In a family of seven boys, Jack and Jane wish for nothing more than an elusive daughter. But, the price for her arrival is too much to bear. This is a quick tale that engages readers with stark, striking visual imagery. There’s also lots to unpack in the symbolism of the crone, the king and queen, April and all the Jacks. Adhering to the original structure, it reimagines the curse through Robyn’s experience and subsequent rescue. Readers interested in poetry will find the author’s notes about the structure of each voice especially interesting.

This is a novel in verse, which surprised me. This is my own fault, as it is clearly in the book’s description on NetGalley, but I probably would not have requested the book had I seen that line. Anyway, I initially thought the first page was an epigram and skipped it, then had to go back and re-read.

Unlike many YA novels in verse, Elliot’s writing really does read like poetry, rather than prose with extremely foreshortened lines and unnecessary rhymes. It isn’t especially enjoyable writing though. At least not for me. I tried setting it to a few different songs to see if that made a difference, but...not really. The language is very similar and repetitive, like Elliot is trying to create a saga or ballad, following the traditional forms.*

Part of why I requested this book was because it’s illustrated by Rovina Cai, whose art I very much enjoy. I hoped her art would prove an enhancement to Elliot’s lyrical text, but in Part I it is mostly birds and feathers. Well-illustrated birds and feathers, but birds and feathers. In Part II there are pages marked “art to come” or “art not final,” which is disappointing.

Storywise, this is a retelling of the Seven Swans/Ravens. We first meet Robyn, who lives in the cottage with his six brothers (all named Jack) and his father (also a Jack) and his mother (Jane). They are woodcutters and Robyn...is not. Robyn’s parents dream of a daughter: there are too many Jacks. Finally a daughter is born, but when she looks to die almost immediately, Jack the Father utters a curse and suddenly his sons are no longer men, but ravens. The Jacks are distraught by their new state, but not Robyn. At least their baby sister will live after all.

The brothers’ baby sister is April, and she is much-beloved, but kept ignorant of her brothers’ fate. She is, nevertheless, subject to portents that hint at something uncanny. She eventually learns of the curse on her brothers and decides it is her destiny to break it. Her discovery and then her quest take up a decent portion of the book. The end is similar to the fable.

*Note, there is a note about poetic form at the end, and how each POV character speaks in a different poetic form, and what that form says about them as a character. The descriptions of the poetic forms and Elliot’s reasons for assigning them to their characters are fascinating reads. Almost more so than the text itself, I’m sorry to say.

The Seventh Raven by David Elliott, Illustrated by Rovina Cai
Genre: Fairytale Retelling, Verse Novel
Page Count: 192
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Warnings: None

Quick Look (out of five):
Plot Rating: 3
Character Rating: 3
Romance Rating: N/A
World-Building Rating: N/A
Writing Style Rating: 5
Recommended?: Only for readers who enjoy verse novels.

Note: Due to the different style of this book, this review will focus on an analysis of the literary devices being used, as well as the poetic style choices. There will also be no spoilers section.

This novel is definitely not for everyone. I absolutely loved it, but that is due to my adoration of literary analysis. This novel’s value is entirely in the ways poetic form, symbols, and archetypes are used to tell a story whose heart exists in between the lines. For readers who read a published copy, there will be a lot of meaning to gain from the occasional artwork throughout the novel (I cannot comment on those, as all artwork was marked as Not Final in my Advanced Reader Copy). If you enjoy plot or character driven novels, this book will likely fall flat. However, those who enjoy diving into literary analysis as you read, I would highly recommend this novel. There is a seemingly unending supply of things to interpret.

The Seventh Raven is a novel written entirely in verse that retells The Six Swans from the Brothers Grimm fairytale collection. A couple with seven sons who have always wanted a daughter end up accidentally trading their sons for a single daughter. The sons are turned into ravens and fly away. As the daughter grows, she senses a loss at the core of her family. Upon learning of her brothers, she sets out to save them. The novel resembles a parable in tone, with the focus on themes and poetic style more than on the characters or plot. It is a masterful blend of poetic forms into a complete work that resembles the epic poems of the past.

The plot of the novel is empty in the same style as fairytale plots. Rather than being a weakness, this allows the plot to act as an invisible support to the true purpose of the novel. By eliminating plot as a focus of the story, the focus changes to the structure of each speaker’s poetic style and what it reveals about them.

