Book Review: Cry of the Raven

Cry of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse

YA Fantasy. 380 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Wife. Warrior. Lady of two worlds.

As war looms, will her power be enough to save the ones she loves?

Lady Selene Ravenwood has come into her full power as a dreamwalker—a power greater than any in history. She embraces her new role as Nightwatcher, able to intercede for her people in the dream world, but the dark shadow of war draws even closer.

Working together, the Great Houses come up with a plan to secure the borders from the approaching Dominia Empire. But dissension, conflict, and suspicion threaten to destroy their tenuous treaty, and as the empire burns a path across their lands, Damien Maris starts to lose his ability to raise the waters, leaving the lands vulnerable to the empire’s attacks.

The only one who can keep the Great Houses unified and restore her husband’s power is Selene. But it will require that she venture deep into the dream world to confront the enemies of her past who will do anything to stop her power. Will it be enough, or will both worlds fall under the empire’s might?

My Review:

Oof, and we come to the conclusion to this fantastic trilogy. All three books are incredible. Five star reads. Couldn’t put them down. At no point did I feel like one book was a let down, including this beautiful conclusion.

Selene continues to grow stronger and stronger – both in her magic and in her newfound faith in the Light. *cue tears* The allegorical threads and themes in this just touch my soul. I already want to reread them all!

I loved seeing how the houses came together in this one. The dynamics of doubt and trust, the choices each player made (both good and bad!) kept me turning pages. There were some stubborn characters in here! And a few surprising ones, too. Selene and Damien are front and center in a rocky empirical war, but they’ve already been through some stuff, so it was cool to see them begin to stand together against the world. Though, of course, I still think Busse does a fabulous job of portraying the nuance of humanity in relationships – no matter how well we know or trust one another, there are always hiccups.

This thrilling conclusion is action packed, and Busse’s still got a few tricks up her sleeve for this one. It was delightful to dive in deeper to some characters who’d had smaller roles in previous books, and I definitely had my suspicions about how some of their goals would (or wouldn’t) be accomplished. That said, there were some moments of sacrifice I was NOT prepared for! (One in particular that still makes me tear up! Ugh!)

The book brims with a beautiful balance of light and dark, good and evil, and redemption and stubborn foolishness. The sacrifice, love, courage, and clever strategy make this a fantastic read. And the heart makes this an exceptional one.

Content: no swearing, clean romance, some mild fantasy violence. Themes of dark vs. light, including a power-hungry Dark Lady and her cultish following and some tangible representations of spiritual warfare, bitterness and revenge, redemption and growth, faith and salvation, integrity, morality, purpose, etc. It sounds like a lot, but they’re woven in so tightly and beautifully. Suitable for teens.

More

Book 1 in the Ravenwood Saga is Mark of the Raven (5 Stars)

Book 2 is Flight of the Raven (5 Stars)

Book 3 is Cry of the Raven (5 Stars)

This trilogy must be read in order. You can find more info on Goodreads with the links above.

On GraceBought

Don’t miss my thoughts on the previous books in the series below!

Mark of the Raven and Flight of the Raven