4/4.5 stars.

Secrets, betrayal, love and loss. This fantastic fantasy has it all.

The only negative I have to say is that Lyana, who this story is predominantly centred on (although it is told from multiple character perspectives from one chapter to the next) was probably the least interesting or relatable of the characters for me. She had a few strong moments where she had more depth to her, but she's a flighty (excuse the pun) character for me. Not as fleshed out and real as the others. Everyone has their flaws, battles to overcome, their internal monologues are deeper. She mostly felt shallow and entitled and I found it harder to root for her. I also wanted more of the trials to be covered, I felt that there could have been more given in that area to really structure the characters and their bonds.

However, having said all that, I love the plot of this story. I love the history, the differing beliefs. I like the twists and turns, the lows and highs. The diversity and representation through out the characters. And I very much am, already, eagerly awaiting the sequel! I will be highly recommending this to friends.

One of my favorite books of the year. I flew through this book and was immersed in the story. I cannot wait to read the sequel. The characters were my favorite part of the book.

This pure fantasy novel turned out to be a wonderful adventure. It is set in a fantastical avian world where a princess longs for the freedom to explore the world below her floating kingdom and an outcast of soiled royal blood longs to fully belong to,and be loved by, his brethren. It seems that fate has brought them together only to tear them apart as duty, deception, betrayal and a hidden force thousands of miles below them conspire to break apart all of reality.

I will admit it took me a little while to warm up to the characters of this book, but by the time I was done with the first few chapters I became fully invested in them and their stories. Dove Princess, Layana, seemed selfish and childish, but as the book progressed I saw her differently and began to like her boldness and self confidence. Rafe, the illegitimate half brother of Raven Prince, Lysander, is darkly handsome, brooding, and fiercely loyal to his brother, all traits that make him utterly irresistible. Lysander is a bit meek, but good hearted and is just as loyal to Rafe. The three are intriguing as their lives intertwine in inexplicable and dramatic ways.

The settings of this book are lushly created. Each kingdom of the air having unique terrains and human/avian hybrid inhabitants. The characters throughout the book grow and become more fleshed out, with complex motivations and emotions. The ending was heart wrenching and exceptionally well done. It also had an unexpected cliffhanger ending, not something I generally love, but it was well written and made sense to the overall story. I’m definitely going to get this book in hardcover when it comes out in March and am already looking forward to a sequel.

Oh this cover is really what sucked me in to reading this, but once you get into it. It creates this beautiful world and retelling of Tristan and Isolde takes you there on glorious wings. Getting to follow an adventurous princess from the highest Kingdom in the sky who just knows she's destined for great things is swoon because of a raven bastard and the secret they share, but there are so many secrets surrounding the dove and the raven. This series is going to be a nail biter.

RATING: 5/5 STARS

Wow, guys--this book really was a dark horse. Having read nothing by this author previously, I wasn't expected to be blown away. But I was enthralled by the storyline and characters, and hooked all the way to the shocking ending. What I most loved about THE RAVEN AND THE DOVE was Kaitlyn Davis' writing. Her descriptions are so magical. The way she weaves together words is comparable to Stephanie Garber and Cassandra Clare, whose writing styles I absolutely adore.

Davis does an excellent job giving each of her characters their own personalities, motivations, and secrets. There are chapters from the POV of Lyana (princess of the House of Peace), Lysander (prince of the House of Whispers), Rafe (illegitimate brother of Lysander), and Cassi (friend of Lyana). The romantic entanglements are intriguing, in that there is a love triangle that emerges--the book is loosely based on Tristan and Isolde after all.

If you like romantic high fantasy, I definitely recommend this one! It's a combo of fantastic world-building + emotionally complex and racially diverse characters + fast-moving plot. I'm ready for the next book already!

A sincere thanks to NetGalley and Kaitlyn Davis for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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I don't generally read a lot of YA, but was drawn to this book for its beautiful cover and the comparisons to Sarah J Maas. It was an enjoyable read for the most part, although I found it a little too slow paced to be absolutely gripping. The world building was excellent though, and I would probably still read the rest of the series.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

This book started off a little slow, and it didn't really pick up the pace much afterwards. I really enjoyed seeing Lyana and Rafe's relationship progress, although I wasn't quite satisfied with where it ended in this book. While this was probably intended by the author, I wasn't really left feeling anything. I didn't really feel like I was rooting really hard for them, and I wasn't bawling that they (SPOILER) separated.
I'm still interested in reading the next book to see where this goes, so hopefully it can redeem some of the shaky bits of this one.

i was first drawn in by this beautiful cover and I also enjoyed the different character POV in this book,. There was magic, and the plot was full of depth. These characters and this atmosphere stole my heart! I was totally floored by the end and I need a sequel now!! This was full of intrigue, betrayal, friendships, and chemistry. A must read of the year!!!!

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I haven't loved a book this much in a while... it was that good! The characters, plot, writing style, setting, all of it was perfect.

This book was amazing and yet a bit frustrating at the same time. A fantasy retelling of Tristan and Isolde, the book showcases an intricate bird/human hybrid culture, a prophecy, and a forbidden romance between two characters.