The characters in this book are highly two dimensional, intended to act as archetypes given form rather than fully developed people. Jack and Jane are the parents of six boys named Jack, a seventh son named Robyn, and a daughter named April. Jack and Jane begin the novel as the representatives of traditional gender norms and tropes. The six Jacks also fall in this category, and often exist as a single entity rather than as six individuals. Robyn is set up as the foil to these characters, as he feels out of place and does not fit into this constrained world. April is the catalyst of the story, named after a spring month to demonstrate the way her birth acts as a rebirth for the other characters. Overall, we spend the most time in April’s mind, making her feel slightly more defined than the other characters. None of the characters actually seem like people, nor are they intended to.

At first, the verse style of this novel bothered me. It felt simplistic and lacking in purpose. However, the further I got into the novel, the clearer it became that the fault actually lay with the ‘rough draft’ format of the Advanced Reader Copy. As the placement of line breaks was sometimes wrong, it took longer to grasp each poetic style. Upon a second and more informed reading, I appreciated the way that the first and second halves of the novel acted as foils to one another. In the beginning, the poetic styles chosen are purposefully simpler in feeling. The characters are all unhappy in some way or another, fighting against some aspect of their life. This discontent is apparent through the excessive use of enjambment. Each speaker has a verse style that rarely uses punctuation inside or at the end of lines. This creates the sense of each line rushing into the next with no breaks for breath. The repetition and pace act as a perfect match to the way each character is experiencing their lives. While this means the first half of the novel is exhausting to read, the stylistic choice does fit perfectly. The second half of the novel is where the verse style gets interesting.

Throughout the novel are segments in which the speaker can best be described as a narrative voice. These sections usually focus on the reactions of nature and inanimate objects to the story. They use a rolling rhythm and parallel lines to create the sense of a passive yet driving force. My personal favorite was the segment titled “The Road is a Villain”. Nearly every line begins with ‘and’ which combines with the rhyme scheme to create a rising and falling rhythm not unlike a marching or rowing rhythm.

One of the more interesting structure choices is in the Crone’s speaking segments. The Crone is clearly the archetype of the wise woman/fate. She is the only speaker who comes close to prose format, employing a kind of modern prose poem. She declares herself the ‘truth’ and exists in many forms, including taking on the Mother Goddess archetype that cycles from youth to old age. If the Crone is Truth (the perfect representation of self-actualization), then her style of speaking is closest to a state of perfect acceptance of self. Considering this, it becomes highly symbolic that April and Robyn are the only ones whose sections come close to the Crone’s style.

In the beginning, Robyn’s sections resemble those of his brothers, but feel just slightly different and off. He uses more complex phrasing or placement of line breaks in a way that stands out sharply amidst the speaking styles of his family. In the second half, Robyn’s section become even more distinct from his brothers’ sections. His segments closely resemble April’s sections in and demonstrate that both these characters feel fully themselves. They utilize longer sentences and fuller lines. Robyn’s lines feel sharply different from his way of speaking in the first half. His lines are no longer broken at the end of each phrase, and instead break in places that create a more robust rhythm and symbolize his newfound sense of comfort as a raven. Since Robyn and April’s desires are polar opposites – April wants her brothers to be human again and Robyn wants to stay a raven – the similarity in their poetic form becomes more apparent and important.

The six brothers named Jack either speak as one or in parallel lines in the beginning. While they feel incredibly simplistic, this sparseness serves to show their content. The Jacks do not need more from life; the repetitiveness of their days does not grate on them to way it does for their parents. In contrast, they speak as one in a jumble of partial thoughts after their transformation. Their intense feeling of being in the wrong form screams out from the page as they seem to speak over one another in a chaotic cacophony. Their moments of speech are shorter than anyone else’s and have a more simplistic pattern to their line breaks.

Jack the father speaks in a form quite similar in sound to those of the six sons named Jack. It feels boisterous and forceful in a way that presents a traditional vision of masculinity. His wife Jane speaks in the exact same poetic form, but her sections feel a bit softer. Their identical poetic forms ensure that the masculine and feminine characteristics of each are more noticeable due to the contrast. This tonal setup reverses in the second half of the novel. Jack sounds softer, his lines oozing regret. Jane takes up the more forceful and staccato position, boiling with anger at the way Jack has cost her all eight of her children.

