ARC Review | The Raven and The Dove

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Raven and The Dove

Author: Kaitlyn Davis

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: Unknown for digital copy \ 506 for hardcover (according to Amazon.com)

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Magic

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

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.

Thank you to Kaitlyn Davis and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Princess Lyana loves her home, the crystal city of Sepharia, where the House of Peace resides. Her people are doves and she is vivacious, beautiful, mischievous and knows how to get her way. She is undeniably magnetic to everyone around her. The courtship trials is about to take place and she will be wed to prince from another House. She’s prepared for this all her life despite that deep longing inside her to explore the world beyond her home.

Rafe is a raven and the bastard brother to Prince Lysander (Xander) of the House of Whispers. Rafe is standing in for his brother to win the hand of a princess for their house, but something happens and the plan backfires on Rafe and Xander in the most unexpected way.

But besides this courtship drama something bigger is happening to the land below the Sea of Mists. There is a prophecy and a King who needs Lyana for his Queen to save the world.

• The world building is creative and unique. Here we an aviary kind of people, humans with bird wings living above the clouds on floating islands. There are seven houses, who’s mythology is based on seven Gods giving them their unique wings and Godstones. It’s an intricate world and in this first book we learn more about their world instead of the one below on land. I was engrossed with learning about each house. In this world above the clouds, magic is forbidden, if you have it, you are punished. And then there is the issue about the dragons which is very mysterious, but I think we learn more about them in book two. For now, dragons are these creatures wreaking havoc but we don’t know why.
• There are secrets and betrayals in this book and some were frustrating yet kept me hooked to the story. The secrets with the romance story arc were pretty predictable and I was fine with that but the betrayal…oh the betrayal at the end got me like…😱, oh my heart. I was squeamish, shocked, and trying to understand why this was happening.
• Lyana and Rafe are electric together and seem meant to be….BUT…there are two other people in Lyana’s life that will have an impact on their relationship. This is the first book and it seems like a love triangle is happening…but I can’t say it is for certain. We shall see what happens in the next book.
• I care about the characters! Lyana comes off as a princess who knows how to get her way, but when she does get her way and it doesn’t turn out as she had hoped, she bounces back. Rafe is someone I feel for – the feeling of not belonging anywhere, not being allowed to want things or have the things he wants. 💔 What was done to him…gah, I can’t even think of it. Xander (Lysander) and his feelings of inadequacy because of his deformity. He’s a good guy, and he loves his brother but holds resentment too. And Cassi…..ohhhhhhhh Cassi.
• Cassi gets her own bullet point because although Lyana is a big part of the story, Cassi’s role as Lyana’s best friend seems innocent at first but we learn Cassi is not who she says she is. Another secret, another betrayal but maybe the biggest of them all so far. I was lulled into thinking this was a princess choosing a mate story, but no…it got dark. It took a twist I wasn’t expecting at all.
• There are four perspectives we get in this book and each of them were done very well. I felt all their angst, hopes, dreams and fears. I get a good feel for these four characters through their story telling.

• The courtship of Lyana is what this book is mostly about, including the forbidden love with Rafe. But we are fed morsels about a prophecy and someone who will save the world, but save it from what? We meet a vague, mysterious character Malek and I can’t tell if he is good or bad yet. He is a king apparently, on land or at this moment, on the ocean. So much more to learn about him and this world on land.
• The dragons are also vague in this story but they seem like the enemy. They wreak havoc on land and have been seen above the Sea of Mists, so we don’t know much about them.
• Because we are mostly immersed in the aviary world in the sky, we don’t get a real sense of the magic use on land. It is elemental magic but the history and use of it is something I hope the next book will expand on.
• Once again, because this is loosely based on Tristan & Isolde, there is forbidden love and I hope to goodness it ends well. Can it end well? After that ending, I don’t know. 😰
• Triggers: violence

I did not expect to read this book in one sitting, but I did. I was engrossed in this unique world of bird people who knew nothing of the land below. This first book is mostly a set up for the rest of the series so if the plot seems thin I think it’s because there is much more to be revealed and a land world to build on. If you like forbidden love, courtship trials, dragons, magic, secrets and betrayal, you may want to check this title out. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next one!