Some of the pros of this book in my opinion and strong pros at that were the world-building and the beautifully described scenes. One of my favorite scenes in the entire book was the opening day of the mating rituals when all the different bird clans entered the castle with their own dances and traditions. I love reading books where the author creates such a detailed otherworld that you feel like you’ve entered a dream, and Davis does this with such finesse. Another pro is how the plot keeps you guessing. We get pieces of information here and there but it isn’t until the end of the book that things start to make sense, and even then we don’t get the whole picture.

Now for the cons, which aren’t huge but I do feel like the book would have been absolutely phenomenal if I didn’t have these hang-ups. For one, the book is really slow-paced, which I would expect at the beginning for world-building purposes, but honestly, the book stays slow until the last handful of chapters. I’m glad I didn’t give up on it, but I sure got pretty close a few times in the middle. Also, I was frustrated by the romance. There was a lot of useless pining and guilty feelings, and in the end, I wasn’t really a fan of the two main characters. Seriously, Xander deserves better. I’m a fan of problematic characters but I need to see their struggles vividly, and I just didn’t get that here. It just felt like a sad kind of struggle.

Overall, it’s a solid book and I’m really interested to see what happens next. It’s just one of those books that doesn’t feel like a smooth ride, you have to power through to get to the great stuff.

📚So I was immediately drawn to this book because I love books that feature characters with wings, but there was also the promise of destinies and star-crossed lovers. 🌟 And this book delivered it! I was drawn in by the characters, rooting for Rafe and Lyana, but Rafe’s situation also broke my heart. 😭 I just fell for all the characters and I liked all their points of view so we can see the plot come together on all sides. It was wonderfully written and I can’t wait for the next book. This book doesnt hold back on the punches either 😭. I’m afraid for what happens next and I also need to know. ⁣⁣
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I’m definitely going to have to preorder this book!

This is a fantastic book. Such a unique world and while there are some typical tropes (rebellious princess, insta-lust/love) I can forgive that because the characters are well drawn out, and the plot is not predictable. I can't wait to see where this series goes next..

I was SO EXCITED to receive this book from NetGalley! I couldn’t believe that I got it, and it didn’t let me down! I’ve been a huge fan of the author since discovering her fairytale series, so when I saw this book with an amazing description and stunning cover I was positive that it was going to be amazing and I was right!

The theme of the story (a trial), the characters (royalty), the variation it plays upon (Tristan and Isolde!) and the magic 😍😍 ticks off all the boxes for me! I feel like nowadays with the abundance of books in this genre it can be hard to stand out. But with the combination of Princess Lyana, Rafe, the Trials, and can I mention that cover again?! It definitely holds its own ^_^

Simply amazing!

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.
Mind blown. I enjoyed this read immensely and even though the book isn't released yet, I can't wait for the second one. I don't want to spoil anything and I don't enjoy simply retyping the synopsis of the book. What attracted me to the book first, was the obviously gorgeous cover. I was overjoyed to get the opportunity to read it. The ending is just right and leaves you thinking, wondering what is to come. I will keep puzzling over it every time I reread the book in preparation for the next one.
There is a pre-order gift for US residents who buy the book. I would keep it in mind. I'll be buying my own hardback asap.

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦-𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

𝗜’𝗺 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 by 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸. It was definitely not what I was expecting. I was thinking it would have more adventure, and less of the courtship trials that was mentioned in the synopsis. But half the book was devoted to the courtship trials. So to me, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The synopsis says she flees the palace, which to me says she’s escaping and won’t be coming back. But that is not what happens!

And then part of the synopsis says a king is fighting a war ten thousand feet below.

So before reading it, I’m thinking, “So the princess is will flee her kingdom in the sky, she’ll meet the prince who will be the love interest, and somehow they’ll end up in the world below and adventure and war will ensue. But no. That’s not what happens, so 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. And then the second book will be the actual story, the adventure I was expecting this book to be.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱.It was a nice, flowing style. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝗶𝘁 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. I also only cared for one character, Xander. But his story didn’t pan out as I was hoping.

Maybe if I was more familiar with the Tristan and Isolde story I would have liked the story more. Or known to avoid it.

𝗦𝗼, 𝗜 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲.

I absolutely adored this book. I would recommend this to any fantasy reader who's looking for a angsty romance with a bigger plot starting to bubble to the surface. Thank you so much to Kaitlyn Davis and NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review this.

The story is so simple but intriguing from page one. A good part of this intrigue is owed to the world building and mythos of this fantasy book. One thing that always sucks me in, in any fantasy series, is a polytheistic religion. The setting of this book is a cluster of floating isles, our characters know nothing about what's beneath the clouds. This immediately caused warning bells to go off in my head, but good bells because I was motivated to keep on reading (more so than I already was). I personally had a sense of impending doom or dread just on how the plot pieces were laying out. Gosh I was so emotionally invested. The way the book ended...I need the next one asap.

I was also so invested in a handful of the characters. One thing I really appreciated was how many of the characters weren't the "bad guy" of the story. Each character has motivations that, while doesn't justify some of their behaviors, I could understand where they were coming from. I wish we got to see more of a certain character that was more hinted at before we saw more of them towards the end of the book. Xander is by far my favorite character so far.

