Epic finale

Be aware that this review will have spoilers for Mark of the Raven and Flight of the Raven as this is the third book in this series! Please do not read any further if you haven’t read those! I try to keep spoilers at a minimum but some can’t be avoided.

In Cry of the Raven, the stakes are higher than ever before... the empire is on the move, allied with two houses including Selene’s mother, and it’s up to the remaining houses to stand together or fall. War is coming. We start where Flight of the Raven ends, with the death of someone Selene loved very much, and with a single sentence I was immediately thrown back into all these feels. But Selene has no time to mourn, as the houses comes together and decisions need to be made. Shaken as she is, she has trouble trusting other people, but she tries anyway. Throughout the book she really grows as a person, and overcomes her fears and becomes a wise, confident woman who is not afraid to show every part of herself and is kind to others.

Damien is being awesome as always. Ok I just simply adore him, he can’t do anything wrong in my eyes. He’s everything you want in a man, and Selene finally can admit to herself that she loves him, which is awesome! What I love about their relationship, is that it feels so real, and you can see it growing, maybe even more because it is very clean. Because they actually TALK. A lot. They talk about everything, their feelings and what they want and their loved ones, and it just takes their relationship to a whole other level. And I just love that. Damien always is very respectful of Selene’s boundaries and vice versa, but they would die for each other. But, as Damien learns, you can feel extremely responsible and care a lot about someone, you need to give them in God’s hand and let the fear of losing them go. This was such a wise lesson that really struck home for me.

What I also love is that the other houses are featured more and more history is revealed. We get to see a lot of the other lords and ladies, and that gives this story an extra dimension. Elric was the absolute best, he brings a lot of humor into the mix! One thing I loved too: there is much importance placed on the smaller things. In a war it can be too much on a grand scale, when only big things happening, but there was much room for introspection, for debating how to use your power in a good way, and there were many personal struggles to overcome, too. That kept the plot interesting, though I have to admit that it did sag a little in the middle for me. Everyone was off to another place, all over the country, and it was like all they did was travel back and forth. The dual POV made it better, and I get why it has to happen this way, but I still would have liked less traveling overall. And maybe I would have liked to have a bit more plot concentrated around Caiaphas, like maybe a long emotional talk about what happened with the Ravenwood members, and more importantly: what Caiaphas has done all these years in secret. I would really like to know that! (I’m hoping for a prequel novella here, Morgan!). 

Some parts were heartbreaking, especially with what’s going on in Australia with the bush fires right now that makes this book so much harder to read and actually made me cry. The battle scenes were epic, and I loved that there was both a physical and a spiritual component to this war, in the end it came down to Light versus darkness. Forgiveness versus hate. Courage over fear. The power of dreams. The Christian theme woven throughout is strong and very inspiring.

I have loved this series from the first book, and this final book is everything I wanted (though I do want more books). This is one of the best Christian fantasy series in my opinion, and I recommend it to everyone! Even if you don’t like fantasy, I think you’ll be able to love this, as it’s not complicated like adult fantasy, and another world can really help to bring some points across about our world.

I received a free e-copy from Bethany House through Netgalley. I’m really happy I got to read this book early, but it hasn’t influenced my opinions as I already was hopelessly in love with this series.