By switching Jack and Jane’s tones, the author sets up and then destroys their traditional gendered existence. There is an implication that by clinging to these gender tropes, Jack and Jane caused their own sadness. They longed for a daughter to bring softness to their lives, ignoring the ways Robyn’s sentimentalism could have filled that role if they had allowed him to live outside gendered tropes of behavior. It plays in to one of the overall symbolic morals of the novel: that living in absolutes rather than spectrums constricts one’s ability to be themselves.

Robyn’s ending acts as a mirror to this gender deconstruction. By having Robyn become part raven and part human, the story demonstrates the necessity for nuanced senses of self. There is a distinct queer aspect to Robyn’s story. He feels that he cannot be himself at the beginning of the novel, having to hide some aspect of his self away. His family notices and dislikes Robyn’s differences. Later, April observes that Robyn is sensitive based solely on the way her parents describe him compared to her brothers. “Sensitive” feels like coded language for Robyn’s queer identity. The freedom Robyn finds in his transformation and his choice to live between the ground and the sky demonstrates the ways he exists outside of all categories and constructs.

My only complaint about this novel is that it exists in physical form. Throughout the entire novel, I found myself wishing to see it performed on stage. It reminds me of medieval Morality Plays that consisted of anthropomorphized vices and virtues that travelled around performing moral and religious lessons for the peasant class. There is also a similarity to early Greek plays adapting epic poems. While I found this story to be a delight when read in novel form, I think it would truly shine on the stage.

I received an advanced reader copy of the book. I didn’t realize that it would be in verse. I received a digital copy. I’ve noticed when trying to read books in verse on Kindle, the typeset is usually off and doesn’t go with the appropriate breaks in the poetry. This made it somewhat difficult to read. I would recommend that if you do pick up this book, definitely get a physical copy. While I did find it admirable that the author followed different poetic styles for each character--he explains each one at the end of the book--I still felt like the characters and story-telling fell a bit flat in this retelling of the Grimm’s fairy tale.

Books in verse are very popular in my middle school library right now, as well as fairy tales, but I don’t know if middle grade readers would get into this. They might find it difficult to follow.

I love this original fairy tale and was SO looking forward to reading this retelling. I had no idea it was written in verse and that format did not work for me with this story. The original story has so much potential for deep emotion, magic, and a fantastical quest, but the poetic format didn't allow for the world building I wanted to sink into. The language is rich but quite a bit of it would be above the comprehension level of many middle schoolers so I see this being a better fit for high school.

I picked this up because I loved Bull (the author's take on the myth of the Minotaur that reads as "Percy Jackson meets Hamilton"), and while I didn't enjoy this one quite as much, it was still a quick, entertaining read that makes you think while introducing you to a more obscure fairy tale. The Seventh Raven is based on the Grimm tale of the same name, and the book definitely left me wanting more! The prose, while creating a lush, dark, background, didn't allow us to get to know the characters, and consequently, the stakes were fairly low even as pretty intense things were happening. I loved the story, but it felt like it was over right when it was getting started (I can easily figure out what this book would look like as a YA fantasy trilogy). Nonetheless, this was a powerful, atmospheric and slightly creepy read that is a great introduction to books in verse for young adults. This is one I can see working really well as a classroom text and its creepy nature, illustrations and short length make it very book-talkable. 3 stars - I liked it.

Thanks to HMH and Netgalley for the advance copy which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. The Seventh Raven will be available on 16 March!

Never before have ever I read a modern book written only in verse. I think the only stories I’ve read in poem format were The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf, but unlike The Epic of Gilgamesh, David Elliott's The Seventh Raven was an interesting and engaging experience! At first, it was a little hard for me to get used to, but after that, I was fully engaged in this wild and wonderful tale of a boy who wants only to fly.

There are a lot of things that I liked about The Seventh Raven, and I can’t really think of anything that I disliked. Firstly, I loved how the rhyming patterns were different for each character, to give them their own unique voice as the book wasn’t written as a regular narrative. I don’t really know too terribly much about poetry, but Elliott explained in the back of the book what rhyming schemes he used and the patterns for each character and why he used them. It was really interesting and clever.

