The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis

Title: The Raven and the Dove

Author: Kaitlyn Davis

Release Date: 09 March 2020

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Cover:

I am an Amazon affiliate and you can support me with no extra cost by clicking this link:

To be honest, when I saw this arc on Netgalley, I didn’t think I would get it. It made my day when I got the notification that this arc was approved for me! I was so hyped to read this book; the cover was gorgeous, the story was intriguing, and most important of all:

The main characters had wings. And there were dragons involved.

I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining. The story was so interesting and I wanted to know more and more. We are left with sort of a cliffhanger at the end and with more questions than answers.

Which is obviously a good thing for the writer and publisher, since I now desperately want to know what will happen next. Luckily for my poor curious self, there are apparently going to be three more books released in The Raven and the Dove series, so hopefully my desperate questions will be answered.

I think my biggest problem with this book is the characters. With Lyana and Rafe. Xander was so underrated and a sweetie-pie, while Cassi’s character took an unexpected dark turn that I enjoyed. But with Lyana and Rafe…the little, inconsequential problem called insta-love arose.

Insta-love is such a big turn-off for me that I put the book down in frustration and went to do something else.

The writing was okay; I struggled with finding any quotes. However, I loved the world building! The idea of floating isles seems so magical to me. And with an entire world living below, never seeing the sun?

That got me really curious.

Good Underlying Themes/ Messages:

Your disability does not define you.
Wild souls are meant to be free.
Brains matter just as much as brawn.

These were decent themes, so a whole star for this category!

Fantastic World Building:

As I mentioned above, I loved the world building in this book.

The setting sounded beautiful and the people seem to have an interesting history. I loved how people’s views on some things in this book were different. One thing was seen in a specific way, but it was seen as something totally different by someone else.

The people were diverse and we skimmed the religion but it was still interesting!

A whole star for this category!

Realistic characters and growth:

And so we’ve arrived at the real problem of this book for me.

Lyana is definitely a wild soul. She can’t sit still for even one minute before she wants to jump out of the window and fly away to find something more entertaining. At times, I liked her impulsiveness and spontaneity. It’s a fresh breath from all of the serious and dramatic characters I’ve encountered. But then again, at other times she irritated me. Her point of view was childish at times and her instant ‘love’ for Rafe frustrated me to no end.

The endless blue sky had always called to her.
And her soul still ached to respond.

Rafe was the typical brooding warrior with a good heart. He wasn’t very interesting to me, remaining bland for the rest of the book in my opinion. His only hobbies seem to be fighting.

The relationship between Lyana and Rafe reminded me of a very common problem when it comes to so-called love in books:

Love and lust are not the same thing.

It’s the cause for insta-love in this book. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them and I also hated it because I knew it would hurt Xander immensely. I still don’t understand why they were attracted to each other? Is it because of they both have magic?

Moving on to Xander, my thoughts while reading his chapters were that he was so underrated and underappreciated. He only has one arm and because of that, he doesn’t think he’s as worthy as Rafe. His severe daddy-issues have probably got something to do with it as well.

But you know what? I would choose Xander over Rafe anyday. Then we’ll spend our days reading on a couch in front of a sizzling fire. Heaven, don’t you think?

Xander’s POV’s were so much more entertaining than Rafe’s, so I hope the author realizes what a gem he is and gives him some more attention.

Cassie was a curveball I didn’t see coming. I thought when I first read her chapter that she would be acting as Lyana’s own Impulse Control but she had such a bigger role to play and I’m actually sort of proud of her?

I really struggled with this rating because honestly, Xander and Cassi were the only characters that kept me going. So for the first time, I’m giving this category 0.25 stars.

This just goes to show how much I hate insta-love.

Interesting Story:

The only thing that makes me want to continue this series is the story.

I’ve got so many questions and I urgently need to get some answers. As you probably already know that this story is a Tristan and Isolde retelling. I had no idea what story that was so I Googled it (obviously) and this book stays both true to that story and not. The elements of the original story is there, but I think from here on it’ll take it’s own original turn.

To be a bird without wings was a fate almost worse than death.

Sort of like how A Court of Thorns and Roses was based on Beauty and the Beast, but the rest of the series is an original story.

A whole star for this category!

Writing Style Is Beautiful/ Easy To Read:

As I mentioned before, the writing was okay. It wasn’t bad or good, just average. I appreciated that the writing wasn’t overly dramatic, since that and the insta-love wouldn’t have worked well together.

“Is it foolish to want to save lives?” she asked. “I would think it far more foolish to sit back and watch them die when I know in my heart I could save them.”

Half a star for this category.

That’s it!

Overall, I was underwhelmed by this book but I’ll definitely read the next book in the series!

Any thoughts on The Raven and the Dove that you would like to share? Have you read this book or would you like to read it? Comment down below!

*I received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to let you know that the author is hosting a pre-order giveaway! (US-only, unfortunately…)

Everyone who pre-orders an ebook will receive an exclusive double-sided art print (one side with character art by Salome Totladze and the other with the world map). Everyone who orders a print edition (hardcover or paperback) will receive the same double-sided print, plus a bookmark and a signed book plate/sticker to attach to their copy!

More details about the pre-order give away can be found here: https://www.kaitlyndavisbooks.com/p/pre-order-giveaway.html

Till we meet again!

Xx Alexia