My first thought on finishing this book was "liked it, but didn't love it". It's a solid story with well developed characters and high enough stakes to keep your interest and get you invested in what is going on. I think what kept me from loving it was that I felt like I've read a lot of these types of books - it is possible the market is reaching a saturation point on these types of stories. It's a pretty typical low caste fights back against higher/more powerful castes in order to gain their freedom/independence and stop being treated like crap by others. The castes are different and the characters are original, but it doesn't do much to add to or carve out its own place within the genre. It actually kind of reminded me of the Waking Land series - not that it's a rip off of that series, they are very different in the story being told, but there are a lot of similar themes (magic, evil queen looking to take over by killing her husband, POV of a young woman about to have a lot of power/responsibility, young woman's relationship with a young man keeping a secret about himself and his magic, future king traveling with group looking to break free of the crown's power over them). Based on the title of the next book I'm assuming we'll be getting Tavin's POV which also mirrors the setup of the Waking Land series (if it is indeed a Tavin POV book). I also felt that the arguments/debates between Fie, Tavin, and Jasimir were repetitive and didn't really go anywhere.

If you are looking for a good story with interesting characters and a solid plot you will love this book. If you are looking for something completely original you may want to give this one a pass.

In The Merciful Crow Margaret Owen takes her readers on a whirlwind adventure. The journey begins with Fie who is a member of a group of Crows, the lowest social caste in the kingdom of Sabor. Crows have a duty to the kingdom to offer a merciful death to sinners who have caught the plague seeing as Crows are immune. This duty, as well as the fact that Crows are not granted any innate power, allows the other castes to take out their unreleased anger and grief by forming hunting bands that ride down Crows at night and kill them with impunity. However, Fie and her band of Crows find their journey taking a different turn when they unknowingly help Jasimir, the crown prince, and Tavin, his double escape from the capital. In the need of aid and without other options, Fie gets Jasimir to swear a reluctant Covenant oath that he will protect the Crows when he takes the throne. But that is only the beginning as forces align against them to prevent the Crows from providing aid and the oath from being fulfilled.

Owen has expertly crafted a narrative that offers commentary on the way we treat those deemed less important. What The Merciful Crow makes clear is that Sabor could not function without the Crows, despite the vitriol the other castes continually cast at them. Fie's strength also helps sell this idea, and as a reader, I loved her for it. Continually beaten down, many don't see her as a threat. Yet Fie's intelligence and loyalty make her a formidable power as she works to show everyone that Crows have just as much right to life and personhood as anyone else in Sabor.

While there is a romance, it is not the main part of the tale and moves naturally as it grows from respect and friendship. Overall, the tale weaves many pieces together, including a few surprising reveals that play out in the final pages and help set up the next installment.

For those tired of reading fantasy centered on the tried and true (vampires, fae, dragons, gods), this is a breath of fresh air. This book will probably land in my top ten for the year and I know I'll be returning to Sabor as soon as possible.

A wonderfully original and immersive world, with characters that I just fell in love with. Would definitely recommend to any YA fantasy lovers!

Wow, what a debut! I absolutely loved this book. The plot was fast-paced and full of action. The camaraderie between our three main characters was full of laughter and teen angst! I cannot wait to pick up the sequel. Definitely recommend!

Intriguing worldbuilding, a fascinating mythos, and a truly unusual magic system feature prominently in Owen's well-crafted debut. Fantasy lovers will delight in its originality. Complex characters drive the story, propelled by action scenes with exactly the right amount of tension. I could not put this one down. Absolutely wonderful, Owens is an auto-buy for me from now on.

DNF @ 11%
This book really isn't for me. I normally give the book much longer to see if I end up enjoying it, but the writing style does not work for me. The word choices made many sentences clunky and odd to read. Some of the fantasy terms were never explained so I didn't have a context to go by. I also felt like the first chapter didn't feel like a beginning. It felt like we were dropped into the middle of a chapter and then it took off; I never felt grounded in the story enough and got enough connection to the characters to keep going. I know some of my library patrons will enjoy this, but this is a personal preference and isn't my thing.

I loved the unique magic and social systems in The Merciful Crow. The writing was magical in a unique and visceral way. It felt a lot like classic fantasy books from the early 00's and 90's, but read smoothly and easily. I'm so excited for the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan publishing for the eARC for THE MERCIFUL CROW.

Overall, I really enjoyed the world building in THE MERCIFUL CROW, with its unique caste system, powers, and abilities and how they are used throughout but the Crows themselves.

The three main characters were awesome, and one of my favorite things about this world was that there was no homophobia. I wish there were more fantasy books where it doesn't exist at all, and with a Prince who is gay (and not forced to marry for love! That's refreshing) and another who expresses their interest in both sexes, I really enjoyed this dynamic. I also really liked that there was no love triangle. Overall, I dislike love triangles and they are rather rampant in YA, so I was glad it wasn't the Prince pining after his body guard and there be unrequited love.