Everything about the plot was so different and so unique. I loved how the brothers were turned into ravens and how their younger sister, even though she had never met them, was determined to save her brothers. I didn’t even know it was a fairytale retelling until the end, when Elliott explained that it was a retelling of The Seven Ravens by the Brothers Grimm. Now it makes me want to find the original story and read it!

I loved the lyrical beauty, and nostalgia that the story invoked. It was like being back in my childhood reading fairytales and dreaming of castles magic animals all over again. Only, there’s a sort of controversy throughout the story. I don’t know how much I can say without spoiling the plot, but let’s just say that of the seven brothers, the seventh is the only one who doesn’t bemoan his fate, and feels he’s finally free to be what he was always meant to be. It was interesting seeing that contrast between the characters, and seeing how the younger sister is portrayed, in her own mind, as the hero, when in fact, the youngest brother sees her as a villain. I just found it to be a fascinating spin on the typical fairytale story.

The only issue would be the fact that because it’s in verse, we can’t really connect as well with the characters as we would if the book were in narrative writing. However, at the same time, I feel that it’s perfect, as original fairytales are written with an omniscient narrator, and therefor we’re never inside Cinderella or Ariel’s head. So, while it would have been nice to be able to dive into the characters’ minds and see more of this world, at the same time I also found it somewhat fitting for The Seventh Raven to be written this way.

Another issue is that the story was too short! It’s not really a negative complaint, but I would love to see more of this world and have explanations for some things that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I don’t know if this is a spoiler, but I also would love to know where in the world the glass castle came from, and its history. If Elliott could write a sequel, or at least another book set in that world in whichever prose he chooses, that would be amazing! I would be all there for that!

Overall, I loved the poetic format and the fact that it’s a retelling of a fairytale I’ve never heard of! If you enjoy poetry, original Grimm’s fairytales, and thought-provoking tales, then you’ll love The Seventh Raven by David Elliott!

Master poet David Elliott does it again with this stunning novel in verse, based loosely on the story of the seven swans. He gives each character a distinct poetic voice, so they each have their own personality and cadence as you read. The advance copy did not have finished illustrations, but I am confident Rovina Cai will do her usual breathtakingly beautiful art. This was exactly what I wanted it to be. A lovely warm hug of a book.

It was okay. I loved the overall idea of the book. There is certainly potential but I found myself unable to fully connect with the characters and I couldn’t place my finger on why. The writing itself is well done, but the world wasn’t drawing me in.

The Seventh Raven is a novel-in-verse retelling of The Seven Ravens, a lesser known Grimm Brothers fairy tale. Unfortunately, I did not find that the novel accomplished what it set out to do. The poems describing the setting were lovely, but the characters' verses fell flat. There simply wasn't enough page time for the reader to connect to any of the characters and there was little character development. While this was a quick, easy read that may have appeal to reluctant tween readers, the content was better suited for a middle grade audience. The illustrations by Rovina Cai were lovely and complimented the text well; it is worth flipping through a finished copy just to see her art.

I really enjoyed THE SEVENTH RAVEN. There were a few points in the story where my attention didn't stick, and I had to reread. However, I still liked it. The premise was intriguing and maintained my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I had no idea this was going to be a novel in verse, and honestly I wouldn't have requested it if I'd known, because I'm not particularly fond of that style. But I figured to give it a try anyway. I do like poetry, and the poetry in this book was very nicely done with some great imagery. I just personally don't like novel-in-verse, and this book didn't really change my opinion in that regard. I actually had to read this through twice to get the story.

I feel like some of my negatives are more for personal taste reasons than anything objectively wrong with the book. I'm not entirely sure why this is marked as YA since I think middle grade readers can get through this just fine, and the addition of illustrations definitely gives it a younger audience sort of vibe. Not that a YA audience can't enjoy a novel-in-verse with pictures in it; I just didn't see anything so mature that a younger audience couldn't handle. I'll also say that the author's explanation of the different poetic forms he used for each character could be a negative. Explaining why he chose a certain type of poetry for each character is a neat tidbit but I chose not to read it because I didn't want my perception of the characters to be altered by the explanations.

Objectively I can say this was good. The poetry is nicely written with some good rhythm and rhyming schemes, and the different styles are very neat. I can see poetry clubs breaking apart each character and analyzing the form used in their narrative. It has a wonderfully timeless feel to it and has that haunting and gruesome quality from older fairy tales, especially Grimm fairy tales. I'm not going to give this a bad score just because I don't really like novel-in-verse.

