While I enjoy fantasy now and then, it's certainly not one of my preferred genres. I kept hearing great things about Mark of the Raven, though, so I decided to check it out. Sometimes, it's a good idea to get out of my contemporary romance rut 😉.
Lady Selene is the heir to the Great House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person's dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. For the last hundred years, the Ravenwood women have used their gift of dreaming for hire to gather information or to assassinate.
As she discovers her family's dark secret, Selene is torn between upholding her family's legacy--a legacy that supports her people--or seeking the true reason behind her family's gift.
Her dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations, but who will also bring about the downfall of her own house.
One path holds glory and power, and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and execution. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path chosen?
Mark of the Raven is an intriguing beginning to The Ravenwood Saga. It began a little slowly for me, and I really wasn't sure I'd like it at first ... in fact, I actually flipped to the end and read the final few pages when I was around the 50-page mark just to be sure I'd be OK with the ending! (Growing up, I always read the final few pages first; it's a habit I broke sometime during high school, but every so often, I still have to check out the ending first!)
Overall, the book is pretty dark—not a surprise, considering a large portion is dedicated to Selene honing her dreamwalking gift, which her family uses to manipulate and even kill others. (I think that's why I had to skip to the end—I'm not a fan of dark novels, and I had to know everything would turn out OK.)
By far, my favorite portions of the book were those regarding Damien, Lord Maris. Where House Ravenwood worships the Dark Lady, Damien follows the Light, and his story line contained a hope not present in much of Selene's story. I don't want to say much more than that, but I'm very excited to see Damien's story continue, especially as his story intertwines with Selene's.
The book ends after wrapping a few things up, but there's clearly much more to come, and I can't wait to see what comes next! 4 stars.
Buy the book.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in this post are affiliate links; this means if you click the link and purchase an item, I will receive a small commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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