Reviews

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

allihodapp's review

adventurous emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was gifted to me for a Secret Santa gift exchange. I don’t know if I would have picked this up otherwise, but I am so glad this came across my bookshelf! I had so much fun diving into the world, learning its lore, and growing with the characters. Our MC went through a lot of emotional, mental, and spiritual growth, and the pacing of it was just right. 

I love how this book not only took me to a fantasy world, but also provided me with more knowledge on other cultural practices outside of my own. This made my world bigger and I am grateful for that.

bedtimesandbooks's review

adventurous 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

3.5

pixiepages's review

4.0

I have a love-hate relationship with fantasy. This one was shockingly good. Katyani, has a magical bond with the queen and is a royal guard of Chandela. With so many assassination attempts on the queen and king, they send Katyani away to go help and protect the prince. I will say I did like that the world building didn’t take over the whole book. There wasn't much character development which is the only thing I didn’t like.

seneschals's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

“I know you have your duty, and I have mine,” she continued, trying to keep her voice steady. “But that doesn't mean we can't be together, does it?”

♯

i assumed this would be a full on fantasy, but i was pleasantly surprised by the amount romance. katyani and her daksh were giving i'd destroy the world for you & you've ruined me for everyone else energy and i was OBSESSED WITH IT!

while i appreciated the fast pace and how entertaining this was, the emotions the narrative aimed to evoke would have benefitted more from an additional book.

midway, i was thinking: this would have worked so well as a series! there were so many twists and turns and i liked (actually, that hurt) how the author wasn't scared to kill off her characters. 

bookswithbit's review

4.0

Fantastic. The world was a bit confusing as we didn't get much explanation for the magic system. It was spiritual magic which was interesting! Every once in a while the MC would say something that sort of took me out of the time its set in and reminded me that it's a book - for example, she would use the word "crush" to refer to the guy she liked, which felt too modern for the setting. But otherwise, a really beautiful and rich story about both revenge and redemption.

rntylr22's review

3.0

3.5
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had the concentration / brain power for it. Theres a lot of politics and intrigue--which I normally love. The story was still fast paced and I loved the characters. I think Im going to re-read it at a later time and see, but Id anticipate Id give this a 4+ star rating if I was more in the mood for a book like this

typedtruths's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 ⚠️ i desperately wish i could rave about this book but it falls under the st martin's press boycott. see @readersforaccountability on ig for more info ⚠️ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, War, and Death

foenx's review

adventurous emotional medium-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

gayathiri_rajendran's review

4.0

Night of the Raven,Dawn of the Dove follows two kingdoms, political scheming along with elements of fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed this desi fantasy. Katyani and her cousins travel to the ashram of a famous guru to get the best education available. She is a bodyguard to the boys who would be future kings.

After their studies are over, they return to the kingdom to find themselves surrounded by betrayal and
tragedy. Many unexpected events take place and Katyani learns several unknown facts about herself and the events surrounding her life. She tries to set things right in her life and deal with people responsible for the tragedies.

The world building was great and the writing flowed easily. The plot was pretty fast paced and the characters were enjoyable and Katyani was someone you'd want to root for in full swing. The romance was a well written sub plot and it did not hinder the original story by any means.

This was such a good desi fantasy standalone I read after a long time.

readingbyte's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

What a great book - political intrigue, slow burn romance, monsters, sword fights, betrayal and murder. Exciting plot and world building based on historical India and Persian geographies and custom. I loved the FMC and her journey to understand who she really is, and there is genuine excitement and adventure. I really felt the pain she goes through and got a little misty eyed at the end with a real ending. Such a wonderful book - knocked half a star off as a tiny bit more romance would not have gone amiss but overall fantastic. How have so few seen and read this book??? Go read it!