The writing was so pretty at times. The prologue definitely was a good indication of how wonderful the author's prose can be. I could picture some of the landscapes that were described so well.

Obviously I really enjoyed this book. I was invested and I got through large parts of this ARC in a few sittings because I didn't want to put this down. This is gonna sound like a cliche review but I just wanted more from the plot that is brewing underneath the surface. This only makes me want to read the next one asap.

*Copied/Pasted from my Goodreads review.

It was all going very well for me with The Raven and the Dove. I’m a big fan of legendary retellings, and I quite like Tristan and Isolde. I enjoyed Izzy + Tristan last year, and the comps on the blurb of this book are authors I very much like. And as we proceeded through the book, I was quite enjoying myself. The love triangle was playing out perfectly as the fated lovers met, fell in love, then realised they were never meant to be.

Then I realised that there wasn’t enough time or space left in the book to wrap anything up. Nothing at all. So this book just kind of … cut things off. We have one character who’s portrayed on the blurb as being one of the four mains, but who we’ve barely seen, and the other three characters are left suspended in mid-arc. I thoroughly enjoyed the way that the author played with the character archetypes of Tristan and Isolde and Mark, and the world she build of islands floating above a sea of mist. I enjoyed how she portrayed the different clans of birds, and how their avian aspects came through in their personalities, appearances, and powers. I was a little confused what the difference between ‘magic’ and ‘the raven call’ is, to be honest, as that felt much like magic to me, but okay, we’ll let that slide. I thoroughly enjoyed how Davis played with Lyana and Rafe, how they interacted, and seeing inside Xander’s head as he realised his mate was not the kind of person he had expected to be by his side. All of that was great, which meant that 75% of the book – their three perspectives – was thoroughly enjoyable.

But meanwhile, there’s an underlying dilemma. A spy is wandering around, manipulating events, and plotting against our three heroes, working on behalf of the young king far below them. And this storyline wasn’t given enough prominence for the huge role it plays in the finale of the book. Honestly, it felt like it was far too separate from the love triangle playing out around them, and it was extremely jarring to see what a huge impact on the plot it had. Not least because the plot wasn’t resolved in any way.

I thought this was great until about 10% before the end. At that point, when I realised absolutely nothing would be resolved, I got quite fed up. The book cuts off at a high point. It’s written like a season finale in a tropey, melodramatic tv show, so that you’ll HAVE to tune in for the next season, and I really hate that in a book, so it massively soured my opinion and experience of this one.

Perhaps if you go in knowing that nothing is resolved, and everything is up in the air by the end of the book, you’ll find this less frustrating than I did. If that’s the case, this is definitely worth the read. The romance has depth, even for the star-crossed lovers trope, and the relationships between the main characters are nuanced and developed. The world is fabulous, and there’s clearly a depth of knowledge behind what the author lets us see which hints at a richly detailed backstory. Plenty to enjoy here, but pacing issues put me off.

Summary:
In the world above, avians believes they were given wings because the gods chose them and freed them from the wrath of their slavers, bringing them to the world above with their island, and living a raging sea and a world covered with a blinding fog.
Lyanna Aethionus, the princess of the House of Peace, knows she should focuse her courtship trials to win the perfect mate, but keep wandering about what lays beyond the edge of her world, in the open sky and the world below. One of her possible matches in the future king of the House of Whispers, who is hiding a big secret; he is using his bastard brother to stand in his place during the courtship trials. Rafe, the bastard and the hated son of a dead king would do anything or his brother and his house, to prove himself.
Oblivious to all, a war is raging in the world below, where a king is waiting for his queen from the world above, as the prophecy tells she will end the war that would risk the abolition of the two worlds. The king believe Lyanna is his queen, and is sending a spy among the avians to bring her to him.

The Raven and the Dove is a retelling of the famous opera sory, Tristan and Isolde, which a lasting work of art, because it's rich, and got everything anyone would think about; drama, love triangles, betrayal and an emotional love story.

The world Mrs Davis created is beautiful, and her storytelling reminded me of Tolkein, because she was paying attention to details, describing the surroundings of the action happening, but at the same time, not boring the reader and jumping from steady describtion to the rise of tension to build up the plot. This book is differen because even though it's a retelling of a famous opera, you still can't expect exactly what would happen.

A lot of elemnets present in the book are a little bit similar to the world of ASOIAF, and that's not a bad thing, because I love the world of ice and fire to death, and seeing familiar elements made me feel comfortable enough to dive into a new fantasy world.

to be completely honest, I picked the book based on the gorgeous cover and after I read in the description that it is a retelling of Tristan and Isolde, I was counting the day to start reading it. And when I started it, I was dreading finishing it, because I knwo there are three books expected to be published, and so I'll have to wait for the upcoming books.

BUT THAT ENDING LEFT ME ????????? I don't know what Mrs Davis is planning for the future of Lyanna and Rafe and Xander. The ending left all the main characters hanging on loose threads.

**Will post review on my blog on Feb 9, 2020, closer to publication date**

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.

What I Liked:

*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.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm:

~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

Final Thoughts:
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!