyage with her parents. Julia’s guilt and regret is devastating when Branna’s father’s ship is reported as being attacked by pirates with no survivors. But never fear, Branna managed to escape with a scar and a grudge. Over the years, Branna built her reputation and skills as the captain of The Banshee, a mercenary ship that harried pirates and ne’er do well’s around the Bahamas. When Branna’s ship comes across an seemingly abandoned ship, they find Julia chained in the hold with a message for Branna from the dread pirate who Branna has chased all these years.
I don’t want to give the story away, suffice to say that there’s lots of drama, lots of action, lots of betrayal, lots of brooding, lots of romance. This was a great way to spend the weekend – immersed in an exciting and action-packed story that didn’t shy away from some gore and mayhem. As with Ms Elizabeth’s other novels, her main characters are engaging and well rounded and even the secondary characters felt real and fleshed out. There’s good chemistry between Branna and Julia, the second chance romance is always a favourite trope. Branna’s pigheaded pride and Julia’s not always smart decisions gave them enough obstacles to overcome and the time to let the rekindled romance simmer
For a good time – read this book.
RECOMMEND
The Raven and Banshee is a great adventure set in the 1700s that brought back a lot of good memories of the old swashbuckler movies I loved as a kid – but with two female leads which is even better. Julia Farrow and Branna Kelly were young and in love, but the potential scandal led to Julia’s father threatening to destroy Branna’s father’s career as a captain. Forced to spurn Branna’s declaration of love and sending her off on a voyage with her parents. Julia’s guilt and regret is devastating when Branna’s father’s ship is reported as being attacked by pirates with no survivors. But never fear, Branna managed to escape with a scar and a grudge. Over the years, Branna built her reputation and skills as the captain of The Banshee, a mercenary ship that harried pirates and ne’er do well’s around the Bahamas. When Branna’s ship comes across an seemingly abandoned ship, they find Julia chained in the hold with a message for Branna from the dread pirate who Branna has chased all these years.
I don’t want to give the story away, suffice to say that there’s lots of drama, lots of action, lots of betrayal, lots of brooding, lots of romance. This was a great way to spend the weekend – immersed in an exciting and action-packed story that didn’t shy away from some gore and mayhem. As with Ms Elizabeth’s other novels, her main characters are engaging and well rounded and even the secondary characters felt real and fleshed out. There’s good chemistry between Branna and Julia, the second chance romance is always a favourite trope. Branna’s pigheaded pride and Julia’s not always smart decisions gave them enough obstacles to overcome and the time to let the rekindled romance simmer
For a good time – read this book.
RECOMMEND
get_lit_erature's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lezreadalot's review against another edition
4.0
“Are you all right?”
“No. Not until you touch me.”
A wonderful historical romance with a dash of action and adventure, and characters I really really came to love. Branna and Julia fell in love at sixteen, but are then torn apart by parental whims and a tragedy on the high seas. Now it's 15 years later, and Branna is a ruthless ship captain and Julia is a successful merchant, and they find themselves thrown together again. I can be pretty picky about pirate stories and depictions of the historical Caribbean, and while I didn't particularly love anything about the way the setting was portrayed, I had nothing to complain about either. There's a lot of action and adventure and gore, and I think this does a good job of showing the brutality of life on the seas without going overboard (................ba dum psh) about it. It didn't take long for me to get totally immersed in the story and the characters.
Said characters were just awesome, exactly what I want out of a novel like this. Branna is badass and competent and desperate to cling to the ruthless name she's made for herself, but she can't keep her heart hard against Julia. Julia was wonderful as well; the consummate survivor, smart and confident and gives as good as she gets. Their chemistry was so so good, and even though the push-and-pull in the relationship was a teensy but frustrating, it was realistic, and played out the way I think a second chance romance of this nature would. Some of the situations they get thrown into are so harrowing, and the ways they come out of it, the ways the author shows how much they still care about one another... I really really loved it. All of the scenes aboard the ship when they're learning to be around each other again, but in a different capacity... gah. I ate it all up. There's also so many good care-taking scenes in this that I just adored. Another thing I liked is that Branna is known as a female captain. In a lot of stories like this, you'll have the female character masquerading as a man in order to rise to the position she is. While I don't dislike that at all, I do enjoy that Branna has to juggle the extra weight of always needing to be seen as tough and capable, because as a woman, her position is so precarious.
This could have gotten a higher rating from me, but the pacing did slow down considerably several times, and that messed with the flow for me. The change of pace was probably necessary, but idk, I feel like it could have been written better, so we didn't feel like we were in a lull. Might just be a me thing though!
Listened to the audiobook as read by Mary Sarah, and. Okay, I definitely liked her voice, no complaints there, but she had a very unique reading style? Especially when it came to the prose? Her voice would lilt up and down unnecessarily, and sometimes it would genuinely confuse me, because we'd be in the middle of a fight scene and homegirl would be reading like she was doing ASMR or singing me a lullaby.
rsk1315's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
misthios_pat's review against another edition
4.0
Omg, the drama! It felt like a historical romance... Oh well, it is lol. So that longing, all that angst were all there and these two little shits went through it and took us hostage with them. THANK fuck for that, because there was loads of fun, thrilling moments too, making it even more compelling.
But I gotta say, even with me enjoying all the angst going on (which was light-y IMHO, much appreciated), I wasn't amused by these two idiots. I mean, they were so frustrating at times!! I wished I could slap some sense into them hahaha. Because you can see they are fun, they have chemistry, they are amusing, clearly they belong together, but they really did some questionable choices here and there.
Also, I was never very good at paying attention to covers, so now that I'm only buying my books online I rarely look their way, but Imma say, sometimes I do because they are so nice even I cannot ignore them. So, If I wasn't already sold on reading this because of the plot alone, the cover would have done it. Gorgeous!
But I gotta say, even with me enjoying all the angst going on (which was light-y IMHO, much appreciated), I wasn't amused by these two idiots. I mean, they were so frustrating at times!! I wished I could slap some sense into them hahaha. Because you can see they are fun, they have chemistry, they are amusing, clearly they belong together, but they really did some questionable choices here and there.
Also, I was never very good at paying attention to covers, so now that I'm only buying my books online I rarely look their way, but Imma say, sometimes I do because they are so nice even I cannot ignore them. So, If I wasn't already sold on reading this because of the plot alone, the cover would have done it. Gorgeous!
bridance's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Fun adventures, but I did not enjoy the narrator.
isoka's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
3.75
gothbaby's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
After DNFing its physical form, I decided to give the audiobook a try. I am genuinely glad I did: I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated.
I stand by my original review that there was little to no build up in the beginning, but the author changes gears further into the book and it was a worthwhile read.
I enjoyed the romance but would have loved it to be more angsty.
I stand by my original review that there was little to no build up in the beginning, but the author changes gears further into the book and it was a worthwhile read.
I enjoyed the romance but would have loved it to be more angsty.
gothbaby's review
I tried my best to enjoy this book but physically couldn’t make myself interested enough to finish it.
While the writing was good, there was no built up to, well, anything. There was no sense of mystery or enticement to try and figure anything out about the characters or their dynamics. It was all very lacklustre.
While the writing was good, there was no built up to, well, anything. There was no sense of mystery or enticement to try and figure anything out about the characters or their dynamics. It was all very lacklustre.