rjandersonwriter 's review for:

Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

4.0

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This book is smart and gripping and unlike anything else I've ever read, except perhaps for Elizabeth Wein's other excellent books. I loved Emilia and Teo and the powerful sibling bond between them; I loved the rich, evocative descriptions of Ethiopia in the 1920s and the upheaval and conflict there, which I had known very little about before I read the book; I loved the way Wein interwove real historical people and events with characters and incidents from her own imagination to make the story even more plausible and compelling. The story develops at a slow and thoughtful pace, but I never found it dull or felt the temptation to skip ahead. It also made me want to go back and reread all of Wein's earlier books about Aksum, just to compare the ancient and modern views of Ethiopia... And, of course, to reacquaint myself with Telemakos, Athena and all the wonderful characters Wein created in that series.