Started out a bit slow but once the story got going, it was one hell of a ride. The characterization is excellent, the pacing is almost perfect and the world-building wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I reveled.

A big pile of gratitude to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy, and I trust they will be putting a map in the final published version. ( )

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra is another novel that surprised me. I wasn’t certain what to expect but quickly found myself drawn into its lush descriptions and an intriguing mystery involving royalty and monsters. Katyani has quite an exciting past and present, and I adore her fierceness. She is a woman who knows her worth and will not let anyone or anything tell her she’s wrong. As the story unfolds, we learn the depths to which people will go to obtain or maintain power, which is ugly. Katyani’s world implodes, and we can only watch and wait to see how she handles it and what happens next.

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is the type of novel that draws you in so entirely that you lose track of time. The setting is almost magical in its luxury while being exotic at the same time. The characters are intense, while the magic feels almost subtle but is anything but that. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Katyani and would love to explore more of her world. This is another stand-alone, but in this instance, I would love it if Ms. Mahrotra would set another novel in this world of hers because I want more. ( )

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is a wonderfully crafted story. Anyone who loves upper-YA Fantasy with political intrigue should give it a go. It's fast-paced, brimming with action, and has an enemies-to-lovers subplot that any romance fan will enjoy!

Katyani is a fantastic FMC...she's strong and independent. She goes through a lot in this book and still doesn't waver. I absolutely adored her.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of and I would've liked a little more depth to some...they weren't as fleshed out as they could be and I felt like their actions weren't super clear, but perhaps that'll change if there's another book (I would love another book ;)).

It was actually difficult to give this book only four stars as I enjoyed it so, so much, but the pacing was a bit too quick. The plot moves very fast and I think that ended up hurting the story. I would've preferred to linger a bit before moving onto the next scene. This book could've easily been longer.

All in all, a wonderful book and I genuinely hope there is more written!

Thank you Wednesday Books for the ARC to read and honestly review! ( )

I received an advance copy from NetGalley.

I loved Rati Mehrota's previous books, and I loved her YA fantasy debut! I read almost the entire book in one day. It zoomed by. This book has it all: a fantasy setting based on India loaded with magic, gods, and monsters; a sassy protagonist in Katyani, a trained body guard who can't hold back her tongue; betrayals galore along with court intrigues; a sweet, nicely-escalating romance that never goes anywhere graphic but is good, flirtatious fun. This is the kind of book where you THINK early on that you know how the plot will go, but wow, it twisted and turned and surprised me all the way through. ( )