I liked the sense of urgency and consequences of actions throughout, where mistakes were made and things couldn't be swept under a rug because of it. The main characters had to face their fears whether they liked it or not.

I felt like the amount of traveling was excessive, though understandable with the journey. Personally, I find travel in books (and DnD) boring, so at least there were some raids to break it up. Hopefully in the next one it won't be full of traveling!

I was really excited going into The Merciful Crows as the plot sounds super intriguing and I actually loved that aspect of this book. However, I struggled with connecting to the characters which in turn hindered my enjoyment. I do feel like this book will be widely loved though.

I couldn't put this down once I started. I loved the theme of casts, and how reliant the upper casts are on the lower casts. Such an important dialog, I believe.

The Crows are making the best of their situation and high-key remind me of plague doctors. Fie won my heart before the story really began when she claimed a cat as her own. This book will be a winner. It did take time for Jasimir to grow on me and that's really what is keeping this from a full five star rating.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

I freakin' LOVED this book. It's been a while since I have fallen this head-first in love with a fantasy book like this. The world-building was epic and intriguing (AND original!). The characters were flawed and striving and wonderfully complex. The plot was fast-paced and action-packed. There were betrayals, and twists, and a satisfying conclusion that still leaves you hungry for the next book. Margaret Owen has written one heck of a novel and I can not wait to see what happens in the rest of the series. Side note: Is it 2020 yet, because book 2's title alone has me in knots.

Fie is a Crow, one of the few Castes that have no birthright of their own, no ability to make or withstand fire, no means to twists the fates of fortune and luck, unable to heal themselves, or to create illusions like the other Castes are all able to do. What they do have is the ability to walk where the Sinner's Plague has hit and not be affected. Thus, they are merciful, dealing the ultimate mercy to those who have the plague and serving as a means of saving the rest of the village. Time and again they must answer the call of the fire beacons burning on the horizon, harkening the nearest band of Crows to march in and take care of the victims. But, it is not without peril. For Crows are hunted by Oleanders, a group who feels the need to keep them in their place. And the Oleanders have recently acquired a new ally-the Queen. So when Fie's band is called to palace to pick up two dead plague victims, she doesn't know what to expect. Certainly not that heir to the throne Jasamir, and his double and guard Tavin have faked their deaths. And they want an escort to an ally far away. But Fie is a Crow and a Crow Chief-in-Training. So she deals with them and exacts an oath from them: her band will get them to their ally's, but Jas must promise ALL Crows protection from the Oleanders. She wants others to see the Crows and to accept them.

Obviously, not everything goes according to plan. There are multiple betrayals, hostages, close encounters, and more magic than you will know what to do with. Highly recommend. There is only one curse word (the F-word) and there are two sexual encounters that are alluded to. Suitable for grades 8 and up.

Fie is a Crow, a caste scorned by all others in the kingdom but permitted to live because of their immunity to a plague that makes them valuable in helping quarantine or eradicate those affected by it. When her tribe unexpectedly become entangled with the royal family, Fie must decide how far she is willing to go to try and carve out a better future for her people. Really enjoyed this fantasy novel - great world building and character development. I hope the author will write another soon.

"One way or another, we always feed the crows.

A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses - and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?"

Crows are really in this YA season and I'm all for it.

I went into this one without any expectations, and it really blew me away.

Fie, Jasimir, and Tavin make a trio of truly unlikely allies as they go on a journey to protect Jas and save Fie's people. Along the way, they encounter some truly terrifying enemies and even more terrifying ~personal revelations~.

In terms of characterization, I found all three of them fleshed out and doing their own thing.

Fie has spent her whole life in survival mode, but has an endless well of loyalty for her own. She comes into her bravery over the course of the book and leans into her moments of failure without flinching. She's young, and it shows. She loves her family, works through what she truly wants from her life, and doesn't apologize for wanting something different.

I! would! die! for! Tavin! If y'all are looking for a charming, occasionally gruff, endlessly protective Good Boy, Tav is for you. Like Fie, he's spent his whole life living for an outside purpose, and he's sacrificed a lot for it. There's plenty of banter between Tav and Fie, as well as among all three of them, while they're on the road. Reader, the moments of humor SENT ME. He's just a character to root for, and I really did the whole way through.

Jasimir is not the crowd fave. He's selfish, he's spoiled, he's rude. Therefore, I looked at him and knew he was for me. On the surface, he's obviously lived a charmed life ensconced in a palace and blissfully ignorant of the horrors that other castes (i.e. Crows) face. As the book goes on, the shiny surface is scratched away, revealing Jas' personal demons. I'm so, so interested to see what the next book does for Jas because it certainly ends on a high note for him.

