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Book Reviews and Recommendations
REVIEW: The Crow Rider
Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share my review for my ARC of The Crow Rider! Thank’s so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Crow Rider
by Kalyn Josephson
Series: The Storm Crow #2
Release date: July 7th 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
Princess Thia, her allies, and her crow, Res, are planning a rebellion to defeat Queen Razel and Illucia once and for all. Thia must convince the neighboring kingdoms to come to her aid, and Res’s show of strength is the only thing that can help her.
But so many obstacles stand in her way. Res excels at his training, until he loses control of his magic, harming Thia in the process. She is also pursued by Prince Ericen, heir to the Illucian throne and the one person she can’t trust but can’t seem to stay away from.
As the rebel group prepares for war, Res’s magic grows more unstable. Thia has to decide if she can rely on herself and their bond enough to lead the rebellion and become the crow rider she was meant to be.
I was so incredibly excited to have received an ARC copy of The Crow Rider after I adored The Storm Crow last year, and let me tell you this second and final book exceeded my expectations!
I loved the direction that the story took with this book and oh my god, the ending was so great! I obviously don’t want to get into spoilers or anything, but it ended so perfectly! I’m honestly crushed that this is only a duology because I still have questions I need answers to, and I just wasn’t prepared for this to end.
The characters are so amazing! Thia is honestly one of my favorite characters because even though she struggled with depression, she was brave and smart and truly cared about those around her and wanted to do what was best for everyone, not just her and her friends. Her crow Res had such a big personality and he was such a goofball, but also fiercely loyal and smart. Honestly, Res makes me wish more books had giant magical birds! I also loved Kiva and Ericen and how they both developed from the first book as well.
My only complaint would be that I want more of this world and these characters! I want to see them rebuild and explore other kingdoms. There wasn’t always a ton of description with locations and yeah, the world building was a little lacking, but it also isn’t the main focus of this book. I’m always the person who says they want more world building, more descriptions, more immersion, but in this case the characters and plot were strong enough that I found that all that detail wasn’t always needed. I also wish we had gotten more on the Sellas, but I won’t say more than that because I don’t want to go into spoiler territory!
I just wish we could’ve dragged this out a little more because I’m sad that this is it – the duology is finished and we probably won’t get anything else about these characters. I can only hope that Kalyn will revisit this world sometime in the future and give us more!
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