Crooked Ravens (Otherworld, #1) [Spoiler Free]

Author: Talis Jones

Publisher: Self- Published

Publication Date: June 26, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Adventure Rating: 3 Stars

Amazon

“Sometimes you must let go of who you were to 
embrace what you could become.”
“And if that damns me to Hell?” she asked.
He smiled. “Then we shall meet again.”

There is an island that protects the young not because they are lost, but because they were taken. The Island of Oneiroi is not a mere destination for children and dreamers – it’s a sanctuary for the murdered and vengeance has come.

Adrianna Verdandi holds the cooling corpse of her foster brother, Geoffrey Martinez, when a curious stranger turns up with an invitation of passage to an impossible realm. Little did she know that accepting a second chance would bind their fates to the very darkness they flee from.

Time is of the essence, the rebels are rising up, ancient forces stir in the northern woods, and through it all a strange sailor named Titus watches bemused, shrewd, and knowing far more than he is willing to divulge about this ruthless game for power.

The darkness isn’t coming. It’s already there, walking in your shadow.

*Thank you to the author for sending me an e-book in exchange for an honest review!*

Story/ Plot. Peter Pan + Queen of Hearts = Crooked Raven. At least, that’s the vibe I got! It was a really cool, unique take. I liked the adventure aspect, Adrianna travels across Oneroi to help the rightful queen take her throne away from the tyrant. She was tricked into helping but ended up joining the cause anyways. Geoffrey’s story is a little more slow going. I felt as though his point of view could have had more meat to it. 

Characters. I really liked Adrianna. She was relatable in the sense that I felt as though I would make the same choices she did. I liked hers and Sarai’s friendship. Well, most of the time. Sarai was a really fickle person. One minute she was so excited that she was friends with Adrianna, then the next she was calling her dead weight. 

Writing. Okay, here is where I knocked off a couple stars. There were a couple inconsistencies that confused me thoroughout the book.  One of the first ones I noticed was when the group Adrianna was with, was making camp and the said they “should really start training her.” Then someone else was like, “yes! Let’s do that.” And then five minutes later they just went on their merry way. I was like, wait, what? Another thing that was a bit hard to read was that the scenes didn’t flow together smoothly. Like, the group does one thing, then they’re done. Then another. Then done. Ect.. I also felt as though it would have been easier to follow along if it had have been first person POV alternating. However, I just want to end with that Jones’ writing itself was beautiful, it was just the execution that was hard to follow. Here’s an example: “Night winked cheekily with bright stars scattered across the sky.” I love that sentence! 

Final Thoughts. I am definitely still interested in continuing this series! The characters and story were really interesting! I also love supporting small time authors and am very happy I was approached for this!