The magic system captured me from the beginning, I love a good bone-based magic, and it's solid throughout the story. The side characters and settings really did some work to build a vivid world. I was so impressed by the caste dynamics and how prejudice and violence weaved through the narrative. (There is some heavy KKK imagery via a group of people killing Crows in white hoods/clothing. A couple gory moments of violence, mainly against Crows.) It's a little intense, so I definitely recommend to older YA readers.

Overall, a solid fantasy that hit all the sweet spots. Lots of cool imagery, high octane adventure, those Found Family Feelings. You need this book.

OK folks, buckle yourselves in, because if you pick up this book you're in for a wild ride.

(As an aside, I can't remember the last time I saw a fantasy book that was being hyped like this one that was actually this good. And I also can't remember the last time I saw a book like this with so many four- and five-star reviews that are actually genuine. So I think the hype was well warranted with this one. Although I'd market it more as adult fantasy than YA as another reviewer commented.)

There is a lot to love here - a badass female lead who is strong AF while still being able to admit to uncertainty and fear. Fie is the heroine we all need in this world of wispy girl leads who pine romantically for the prettiest boy they ever did see and everyone else be damned.

One of the best things about this book is the magic system. Every caste (I'm still a bit confused about them but don't totally care) has their own "birthright," which was given to them by their own dead gods. The Crows have no birthright, and must take from others. They are called "bone thieves" as a slur by every other caste because they get their magic from other castes' teeth. Now, I am not a huge fan of this kind of thing, it's a little gross to think of someone holding onto a bunch of teeth, pulling them out of dead bodies, and carrying them around in a bag (or on a string around their neck). I admit to being squeamish. But this was so unique that I couldn't put it as a negative. It's seriously amazing to think that the person holding a tooth can see the entirety of the former owner's life and then harness that former owner's magic. Fie gets really good at using the Phoenix teeth (for fire) and the Sparrow teeth (to hide).

The Crows are called "merciful" because they are the ones who answer the plague beacons. As the only caste who can't get sick from the plague, they are charged with finishing off the sick (mercifully slitting their throats) and then burning them away from the village so the plague doesn't infect everyone else there. If the crows don't answer a beacon they are supposedly punished by the Covenant, which I gathered is the magical "rules" which were settled when the gods died.

The rest of the castes really hate the Crows and go out of their way to make them miserable, even though the Crows help them with the plague. The Oleanders even hunt them down and kill them in terrible ways (Fie's mother was murdered when Fie was a little girl, and she found her body by following a trail of her fingers). No one ever does anything to help them against the Oleanders, and that is something that Fie wants to change.

So when the two lordlings that are supposedly dead from the plague sit up in her cart, Fie sees her chance to change the Crows' fates. And after she forges that covenant vow with Jasimir, she is forced to live with everything that happens because of it.

There is a lot going on in this book between the Oleanders, the skinwitches trailing the band, the love story (which was pretty well done, actually), everyone out to kill them. A few times I thought I had pegged how the next bit was going to go and was wrong. And while I figured out the "big reveal" that comes at the end a long time before, admittedly it was still a bit of a surprise to be proven right.

I so love Fie's character development, and I even liked Tavin (although it was pretty obvious that the two of them were going to get together). Jasimir... I could take him or leave him. He's whiny and has a stick up his ass, but by the end he does have a new side to his personality that I warmed to.

The only thing that made this four stars for me was that sometimes the magic really didn't make sense, it felt like it was just being used to get them out of a scrape that they never would have escaped from otherwise, and wasn't well-thought-out. There was also at least one nick-of-time rescue that wasn't believable. Otherwise, this is fantastic, I loved it, and I highly recommend it.

You know what, screw it, I'm giving it five stars anyway.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC.
Oddly enough, I had read something a little similar to this recently, at least with groups of people who did mercy killings, which I had never read of before, but this was a different take with its own fantasy elements that I enjoyed.
The castes of bird people with bloodline powers, the crows not having any, yet being able to use the teeth of other castes’ to temporarily gain their powers. It’s interesting. Engaging. It was a fairly quick and enjoyable read for me. I liked the main character and the conflict, and their magic and class system. I liked that we got to see a diverse landscape and diverse groups of people as the characters traveled throughout the country. I didn’t really look into it, but I thought it was going to be a standalone novel, but with the way it ended, there’s still a lot more story to tell!
All in all, I’d recommend this for a quick read and a unique fantasy world.

This book is very different from what I generally read, but it sounded interesting, so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me. I found parts of the story quite good, but others were very repetitious, which made things drag too much for my taste. Many of the characters were one dimensional, with the exception of Tavin. There were some interesting parts pertaining to the treatment of the lower caste Crows by others, as well as the references to the plague masks. But, those weren't enough to warrant a higher rating.

This book was really different and I absolutely loved it! I will definitely be recommending it whenever possible! I can't wait to read more!

