This high stakes fantasy story was just what I needed during the winter months. It was an easy read for me. I give it 3 stars because I had a hard time focusing on the imagery. It just wasn’t there for me. I would recommend this to my friends who like YA fantasy and looking for a new author!

I was provided an e-arc from netgalley to read and review

I unfortunately missed the opportunity to read

This book was such a refreshing experience and I totally adored every page! It has:

- brown princess protagonist
- matriarchy world building (there are like three men in this book total!!! women everywhere you look!! women in all the positions of power!!!)
- it is not a Big Bad Thing to be queer or POC
- so so many queer side characters (it's like the random baker is just like "oh my husband is over there" and can I just say how wholesome and needed it is to have casual rep too
- I headcanon Caylus is autistic (we autistics see each other!! WE KNOW)
- NOT a cliche romance
- Anthia's #1 priority is to raise her son and hatch him from an egg (fyi he is a crow)
- HUGE crows you can sit on
- actual desserts on every second page

I'm getting this distinct vibe that I had a good time with this book...
FUNNY. I definitely did. I just don't understand why there are so many books that are like "dragons exist! But women are still considered dirt!" when you have a whole big head that can imagine anything. Just stretch the two braincells a little, do it. So this book did it, and I loved that. Thia's friendship with Kiva (who is GAY) was authentic and loving and important. There were complex women villains, and loving women, nurturers and warriors. And when the boys showed up (n joke, there are like 3; very refreshing) they were diverse and interesting too. Plus the romance was NOT what I expected and my heart swelled for it.

Also mental health rep in fantasy? Gah, I need more of this. It was really well done too, because Thia has a lot of self loathing + battles a lot of misconceptions by others and outright discrimination. She's called the "princess who turned her back on the kingdom" after the horrific battle, because she was so depressed she couldn't get out of bed. And she has a journey of accepting herself, fighting to keep getting up, and trash talking herself bUT ALSO having people input into her life that depression is not her fault. It's not a fault.

Also the crow baby was adorkable, with his big crow puppy dog eyes that just melted everyone.

Now I am a voracious reader, so when you read a lot, you kind of get a hm haven't I read this plot before vibe a lot. So even though I adore this book to pieces, it did feel like a very typical plot line (princess must be taken to enemy prince's land and forced to marry him but discovers he's Maybe Not That Bad but also she's raising a rebellion). I mean, Ash Princess, Gravemaidens, The Bridge Kingdom, etc etc. It's not an insult. I think a LOT of readers won't mind because they won't have read it so often. And at least there were twists with the romance.

Overall? I will politely push this book in your face. I just found it really refreshing that it wasn't falling into tired YA tropey traps. It fought for a different angle to a typical story and I admire the heck out of that. Also I want the sequel badly.

For a debut novel, in the flooded teen fantasy genre, The Storm Crow provides what I was hoping for with a little twist here and there. The easiest way to describe this is expect the Crows to be equivalent to Dragons in most stories.

Plot
There are politics, different countries (at war of course), and strong relationships. Not only are there some partners meeting up, but also lovely friendships and even some sisterhood moments. This places Kalyn Josephson in a category above most of the average YA writers of today; as she was able to create love in more than just the average pairing.

Depression
I would be surprised to learn if Josephson hasn’t had some mental health moments in her life. The descriptions and emotions of our lead gal who is suffering from depression are very well done. And instead of having the depression last a day and magically getting it better; The Storm Crow focuses on finding our lead gal purpose and inspiring her to have desires.

Overall
I’m really impressed with Josephson’s first book. If she continues to improve on what she has begun in The Storm Crow I’m confident she will be the next big teen fantasy author. Her pacing, descriptions, world building and characters are all at a quality above the average author in this genre. The more I think about this book the more I feel my four stars might be too low. So consider this one a solid 4 stars with an opportunity to jump to 5 if the sequel carries forward on par or stronger.
I just need to keep remembering that a giant Crow is as cool and sleek as a Dragon. 😉

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

I really liked this book and can't wait for the sequel. I really appreciated the depiction of depression, and found it to be mostly accurate. I'm knocking off one star because of the romance. It felt very unnecessary, and I didn't feel their connection at alllll. If there had to be a romance plot, I would've picked a different character that I felt she actually had chemistry with. Overall, a great start to a YA fantasy duology!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the eARC!

wow honestly one of the best books I've read 5tacos I recommend. One of the most interesting unique plots I've read, I love reading it

This book was an automatic approval for work (I work at a bookstore). It did not mesh with my reading tastes, but I think there is definitely a market for this kind of book! Those who like teen fantasy and/or teen sci-fi might really enjoy it!

