Book Review: Mark of the Raven

Mark of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse

YA Fantasy. 341 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis:

Dreamwalker. Nightwatcher. Lady of Ravenwood.

Lady Selene Has Come into Her Family’s Power. But Has She Inherited a Gift or a Curse?

Lady Selene is heir to the House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person’s dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. Soon after the gifting, however, Selene discovers that the Ravenwood women have been secretly using their gift to gather information or to assassinate those responsible for the fall of House Ravenwood to the Dominia Empire hundreds of years ago.

As she becomes more entrenched in Ravenwood’s dark past, Selene longs to find out the true reason behind her family’s gift, believing that its original intent could not have been for such evil purposes, but she is torn about upholding her family’s legacy—a legacy that supports her people. Selene’s dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations—but who is also prophesied to bring about the downfall of her own house.

One path holds glory and power and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and likely death. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path chosen?

My Review:

Holy Crow! Ooof, man.

So, I may or may not have binged the trilogy so quickly I didn’t stop to review them in between. I also immediately purchased them from amazon upon finishing the first two in less than a week and returning them to my library. I’ve loved every Morgan Busse book I’ve read so far, but I think this may be my favorite of her series so far. It’s certainly my favorite read of 2024!

There’s honestly so much here to dive into!

Okay, first, the world. Busse crafts such fantastical worlds that always pique my interest. I love the magic system in this one. These seven houses that are fractured and at odds, but were once bound together complements the theme of fractured people so well. I love how each house had a unique magic and I wanted to know more about how the magic worked for other houses, but the two main houses we got to see working were just stunning.

Selene has my heart in every way. I couldn’t help but empathize with her struggle against her upbringing and the tense dynamics in her home. The tentative guessing about whether or not her family loved each other, the tension between her and her sister, and the demanding expectations of her mother. The loving, but aloof father, and the complete sense of isolation Selene carries with her, especially as her power develops. I loved seeing her wrestle with the purpose of her gift and the generational grief of betrayal in her family. She had such a good heart, but she faced so much pain she couldn’t help but close it off. Selene’s compassion and wrestling resonated so deeply with me.

And Damien! Ah! First, I love his home by the sea! The bright, beautiful, warm seashore in his heart, dreams, and home contrasted so beautifully with the cold, dark, and rugged mountains Selene has known all her life. I really appreciate how Busse writes heroes with good hearts who wrestle with real problems. Damien has his own grief to deal with, and he deals with it differently than Selene – not necessarily any better than Selene, but differently. They both carried the weight and legacy of their houses, but in different ways. While Selene wrestled with the purpose of her gift and her house’s past, Damien bore the burden of leading his house from a young age and the tragedy that put him there. His gentleness and kindness really stood out. And I loved his company, too! I love a good, solid community around our MCs.

Busse has the best premises for her stories! She always has such a cool hook that draws me in, hook, line, and sinker. And as I already mentioned, I blew through this story in like two days. I couldn’t put it down! It was a real page-turner. Not only were the world and characters so incredible, but I needed to know what was going to happen! And that ending! Be still my heart! I needed book 2!

Guys, the themes in this series. There were so many times I felt like the book had been written for me. From everything Selene wrestles with to the hope that she finds so intriguing in Damien’s soul. And the stunning allegorical setup of the magic system. The themes are so intricately and beautifully woven into the world, characters, and plot. It’s masterful. Reading this story has done more than entertain and inspire me; it’s left a mark on my heart I won’t soon forget.

Content: some fantasy violence (non-graphic discussions of assassinations), no swearing, and some mild romantic content (references to having mistresses and an allusion to a rape – a character realizes it’s happening to someone, but there are no details). Thematically, the book deals with darkness vs. light in very tangible ways, but there’s a bit of spiritual warfare through a fantasy lens. Honestly, Busse writes with such gentleness, I’d feel fine giving the book to an early teen. It could be great for fostering discussions about morality, purpose, salvation, etc.

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 next book in the series below!

Flight of the Raven