If you only read one book this summer, let it be Margaret Owen’s The Merciful Crow. Actually, if you only read one book this year, let it be The Merciful Crow, too. I’m serious. I’ve read a lot of good books this year, but none have this absolutely magical combination of first-class worldbuilding, stellar characterization, and timely messaging.

It starts with a band of Crows, the lowest caste in the highly striated society of Sabor. They’ve been called to deal with plague victims, the duty of their caste, since they alone are immune to the disease. But these victims are no ordinary citizens. The crown prince and his body double are enacting a ruse to escape the palace, and they want the Crows’ to take them to their political allies.

Fie, the chief-in-training for her band, doesn’t like a couple of Phoenix-caste prettyboys coming in and telling them what to do. Everyone may spit on them and try to cheat them, but the Crows still know their worth. She bargains not for payment in coin or luxuries, but for a single oath: the Crows will be recognized for their contributions to society, given fair treatment, and have protection from the increasingly popular Oleander Gentry—a loosely affiliated group of vigilantes who want to wipe out the Crow caste entirely.

The Oleander Gentry ride out at night in white garments that conceal their identities, cowards who are clearly meant to invoke comparisons with the KKK. And from there it’s not hard to see lots of parallels to lots of situations with a privileged class and a class that bears the brunt of that privilege. One of the strongest facets of The Merciful Crow is its thorough examination of privilege and oppression. Owen has clearly thought long and hard about systems of power and about the individuals who are trapped in those systems, for better or worse. It’s viciously, unflinchingly incisive, and it leads to dramatic moments that I know will stay with me for a long time.

It's good to get a story from the perspective of a lower caste character and feel her fury as the upper-caste characters stumble over their excuses and their ignorance. SFF has been criticized recently for having far too many stories of white characters discovering that aliens (read: PoC) are worthy of respect. Owen doesn’t let any of that feel-good nonsense into her story. Fie is rightly furious that the other castes abuse, cheat, and look down on the Crows, and she won’t let anyone mitigate that anger. From the first to the last, Fie might change and grow, but she never compromises what she knows to be true.

And let’s talk about that “first.” The first chapter has clearly been worked and re-worked until it’s perfect. The dead bodies, the rising tension between the castes, and the “money dance?” (I won’t spoil what that is.) It would make such an incredible first episode of a TV show. The entire book would, actually. All the drama is highly cinematic, so vivid and striking that I can already see the awards for design and sound stacking up. Someone get those movie rights! Netflix? Hulu? Anyone?

I say cinematic, but let me be more specific. There are some authors who have seen too much TV and treat writing like a tedious transcription exercise, the medium an impediment rather than an aide to their imaginations. Owen is not one of them. Fie’s voice is clear and distinct throughout, never subordinate to the action. This is her story, her triumph over classism and caste-ism despite every hardship and cost. She’s a brilliant main character, completely able to carry even the toughest scenes with wit and vigor. She’s also utterly relatable, full of love and anger and want and duty all set to simmer, but ready to bubble over at the slightest flare.

The secondary characters are also perfectly drawn. The villains are heart-stoppingly cruel, making every interaction fraught with believable life-or-death tension. Fie’s allies are sympathetic but flawed, wholly human in their foibles and the way they get cranky when they’re tired, but also in their surprising capacity to learn and develop bonds.

There’s also ubiquitous and unremarkable queerness among the characters, which made me so happy. (This is not in contrast to books that do make queerness central, which I also love. This is in contrast to books that make all the characters automatically straight, even the background ones.) The prince is gay! The (female!) leader of the Hawks has husbands (plural!) and wives (plural!). Random people on the road are queer! And the best part is, we only learn these things because of offhand comments. It's so normal and commonly accepted that it's not even worth a discussion. Brava, Margaret Owen!

Brava also for the fascinating and well-developed magic system. It’s well balanced in that it grants different castes different abilities, and witches within those castes even more elaborate and diverse talents, but none are absurdly overpowered. Luck, desire, refuge, and additional domains belong different castes, and witches are able to manipulate those domain-powers to a much higher degree. Fie and other Crow-caste witches are bone witches, able to draw out the powers and occasional memories from other castes’ bones. Vultures and Hawks are skin- and blood-witches, respectively. This makes Vultures trackers, able to mark a person or take something they own and follow them across whole continents, and Hawks able to heal or harm by manipulating a person’s blood. The combination of such visceral, embodied powers contrasts nicely with the abstract caste powers, and makes a compelling and well-balanced magic system. (Take note, Brandon Sanderson fans.)

It’s clear that I can keep finding good things to say about this book, so I’ll stop now before I give everything away. This is a book you won’t want spoiled—its twists and turns are thrilling, and the pacing is perfect, too. You won’t want to put it down, so start getting ready, clear your calendar, set up your beach chair (or A/C), and get ready to enjoy The Merciful Crow.