If that's your thing, you'll love this. If that's not your thing, you might still like it, but I wasn't sold on the genre by reading this.

Having read, "Bull", I'm a big fan of David Elliott and excited to read his newest book, a retelling of the obscure Grimm fairy tale, "The Seven Ravens". The night that April is born, her seven brothers are transformed into ravens. As April grows older, she realizes it is up to her to break the curse and restore her family, but not all of her brothers want the curse broken. The tale is told in verse and the author offers detailed information about verse and poetry at the end, which is a nice bonus. There are snippets of wisdom throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Thanks to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group, and David Elliott for an advanced eBook copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much to HMH Books for Young Readers via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!

I didn't realize this book was going to be in verse, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. I quickly found myself drawn into Elliot's words and rhymes and verse. I by no means have any idea how these are supposed to read but just from reading it aloud in my head, I think most of the points of view had a really readable and flowing language.

The afterword about each character having their own form of poetry was super interesting, to see where Elliot took his language from.

I also liked how the novel followed the fairytale format of "get in, get out, tell the story." It is a quick read that is a modern retelling of The Seven Ravens, which appeared in The Brothers Grimm. The plot is pretty interesting, a sister trying to save her seven brothers from a curse. The different. points of view helped move the story along, with the various styles of verse making each unique.

Plus the artwork looked really great from what I saw so far.

If anything I think the formatting suffered in the electronic version but I would love to see a finished copy.

I'll come back and upload social media links shortly after christmas ❤

I loved the poetic form this book took, but at times the perspectives switched confusingly. Otherwise, this is a beautiful story about transformation, redemption and acceptance!

This book was received as an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group -HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not put this book down. My eyes were glued to every word of every page solely because the writing structure was just brilliant. You get to know the characters in just a few words and the plot gets straight to the point without any drag. This is such an enticing novel filled with so much drama and excitement that it will leave you gasping for air and catching your breath when you are finished.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Though I'm not usually a fan of books in verse, this was such a beautiful collection of poems combining to tell a magical and fantastical adventure. I loved how the different characters used different forms of poetry. This haunting book will stay with you long past the last page.

3.5 stars for me
I didn’t know this book was going to be written in verse but it was a pleasant surprise and I found myself enchanted by this and the way the author managed to tell this haunting story through poetry.
I definitely enjoyed the different POVs and the changes in tone from all of them- Robyn being my favorite character because he was different than the rest and his POV was almost endearing to read
I loved the art as well and the little surprises along the way
All in all, this was a quick read that didn’t end how I expected but I loved it nonetheless!
I recommend this if you like verse, Grimm fairytales, haunting world building and can appreciate the genius behind poetry
*thank you to netgalley for sending me an earc in exchange for an honest review*

"If we are to inherit the kingdom, we must enter the forest alone."

David Elliot's The Seventh Raven is a quick but engrossing read, a retelling of The Seven Ravens from the Grimm Brothers. It's written in verse, and the intentionality is apparent in every line. Elliot includes a much needed note about the poetic form at the end of the book, explaining the prescribed form that each different character or type of character utilizes. I loved this inclusion, and it showcased the dedication to character development a Grimm story is typically lacking.

"When human, Robyn speaks in the rondeau, a French form of fifteen lines in which the opening phrase of the first line repeats at lines nine and fifteen ('they called me Robyn' in his first poem). This repetition, plus the rhyming of just two words, constricts the form. This tightness seemed to parallel Robyn's feelings as a young man. But when he is a raven, free of his human constraints, it seemed to me he needed to express himself in a form that was less binding."

"Robyn and April's parents speak in a Welsh form, Cyhydedd Naw Ban...Because we often experience our parents as a single unit, I thought it right that Jack and Jane speak in the same form."

I appreciate when an author has a vision and the ability to convey that vision to others. Although not flawless, The Seventh Raven" was an interesting spin on a classic fairy tale that I would not hesitate to recommend to readers unintimidated by poetic forms.

"And hope is a country
Whose shoreline recedes
And hope is a garden
Blooming with weeds
Hope is a journey
Into the night
No guiding star
No comforting light"

Um.... This was interesting with it's rhyming. And definitely had a Grimm's brother tragedy vibe going on. Wasn't my favorite story ever, but was interesting.