The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1)

What attracted me first in this book was the amazing cover and then I read the synopsis and I knew I had to read it. I’m happy I did but I have to admit even though I do love retellings I am not familiar with Tristan and Isolde’s story, so I can’t say much about that.

What I can tell you is that the world building is AMAZING. At times I struggled to keep up with so much information. This is the first book in a 4 book series so there’s a lot of details and information to remember but the mysterious world and the atmosphere are breathtaking.

Lyana, Cassi, Rafe and Xander are an interesting group of characters. I really liked Rafe’s and Xander backstory, they definitely felt the most developed characters of the book. Rafe’s story is something else, I loved it and his actions made sense considering his past. Also, it didn’t hurt that he was a broody sarcastic cute guy. Lyana is a likable character, I liked how feisty and determined she was but she wasn’t my favorite character, sometimes some of her actions were a little childish but still understandable. Cassi… well I liked her, hated her, pitied her, it was a roller coaster which means the character was well developed and I’m very, very, very intrigued about her character’s future. She’s definitely the wildcard in the story.
I was enthralled in this story and the entertainment level was great. There was not much happening by the middle of the story but in the end things were a bit chaotic, including the romance, and I wanted more from a certain character, Malek, but he ended up having a small role that I thought. I hope we get much more from him in book 2.
Overall, The Raven and The Dove was a very entertaining story with a unique, distinct atmosphere and world building and I enjoyed it very much. I’m excited for book 2!

*I received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

4,5 stars.

I need to start off by saying that I absolutely loved this book. What really intrigued me about the story was the concept and the world that Davis created. However, because I liked the world and magic system so much I would’ve liked a bit more world building to better get to know the world I diving into. I also surprisingly ended up really liking the different POVs, which I normally don’t enjoy that much – it just made perfect sense in this story. I just hope we don’t get even more POVs in the next book because there are already quite a number of characters to follow and keep tabs on.

I really like the relationship between Lyana and Rafe, but I do feel that it was kind of rushed seeing as not much time had passed before things really started to progress. Also, I feel like Rafe sort of went in and out of character throughout the whole book? He was supposed to be suuuper loyal to his brother and felt that he owed him everything but went behind his back several times and was kind of selfish to be honest. I can’t help but still like him for some reason though – it must be the dark-haired bad boy with a troubled past persona.

I’m still giving the book 5 stars here, even though it’s more like 4,5 stars because I loved it when reading, and it has stuck with me in the days after I finished it. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book and cross my fingers for more world building and no additional POVs than the ones in the first book.

I enjoyed this new series starter from Kaitlyn Davis. I liked the story and the characters, and the writing was really immersive, and pulled me in.

The characters were really great! I love our MC Lyana, she is very similar to me and I connected with her. She is independent and kind of strong-willed, but she is always trying to do the right thing. Rafe was also a really great broody leading man. I really enjoyed the connection that they share in the book through their secret magic.

The only thing I had slight difficulty with was the world-building. I didnt quite understand it for the first half of the book. This might have just been a total me issue, but I just couldnt grasp onto it easily.

If you dive into this one, be prepared for a HUGE cliffhanger at the end. Like, I couldnt wrap my mind around the way it ended, and I HAVE to have the second book!

Overall, I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the rest of the series, and anything else that Davis will put out.

Special thanks to the author and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange only for my honest thoughts and review!

This was… okay. Probably more like 2.5 stars but I rounded up to 3 because the ending was kind of intense.

The major drawback of this novel was lack of focus. There are so many different perspectives and so many different goals that its hard to stay invested in any one thread. Rafe and Lyanas relationship should have been the central storyline here, but even that felt rushed and incomplete. I didnt care about anyones relationship, really, with the possible exception of Rafe and Xander. They had an actual backstory, a palpable history, and a real bond, so Rafes betrayal actually resonated. But everything else just felt like a prequel for things to come. Hoping maybe book 2 is a little deeper?

Or maybe I need to give some adult fiction another try…

It definitely keeps your interest. There were a lot of unexpected twists and some parts I was confused as to where the story was going so I had to keep reading to understand more. My heart was definitely twisted at some points and sometimes felt like I almost didn’t want to find out what happens next but I had to. Lots of unexpected twists. A lot of interesting character dynamics. Sometimes hard to keep track but still a solid read. I’ll have to see what happens next.

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