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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A fairly good first in series, but I doubt I'll make it the whole way through based on book one.
I liked the protagonist and the fact she essentially moves between two worlds – the real world, in which she's been a private investigator, all above board; and the shady magical world, in which her family is one of a handful of magical families in London, with plenty of underhand dealings and a lot of enemies from the other families. Lydia's parents kept her out of the magical world all her life, but she's been dragged into it again as a result of personal misfortune and a missing cousin. The more she digs, the more she's embroiled within it.
It's a really interesting premise, and one that's fairly well drawn as Lydia is learning more about the families and her place as a Crow as the story progresses. I wanted a lot more world-building when it came to the families, though.
In terms of the actual plot – I found it a bit murky. On the surface it's simple, but the subplot involving a dead assassin, and a ghost, is a bit confusing. It's perhaps due to the pacing, or perhaps the audiobook narrator, whose chirpy narration didn't always seem to fit the tone of the story.
The romance that also forms a semi-subplot is also a bit confusing. Lydia falls for this guy immediately, and I found the descriptions of their limited time together a bit shallow. Plus I wasn't sure whether to read his character as a red herring or just a character poorly drawn.
I'm kind of intrigued by what happens next but I'm not busting to know either!
I liked the protagonist and the fact she essentially moves between two worlds – the real world, in which she's been a private investigator, all above board; and the shady magical world, in which her family is one of a handful of magical families in London, with plenty of underhand dealings and a lot of enemies from the other families. Lydia's parents kept her out of the magical world all her life, but she's been dragged into it again as a result of personal misfortune and a missing cousin. The more she digs, the more she's embroiled within it.
It's a really interesting premise, and one that's fairly well drawn as Lydia is learning more about the families and her place as a Crow as the story progresses. I wanted a lot more world-building when it came to the families, though.
In terms of the actual plot – I found it a bit murky. On the surface it's simple, but the subplot involving a dead assassin, and a ghost, is a bit confusing. It's perhaps due to the pacing, or perhaps the audiobook narrator, whose chirpy narration didn't always seem to fit the tone of the story.
The romance that also forms a semi-subplot is also a bit confusing. Lydia falls for this guy immediately, and I found the descriptions of their limited time together a bit shallow. Plus I wasn't sure whether to read his character as a red herring or just a character poorly drawn.
I'm kind of intrigued by what happens next but I'm not busting to know either!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted this to be great, but it's not. It needs so much editing -- tighter pacing, less repetition, deciding once and for all whether to use contractions (you are is weirdly awkward, and even more so when plenty of other commonly contracted words are, in fact, used accordingly). I'm intrigued by the world but it's so thinly built that it's hard to fully buy in, and it feels derivative of other works. I bought the 3-in-1 omnibus so I'll try one more volume, but I think this is going to end up on the wildly disappointing pile.
Audiobook narrated by
Kate Rawson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
English urban fantasy, sort of...
I liked it, sort of, and the narration was great.
I might pick up another book from this author and will definitely look for another book by this narrator.
Kate Rawson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
English urban fantasy, sort of...
I liked it, sort of, and the narration was great.
I might pick up another book from this author and will definitely look for another book by this narrator.
I really wanted to lose myself in the world of The Night Raven and when it delved into its' mysterious and dangerous world I really did. Unfortunately there's a lot of distraction to it that I didn't really enjoy such as the romance and the protagonists' personal issues that were constantly brought up despite it being clear to me as a reader that it wasn't going to be relevant to this book (perhaps it becomes relevant later in the series?).
Anyway, I enjoyed the mystery aspect and didn't guess the result until it was laid out. I may look into the rest of the series for the worldbuilding but for now I'm happy leaving this book as a one and done.
Anyway, I enjoyed the mystery aspect and didn't guess the result until it was laid out. I may look into the rest of the series for the worldbuilding but for now I'm happy leaving this book as a one and done.
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
mysterious
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an OK book, quite a gentle read. Or listen in my case, as I listened to the audio book version. The narrator was good. It was a bit like chick lit with magic in it, which is not my usual thing. I was hoping for a bit more supernatural content. Not sure if I'll read the rest of the series, but I might.