The Moon Raven by Grace Draven
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
Disaris jin Gheza's rare gift for code-breaking means she must flee a conquering army and a fanatical cult, or become their prisoner and pawn. To evade capture, she will cross perilous territories and sorcerous borders, her aim, rescue her sister from captivity and stop a goddess bent on remaking the world through destruction and bloodshed.
But she won't be facing danger alone. The battle mage known as the Moon Raven travels by her side. Once Disaris's best friend and lover, Bron is now an uneasy ally with a death bounty on his head for desertion.
Bound together by memories and a bond that they both believed broken, the two fugitives must outrun a deadly tracker, save a kingdom, and crush a savage deity - all without dying in the effort.
A tale of loyalty and longing.
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REVIEW
It has been a while since I enjoyed a good Grace Draven book. Not for her lack of trying, but mostly because I love all her books, I can not simply choose one. After the author's health issues, this book felt like a comeback to her trademark writing; beautifully crafted worlds feeling fleshed out even for a stand-alone book, romance that develops sweetly and has its trials, and characters both with strengths and weaknesses making them lovable.
Disaris is a prisoner, and the tower she is in is about to collapse from the siege, which has been going for almost two years. By a stroke of luck she is saved by none other than Bron the Moon Raven, warrior and magician of the enemy whoc also used to be her first love and best friend. As the story progresses and Disaris and Bron must unravel their own feelings, war closes in. Disaris has the magic gift of translating everything and anything with a glance, and that is not easy when everyone either wants to use her or simply kill her.
And Bron has to contest both her rejection a few years back and his own feelings, as he never stopped loving her.
The book strikes a delicate balance between storytelling and character development. It goes back and forth between past and present, showing how Bron and Disaris met as children and grew up together.
It does not feel stifling, yet at the same time gives room for more development, as for example we see through Draven's descriptions the everyday life of the village our characters live in. Or how magic manifests without having to memorize a whole glossary of terms seen in other fantasy books.
There is spice, and trust me, they both deserve it after everything they have been through, but it is not the main focus of the book; it just complements the story as a whole.
Overall, this was a great book by one of my top authors, and I surely wish I could have a sequel about a specific sister and another magician.
About the author:
Grace Draven is a Louisiana native living in Texas with her husband, kids and a big, doofus dog. She has loved storytelling since forever and is a fan of the fictional bad boy. She is the winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice for Best Fantasy Romance of 2014 and 2016, and a USA Today Bestselling author.
“Grace Draven is the gold standard for fantasy romance” ~ BookRiot
“When it comes to fantasy romance, Draven is in a class by herself”~ RT Book Reviews
