The Storm Crow – Kalyn Josephson
There is something more magical about reading a story before it is out for the world to see. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advance copy of this novel via Fairyloot!
The Storm Crow, like many books published recently, has a wonderfully designed cover, which I immediately fell in love with. I read this one a while ago, but never got around to actually writing the review, so it’s a short one today.
There is still time to pre-order (the first run has an amazing hidden cover with lightning!) from your preferred source, and add it on goodreads before it’s out.
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/07/2019
STAR RATING: 3/5 ✶
SUMMARY: One fateful night, Thia’s world was shattered. Their kingdom, Rhodaire, was attacked, she lost her mother, the queen, and the magical crows that had shaped her life and society were all killed. Thia lingers in a deep depression afterwards, until her sister Caliza, the new queen, is forced to send her to the enemy kingdom of Illucia to marry their prince. However, the sisters stumble upon a last, unhatched, egg and come up with a dangerous plan to try and win their freedom back…
OPINIONS: I was super excited to read this book when I received an ARC in a Fairyloot box earlier this year, and quickly got stuck into the story – the idea of magical storm crows as riding animals was thrilling, and the plot gripping. However, the book ultimately felt like the YA fantasy novel I had read a million times already, exhibiting flaws that are likely due to being a debut novel. That is not to say that I did not like it, I found The Storm Crow to be a solid, fun read and am curious to see how the author’s style and story will develop in the future.
I loved Razel, the queen of Illucia and the villain of the story, so much. She is cunning and brilliant and ruthless, fiercely independent and controlling. She knows much more than Thia thinks, and successfully makes her life in Illucia very difficult. She is one of the few well-developed, multi-dimensional characters in the story, as sadly, most of them fall fairly flat. Maybe I am being a bit too harsh on Thia, but she frustrated me to no end. I found her to be excessively naive and self-focused, oblivious to anything not in her immediate trajectory. She wallows in self-pity and is blind to her surroundings, unsurprisingly leading to her ending up in the middle of a love triangle. It never occurred to her to question what she was told or be suspicious, while living in the enemy’s territory – which surprised me a lot, given that she had been raised in a court! Thinking about it now, I believe that my frustrations are due to Thia being the kind of character that things happen to, instead of a character who drives the story, which is very much my personal preference.