I really enjoyed the magical system. The idea between all the crows had me intrigued from the very beginning. 

As for the plot itself, I felt like there were a few moments that were a bit bland causing me to really try to make it through some of the history and world building, but eventually I made it through. 

There are secrets and danger around every corner in this multiple POV story. 

I gave this one 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for YA Fantasy readers who want a different type of magic to read from.

I think I would have enjoyed The Storm Crow a lot more if I wasn't so burned out on YA fantasy, because the plot is extremely generic. I paused at the midway mark and really struggled to motivate myself to pick the book back up again, because I could predict exactly how the rest of the plot was going to go (and I was right!).

I did like the main character, who is a typical YA heroine (princess forced into politicking for the sake of her land, special power no-one else has) but isn't so cookie-cutter in terms of being sarcastic and feisty. She experiences depression, which is a nice thing to see in a book aimed at teens, but I felt it was pretty much hammered home rather than being shown organically (at one point she yells at someone that she is depressed, which didn't ring true as something she would a) realise, b) state, and c) have a word for given the generally medieval state of medicine in the world. So, nice to have the rep, but it isn't very nuanced.

It's not a bad YA fantasy, by any means, and if you enjoy the genre then this is a really good example of it. But as I say, I've just seen one too many similar plots to have loved it.

Wow! I really enjoyed this one! This quite reminded me of Eragon by Christopher Paolini, but with crows and also a really interesting female lead (I mean, there were loads of other differences, too, but this was just my initial impressions!).
Thia is a really interesting character, and I found her fireyness - and how that gets absolutely dimmed by depression - to be relatable and fantastic to read in a main character of a YA Fantasy. I felt a little apprehensive as I realised that there was some depression representation going on, and I will say that it didn't *quite* hit the mark for me (there was a slight implication that depression will go away or at least get better if you 'work hard enough at it', but it wasn't overt), but overall I think it was great to see some rep going on in a fantasy book, and I think the author did a decent job.
There's so much going on in this book, and so much rep other than the mental health rep! LGBTQ+ rep is present, as well as some PTSD rep, which I, again, am not sure it quite hit the mark there, but I actually appreciated it being included, even if it needed a bit of work. The world that Josephson has created here is really interesting, and we only really get introduced to a small part of it - I really hope she will expand it in future books! And the CROWS. I want all of them, pls.

I think I could probably keep rambling, but I'll just stop here. Tl;dr: this book is pretty great for a debut, I want to know what happens next, the end.

Riveting. Powerful. Relatable. All of the things a good novel should be. Josephson hit a home run with the brilliant debut that is Storm Crow. I was addicted to it the moment I read it, and have been ever since. The MC's struggles are well laid out, powerful and heart wrenching. I found myself able to sympathize with her on many occasions. Her use of mental illness in the fantasy setting is wonderfully done, even if the language is a little out of place in that realm. This was a very easy 5/5 stars! .

It was an alright book. I know its part of a series so I will probably read the second one just to see what happens. I think the love interest between Thia and Caylus was completely under developed. I did not want her to be with him, I wanted her to be with Ericen. It made the most sense. There was so much development between them. The plot of the story was very interesting. Anything that has to do with crows draws my attention. Overall the book was decent. I could very well just be biased about the love interest because I really wanted to see Thia and Ericen together.

I love, love, loved this book so much! I've always had a soft spot for ravens or crows on covers, so when I saw this book I knew I needed to read it. It reminds me of another book I read this year, Crown of Feathers. However, it was obviously different enough that I love both books.
The Storm Crow had me hooked from the very beginning and I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in the series. I already know this will be a favorite.

I really liked the different skills and abilities that crows have. I found the story engaging with a realistic portrayal of grief and depression. In the back was an incredible explanation and history on the various crows which I quite liked as well.

For some people, what apparently drew them to this book are the crow element as well as the allusion to Six of Crows, which I have yet to finish. Feel free to hate me. But what made me excited to start this personally was the fact that mental illness is discussed, even though fantasy worlds prefer to focus on the action and magic more than the relationship one has with themselves, their own body – mental health. I think bringing something typically contemporary into a non-contemporary genre can be refreshing, interesting and the pavement for new establishments in the said genre.

