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kymirakythe 's review for:
The Raven Scholar
by Antonia Hodgson
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
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
The Raven Scholar is magnificent.
The tension builds from the first page, with the summoning of Yana and her family to the emperor's court... and the subsequent slow reveal of all the machinations of said family, from her brother to her mother to her father. But much of that is revealed through the persistence of our main character, Neema Kraa. Once a minor scholar in the emperor's court, scorned, snubbed, and mocked, she is now the emperor's High Scholar... still scorned, snubbed, and mocked. But she has taken solace in her work and made it her armor, and it serves her well when she is unexpectedly made the Raven Contender in the emperor's Trials for the throne upon the death of her rival.
Neema is smart, perceptive, and, as noted, persistent. The death of her rival leads her into a deeper plot, one spanning decades - one, now that she's uncovered it, she must unravel entire... even if it would be safer not to. All the while she is competing with six others for the throne in deadly competitions, one for each of the Eight Guardians of Orrun.
And I loved the Trials. With one-on-one combat structured for before and after each Trial, that meant that the Trials themselves tested the contenders in other ways - and revealed what each Guardian faction most values. (My favorite was the Ox Trial.)
Neema's fellow competitors are each fascinating in their own ways, particularly Cain, the Fox Contender and Neema's former(?) friend(?)/lover(?). As the question marks suggest, their relationship is a complicated one (much like the relationship between their Guardians), with many twists and turns; it's hard to tell if you're supposed to love Cain or hate him. In contrast, it's clear you're supposed to hate Ruko, the Tiger Contender... and I was fully prepared to hold onto that hate throughout the course of the book, and yet, but the end, I found that I couldn't.
The Raven Scholar has enough plot twists to be dizzying - but once they're revealed, you can see the subtle hints that led up to them. Every thread is expertly woven into the plot.
I'm tempted to immediately reread it.
The tension builds from the first page, with the summoning of Yana and her family to the emperor's court... and the subsequent slow reveal of all the machinations of said family, from her brother to her mother to her father. But much of that is revealed through the persistence of our main character, Neema Kraa. Once a minor scholar in the emperor's court, scorned, snubbed, and mocked, she is now the emperor's High Scholar... still scorned, snubbed, and mocked. But she has taken solace in her work and made it her armor, and it serves her well when she is unexpectedly made the Raven Contender in the emperor's Trials for the throne upon the death of her rival.
Neema is smart, perceptive, and, as noted, persistent. The death of her rival leads her into a deeper plot, one spanning decades - one, now that she's uncovered it, she must unravel entire... even if it would be safer not to. All the while she is competing with six others for the throne in deadly competitions, one for each of the Eight Guardians of Orrun.
And I loved the Trials. With one-on-one combat structured for before and after each Trial, that meant that the Trials themselves tested the contenders in other ways - and revealed what each Guardian faction most values. (My favorite was the Ox Trial.)
Neema's fellow competitors are each fascinating in their own ways, particularly Cain, the Fox Contender and Neema's former(?) friend(?)/lover(?). As the question marks suggest, their relationship is a complicated one (much like the relationship between their Guardians), with many twists and turns; it's hard to tell if you're supposed to love Cain or hate him. In contrast, it's clear you're supposed to hate Ruko, the Tiger Contender... and I was fully prepared to hold onto that hate throughout the course of the book, and yet, but the end, I found that I couldn't.
The Raven Scholar has enough plot twists to be dizzying - but once they're revealed, you can see the subtle hints that led up to them. Every thread is expertly woven into the plot.
I'm tempted to immediately reread it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol