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A review by tailsbeth
The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis
4.0
3.75 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook version!
This was probably my first full on leap into fantasy, I didn't find it completely intimidating and this is a BIG deal.
The Raven and the Dove is a retelling of Tristan & Isolde but with a world filled with Avian people, human with the wings of birds. You dont need to be familiar with T&I to enjoy this though!
The worldbuilding was incredible, the descriptions were so vivid and not overdone (a pet peeve of mine when it comes to speculative fiction). I loved the descriptions of the different kinds of birds and how much they made sense! Owls = house of knowledge for example, so obvious.
The multiple POVs were something it took a while to adjust to, they switch at random rather than an order. If you struggle with that usually, I'd recommend the audiobook as it helped to keep the voices distinct (especially with dialogue, thanks to Sarah Sampino's fab performance). Cassie was a surprise fave for me, it took me a while to warm to her but I'm looking forward to her thread in the next book.
The romance tropes are instalove & forbidden love. Although the instalove isn't too sickly, there's a fair enough reason why it happens and it's not all down to some prophecy. The romance is believable! It's sweet, lusty and written correctly for the age too.
If you are like me & not a huge fantasy reader, I'd recommend listening to the audiobook version (I think this advice goes for most fantasy you're intrigued by, give it a go!) as it definitely made it more accessable. Those thick page counts feel much less scary! I'll be reading the rest of the series on ebook but now that I'm sucked in.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook version!
This was probably my first full on leap into fantasy, I didn't find it completely intimidating and this is a BIG deal.
The Raven and the Dove is a retelling of Tristan & Isolde but with a world filled with Avian people, human with the wings of birds. You dont need to be familiar with T&I to enjoy this though!
The worldbuilding was incredible, the descriptions were so vivid and not overdone (a pet peeve of mine when it comes to speculative fiction). I loved the descriptions of the different kinds of birds and how much they made sense! Owls = house of knowledge for example, so obvious.
The multiple POVs were something it took a while to adjust to, they switch at random rather than an order. If you struggle with that usually, I'd recommend the audiobook as it helped to keep the voices distinct (especially with dialogue, thanks to Sarah Sampino's fab performance). Cassie was a surprise fave for me, it took me a while to warm to her but I'm looking forward to her thread in the next book.
The romance tropes are instalove & forbidden love. Although the instalove isn't too sickly, there's a fair enough reason why it happens and it's not all down to some prophecy. The romance is believable! It's sweet, lusty and written correctly for the age too.
If you are like me & not a huge fantasy reader, I'd recommend listening to the audiobook version (I think this advice goes for most fantasy you're intrigued by, give it a go!) as it definitely made it more accessable. Those thick page counts feel much less scary! I'll be reading the rest of the series on ebook but now that I'm sucked in.