I could go on and on about why this is so important but I want to discuss the other elements that make this story worth your while. There is mystery surrounding the Crows, especially the ways in which they make Thia’s world go round. Her kingdom relies on them almost completely. There is also mystery surrounding Thia’s enemy, whom she must marry. It’s not simply a love-hate relationship between these two, even though that’s a type of relationship I find very entertaining. I was genuinely curious to learn more about the prince and understand his true role in the story. I don’t know about you but I do so love when characters surprise me and many of these protagonists managed to make me raise an eyebrow.
It feels familiar, seeing that kingdoms are often in danger and so forth, but there’s more than a touch of originality. Plus I’m on vacation far, far away so it’s not easy for a book to hold my attention when so much over here is tugging at my sleeve. But this book succeeded.

I don’t feel like this book was anything I haven’t read already in the YA genre. I needed something to stick out a little more.

I was offered this book in exchange for a honest review... I FREAKIN LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

Holy fast paced, action packed fantasy Batman! YA is getting very predicable so I was refreshed to read a book that is different that the typical storyline. The heroine is far from the everyday chosen one and suffers real life issues like depression and self doubt. She is married off to the enemy but it does not get the best of her!

the ending had me on the edge of my seat! When does the second book come out??????

Wow, such a unique book and I loved the concept of the Crows. It had action, trouble, adventure, love interests, I mean everything you could ask for in a fantasy novel. I really loved the character development. The sisters were very interesting to read about. Their relationship was entertaining. The World building was phenomenal. Great use of verbiage and details which gave the reader the sense that they were there with these characters. The cover is stunning and a great eye catcher for readers and is intriguing on its own. Loved it, would recommend it, and would even read it again!

So this was a weird one for me. It has had so much hype, I think maybe I went into it with too high expectations.

Ok, the cover is to die for. Its simple and understated and I swear if this was sitting in a bookstore staring at me, I would get grabby hands and need to call it my precious forever on. And there's a beautiful map so this book was guaranteed to get at least a 3 star from me.

So the main character Anthia is the princess of a kingdom that has been destroyed by its neighbours. Shes sassy and headstrong and I really liked this about her. What I took issue with was her sharing of state secrets with some random dude she just met in a bakery. She wasn't my favourite protagonist but, I mean, she holds her own.

The main villain, Razel, is so freaking amazing and I am absolutely gaga for this woman. Yes she has a grudge but even if she didn't and this entire novel was just her being terrible to people and making them doing terrible stuff, I WOULD BE HERE FOR IT!

The love interest was a little eh. Instalove is fine. Love triangles are fine. But instalove and giving away kingdom secrets to a guy you just met makes my brain hurt. Especially when it comes from such a smart and stubborn character.

The narrative was an easy and quick read. I finished this in just under 2 1/2 hours and wasn't disappointed at the end. It was a fairly straight forward, girl is forced into marriage and plots to save her kingdom type deal. The use of the crows as magical creatures was kind of cool but overall it was just a solid fantasy.

The Storm Crow has been on my radar for some time now so I'm extremely happy that I was able to snag a review copy from Netgalley (THANK YOU!). This is definitely going to be a title that I add to my classroom library because I know that my 6th and 7th graders will just LOVE this book.



I really enjoyed this read having actually read it pretty quick for my normal speed. Being a huge fan of fantasy, I wasn't entirely sure that this would get me super hyped up, but the story sucked me in right from the very beginning. The world building was great and not confusing (which I tend to find in most fantasy novels) and I love how easy to follow the story was.



Caliza as a character really resonated with me, and I think that's why the book got as high of a rating as it did with me (remembering that 5-star books are ones that make me sob, laugh, or throw the book across the room), and it is absolutely the depression and anxiety representation that she highlights for the readers. I recently went through one of the worst spouts of anxiety and depression that I have ever had to go through, and it was not a fun time in my life. Having reading this novel during that spout definitely helped me remember that I was not the only one going through a hard time, and made me appreciate that good things I had in my life that I was taking for granted. This personally was the first fantasy novel I'd read that mentioned depression and anxiety in a main character (If you know of any others, let me know please!). It was refreshing to see a unique main character with an ailment that many readers today have in common, this is one of the biggest reasons I am adding it to my classroom library.



This story was fascinating and I was actually shocked when I go to the end and discovered THERE WAS ANOTHER BOOK. I was fully expecting the conflict to be resolved in one book, but was very happy to discover there would be more. I loved how each "Crow" had it's own element and that this kingdom used their elements so much every day that they didn't realize how devastating it would be if suddenly the crows were gone. I think I loved this idea so much because growing up, I loved the idea of having elemental dragons in a story, but now the idea of having elemental giant birds sounds much more appealing.



Anyway! Definitely would strongly recommend if you are looking for books that feature accurate representation of anxiety and depression, fierce women, political intrigue, giant birds, and a great story line with awesome world building, this one is for you!



Thanks again to Sourcebooks & Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for my honesty!