kells8 's review for:

Master of Crows by Grace Draven
4.0

I went into this after reading “Radiance” by the same author and was a little wary- Radiance has such an enthusiastic following and was recommended SO MUCH that the actual book wound up being a bit of a letdown. But I was pleasantly surprised with this one! All the things that worked for me in Radiance were here, as well, plus a lot of new strengths. The author does a really good job world building in BOTH books and she also does a phenomenal job constructing an interesting plot that strikes the perfect middle ground between too simple and too convoluted. It’s just right for an accessible fantasy romance.

This book differs from Radiance in the complexity of its characters- Radiance is friends to lovers, simple, cinnamon roll level relationship, with no real internal conflict inside or between the two main characters. This book has gorgeously drawn out characters with really well done depiction of conflict (both between them, and surrounding them). It’s interesting without being challenging- a really accessible book that doesn’t sacrifice plot or characters in order to be so.