Reviews

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

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oonagh_'s review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ecorinnes's review against another edition

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3.0

Originally gave it 5 stars, I remember that I loved it… but a few months later and I cannot remember the plot at all. Just a general outline of the worldbuilding and that it is very graceling.

elliotcanread's review

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Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

When Fie and her band of Crows are called to the royal castle to kill a plague victim she is surprised that it is the prince. However it turns out he faked his death to avoid a plot against him. Things go wrong and Fie and her Crows find themselves on the run from the other castes. Owens introduces twelve distinct castes, each with a particular birthright and witches within each caste having a particular ability relating to that birthright. Among the twelve she focuses on a few particularly the top caste Phoenix, birthright fire; Hawk, birthright blood; and at the bottom Crow, birthright none. Crow witches, including Fie, could access any of the other birthright abilities by using the teeth or bones of deceased witches of the other castes. This novel works best when it focuses on the bigotry against the Crows, especially Prince Jasimir’s growing acknowledgment of the extent to which this hatred exists. The lack of distinctive characters make it hard to get invested in the plight of Fie, her band of Crows, Prince Jasimir, and his Hawk body double Tavin as they go on the run while figuring out a way to slow a royal coup. The caste characteristics overwhelm the characters themselves, especially when Owen often uses caste names interchangeably with character names. This novel could be more compelling if Owen spent as much time on character building as she did world building. Still fans of fantasy quest books may find much to like about this book.

jiji_'s review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This duology is a HIDDEN GEM!! I finished both books a week ago, and I'm still missing the characters. The world building and magic and caste systems, the characters relationships, it's all so good. I'm also a huge fan of Margaret Owen's other writing - this is definitely darker than Little Thieves but has the same eat marks of her writing style. Go in blind and follow the weird journey!!!

catherinewyatt's review

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adventurous funny slow-paced

2.75

julez_mey's review against another edition

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5.0

Probably the best ya fantasy I read in a while. Although I don't quite understand why the crows keep doing what they're doing... like the people would get it really fast why that job is important if they put down their work for maybe a week?

I'm a little bit dissapointed that nothing much is said about the illness other than it can also destroy food but that's just a personal issue for me.

Other than that I really enjoyed the journey and will continue with book two.