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evawondergem's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Excrement, Blood, and Child abuse
jilljemmett's review
5.0
Stockholm, 1880: Twelve-year-old Mika struggles to take care of everyone at the orphanage. One night, a boy drops off a newborn baby at the front door with a warning about the “Dark Angel.” After making a police report about the new baby, a detective shows up at the orphanage to enlist Mika’s help. Detective Hoff wants Mika to help him solve a series of murders, because of her observations skills. Even though this could be dangerous, Mika sees it as an opportunity to one day move out of the orphanage, so she joins him on the investigation.
This story was so good! There were some sad moments with stories about the orphans, but the story was fast paced and didn’t linger on any scene for long. The mystery was really well plotted. There were great twists and reveals throughout the story. There were also a couple of subplots introduced, which I’m excited to find out more about in the next books!
The Night Raven is a great middle grade mystery!
Thank you Firefly Books Distributed and Amazon Crossing for sending me a copy of this book!
Content warnings: death, death of sibling, death of parent, death of child, parental abandonment, vomiting
This story was so good! There were some sad moments with stories about the orphans, but the story was fast paced and didn’t linger on any scene for long. The mystery was really well plotted. There were great twists and reveals throughout the story. There were also a couple of subplots introduced, which I’m excited to find out more about in the next books!
The Night Raven is a great middle grade mystery!
Thank you Firefly Books Distributed and Amazon Crossing for sending me a copy of this book!
Content warnings: death, death of sibling, death of parent, death of child, parental abandonment, vomiting
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Vomit
chailady's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Night Raven is the first in a series. This book has been translated from Swedish and there may be some language differences that cause the reading fluency to fluctuate. After the first section, I found the book a fairly quick read. I was invested in knowing the outcome. The plot moved along and didn’t hang up on too much or too little detail. I would like to read the second book in the series.
I’m having a difficult time trying to decide my rating for this book. The book is listed as middle grade, grades 5-8, but I would be hard pressed to recommend for a young age. Despite the fact the main character is in that age group, this book has some extremely difficult situations and graphic descriptions. Would my 13 year old grandson like this book? Yes. Would my 11 year old granddaughter? Definitely no. I think this book would be more appropriate listed as YA.
Mika’s story is unusual and so very scary. But her gusty attitude and determination makes her a very likable character. Overall, The Night Raven is a solid 3+/4. I would recommend for mature and upper middle grade students.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are mine alone.
I’m having a difficult time trying to decide my rating for this book. The book is listed as middle grade, grades 5-8, but I would be hard pressed to recommend for a young age. Despite the fact the main character is in that age group, this book has some extremely difficult situations and graphic descriptions. Would my 13 year old grandson like this book? Yes. Would my 11 year old granddaughter? Definitely no. I think this book would be more appropriate listed as YA.
Mika’s story is unusual and so very scary. But her gusty attitude and determination makes her a very likable character. Overall, The Night Raven is a solid 3+/4. I would recommend for mature and upper middle grade students.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are mine alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Police brutality, Vomit, and Abandonment
amy_joy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
The Night Raven is the first of four books (published in Sweden so far) of The Moonwind Mysteries series. This edition has been translated from Swedish to English.
The book follows a twelve-year-old orphan named Mika who lives in Stockholm in the late 1880s. A serial killer was apprehended the year before, but a new body is found that brings that conclusion into question. Mika partners with a detective to investigate this newest murder.
Overall, I'd rate this book 3.75/5 (round up to 4). The plot line is interesting and moves at a good pace. Once I was 40% of the way in, I was hooked and needed to know what happened! There were a few times where the plot seemed to jump around and I wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out. The story was good enough that I am interested in reading the rest of the series.
I'll also note that while this book is recommended for grades 5-9 on Amazon, there were a couple parts that seemed a little intense for kids under 12. For example, one scene describes poor/starving people fighting over meat that was vomited up by one of the characters. Additionally, there is a description of cooking a child to eat - the conversation is in jest, but it is pretty descriptive. There are also some mature themes discussed (abandoned children, starvation, criminal execution, child labor/abuse etc.).
Thank you Net Galley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
The book follows a twelve-year-old orphan named Mika who lives in Stockholm in the late 1880s. A serial killer was apprehended the year before, but a new body is found that brings that conclusion into question. Mika partners with a detective to investigate this newest murder.
Overall, I'd rate this book 3.75/5 (round up to 4). The plot line is interesting and moves at a good pace. Once I was 40% of the way in, I was hooked and needed to know what happened! There were a few times where the plot seemed to jump around and I wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out. The story was good enough that I am interested in reading the rest of the series.
I'll also note that while this book is recommended for grades 5-9 on Amazon, there were a couple parts that seemed a little intense for kids under 12. For example, one scene describes poor/starving people fighting over meat that was vomited up by one of the characters. Additionally, there is a description of cooking a child to eat - the conversation is in jest, but it is pretty descriptive. There are also some mature themes discussed (abandoned children, starvation, criminal execution, child labor/abuse etc.).
Thank you Net Galley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, and Murder
Minor: Police brutality, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit
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