BOOK REVIEW : THE RAVEN AND THE DOVE (THE RAVEN AND THE DOVE #1) BY KAITLYN DAVIS

TITLE : The Raven And The Dove ( The Raven And The Dove #1)

AUTHOR : Kaitlyn Davis

GENRE : Fantasy, YA

FBRC RATING : 5 Stars

PUBLISHING DATE : 9th March 2020

SYNOPSIS :

Four fates collide in this avian-inspired, epic fantasy retelling of Tristan and Isolde perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Sabaa Tahir, and Leigh Bardugo!

A princess longing to be free…

On the dawn of her courtship trials, Princess Lyana Aethionus knows she should be focused on winning her perfect mate, yet her thoughts wander to the open sky waiting at the edge of her floating kingdom. One final adventure calls. Upon fleeing the palace, the last thing she expects to find is a raven prince locked in a death match with a dragon.

A bastard aching to belong…

Reviled son of a dead king, Rafe would do anything for his beloved half-brother, Prince Lysander Taetanus, including posing as him in the upcoming courtship trials. When a dragon interrupts their secret exchange, he orders his studious sibling to run. After suffering a fatal blow, Rafe is saved by a beautiful dove who possesses forbidden magic, just like him.

Fate brought them together, now destiny will tear them apart…

Unknown to the world above, on the foggy sea ten thousand feet below, a young king fights a forgotten war. He believes Lyana is the queen prophesied to save the world, and with the help of his favored spy, hidden deep in the highest ranks of the dove royal house, he will stop at nothing to have her.

Three shocking betrayals. Two star-crossed lovers. One unforgettable journey. If you like fierce heroines, brooding heroes, forbidden romance, and action-packed magical adventures with twists you’ll never see coming, don’t miss The Raven and the Dove!

FBRC REVIEW :

DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Netgalley and Kaitlyn Davis for providing me with an Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I saw the title on Netgalley and I thought, that is a stunning cover. I loved the colors, the characters in the image their beautiful differences and the longing in their expressions. I never thought I would get my hands on these, but still requested it. Imagine my surprise when I received the e-copy for it. I did a happy dance inside because once I read the synopsis on GoodReads, I was really intrigued.

The story is a fantasy set in a new world where the world above is divided into different houses worshipping different Gods and are inhabited by different bird species. The marriages take place after trials that evaluate the skill set of the various candidates. Ana is the Princess of House Of Peace run by Doves. Her friend Cassie is an Owl who should technically belong to House of Wisdom, though nobody claimed her from the moment she was found in front of the House Of Peace at a very young age. Ana and Cassie are sisters at heart and Cassie are the steady, dependable and rule-following whereas Ana likes to break them every now and then. She is a restless ball of energy and fun and vivacious. Her bubbly personality is infectious. Ana wants to fly in the open air once more and get under the sky bridge to see the potential suitors. It was a last hurrah before she has to follow the rules and be the responsible, mature princess everyone expects her to be. 

What Cassie and Ana don’t anticipate are the complications that came later in the form of an injured young Prince, a potential suitor. Ana and Cassie try to nurse him back to health and their time together ties them in a bond of secrecy. Unexpected twists and turns happen, Ana gets engaged to the Prince of House of Whispers, who have never been chosen in the courtship trials for a long time. Rafe and Xander Princes of House of Whisper find themselves intertwined with Ana and things get even more complicated after Ana travels to House of Whispers. There are secrets that could topple the fragile trust between the characters, history, and past that could unravel the perfect world they live in, danger some unknown and known to wait for the right opportunity to strike, deadly and dangerous dragons ready to destroy the people living in the world above. The mystery of Sea of Mist draws Lana’s curiosity and keeps her wondering about the kingdoms below. A young King is ready to fulfill the prophecy and wants Ana with him at any cost. 

The world-building was simply incredible. I was hooked into the world and the houses that were inhabited by the different birds. Their world is diverse with each house representing a unique set of skills. Their history and their world formation were amazing. I loved how the two different worlds were connected by the characters and the prophecy binding them to it. The characters were fascinating and colorful in their personality. They were unique, layered and had shades of good and bad. The magic system is not yet fully defined in this book, but we still get to see the different magic connected to different elements. The story was well developed, written wonderfully keeping the audience enthralled. The book was paced perfectly with the right amount of adventure, romance, intrigue, and twists to keep the readers hooked to it. I loved the way the story was outlined bringing the world-building to develop as the story progresses.

Ana, Xander, Rafe, and Cassie are the four main characters driving the plot forward. We have a mysterious King who will stop at nothing to fulfill a prophecy. Ana’a personality and Cassie’s couldn’t be more different. Xander and Rafe similarly have opposite personalities. Xander is the Prince who is very practical, straight forward and follows the rules. Rafe is the moody, grumpy Prince who has a lot of weight on his shoulders. He is bound by duty and his love for Xander keeps him in the Kingdom. Cassie is amazing as a character and she is the best this story has to offer. The multiple POVs make this book fascinating as you get to be in their shoes and get to know their thought processes and motivations. A story of lies, betrayal, love, and secrecy brings us the perfect story that will enthrall you and keep you hooked till the end. I loved every second of this book. I had to take a small break to deal with the emotional upheaval the ending caused me. The book was engaging, the plot was riveting, the ending drove me to tears, I wanted to physically attack certain characters, magical adventures, forbidden romance, cutting betrayals, need I say more?? I gave the book 5 stars. I can’t wait to read the next book. I already got my copy of the prequel novel The Princess And The Pawn from the author’s website. I’ll be diving into it soon.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, The Hunter And The Mage releasing in September. The prequel The Princess And The Pawn is downloaded and ready for reading. I am super excited for both and can’t wait until September to read the second book.

If you love YA fantasy, lies, betrayals, forbidden romances, strong heroines, broody heroes, dark young Kings, a loyal spy who would do anything for the Liege then this book is for you. The twists and turns, the magical adventures and the romance will keep you engaged and entertained. This story is just exciting when its unraveled.

The book is set to release on March 9th 2020. It is ready for pre-order already. If you haven’t already ordered your copies yet, what are you waiting for?? This YA fantasy is amazing and I highly recommend getting this book.