Thanks Netgalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5/5

This is a Tristan and Isolde fantasy retelling about a world divided into seven Houses. These people were previously slaves to master who used magic on them, but thanks to the Gods, they were freed and given wings.

Princess Lyana Aethionus, of House of Peace, was almost 18, therefore she would have to participate in courtship trials to find a suitor and just before this big event, she saves Rafe from a dragon using her forbidden magic to defeat it and save him.

Rafe is the bastard half-brother of Prince Lysander Taetanus, from House of Whispers, but Lyana thinks he's the prince himself, so she's looking forward to those trials, since he also has forbidden magic and hopes that he'd be the only suitor able to understand and accept her as she is.

Those are the two main characters, but there are 4 points of views, the other two being the Prince Xander and Cassi, Lyana's orphan best friend, who also has some pretty dark secrets regarding a hidden world that believes Lyana's the queen from a prophecy.

Wow, it seems a lot, doesn't it? But even though it looks like it's a lot of information , the author's builds the worlds pretty well and doesn't give a bunch of information all at once, easing the reader into it. So, it was a very light and interesting read. The characters were very interesting, too. It's very easy to relate to them, since their conflicts felt very genuine. I just had some problems with Rafe who annoyed me a bit, but the other three had my love very quickly.

However, I had some problems with the romance. It was not a BIG part of the book, like I was expecting, which was good, since the author could focus on world-building and developing the characters, but it felt a bit instalovey for me, which I don't like at all. Also the plot about the underworld was very little explored, only playing a big part at the end, so it was a bit underwhelming.

Overall, it was an interesting read and it shows some potential for a new series, even if it was not the great epic fantasy I was expecting it to be.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance reading copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the author for the opportunity.

4 stars

I was so excited when I saw this on NetGalley because the cover reminded me of Rhysand and Feyre!

I really love how the plot was planned and the characters were good. I don't really mind the romance, but I as expecting more of it. Maybe that's why I didn't give this a solid 5 star rating.

Please pick this up!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free e-book in exchange for an honest review!

I was hypnotized by this books beautiful cover and I knew I had to request it. This was a very cute read and I enjoyed it. However the romance was not that breath-taking as I hoped it would be , it was sort of a insta-love that lacked chemistry. I was expecting to fall heads over heels for this heart-stopping romance, it was definitely cute and lovable, but not something that will linger in your mind afterwards.
I did love the world-building, the dragons, and the entire "choosing a mate" quest. The twist, the authors writing style and the amazing world she created make me want to pick up the sequel for sure!

Avian-themed novel about starcrossed lovers and a King who will do anything to save the world as they know it. With 4 povs, this book had everything, from dragons, magic, to heavy pining. A bit of angst and relatable characters who didn't speak their mind. JUST TALK, things are better if you communicate!!

You know when things could've been 1000% times better if the characters just told the other characters what was going on in order to avoid the unnecessary drama? Well, that's exactly what happened here and what made me rate it 4 instead of maybe a bit more. The characters, even with the whole "I've spoken to you 5 minutes but I already love you" thing they almost had going on, were likeable and the 4 povs weren't hard to follow, even if I still need to understand Cassi's. She's still a mystery and I'm angry at her, and at one other character who was the worst!

I loved the whole world above the clouds with different floating islands each inhabited by different bird people: doves, ravens, hawks, hummingbirds, and more. Everything was well detailed and it painted a clear picture of the above world in my mind. I can't say the same about the kingdom beneath the mist, but I'm sure it'll be cover in the sequel.

The last chapters were wild af! I expected almost all of it since the beginning; I still have so many questions, though. A couple scenes from the last chapters broke my heart, made me cringe hard. Being inside all of their minds, knowing their thoughts, following each of their journeys, made me more aware of their feelings, and seeing them in certain situations wasn't easy.

The sequel sounds great! I read the synopsis and colour me intrigued!

I had seen this book on Bookstagram quite a lot so once I saw it on NetGalley I knew I had to read it. I mean, how gorgeous is that cover?!?!

This story blew me away, with its interesting and captivating world and different houses/species. This is a re-telling of Triston and Isolde which I don’t know too much about but will now definitely read more about them!

Kaitlyn Davis has an incredibly enchanting writing style that has you hooked on the story and its characters, who I absolutely loved. I’m an absolutely sucker for dual POV’s so when I realised that this book had just that I knew it was going to be a new favourite. I especially liked reading from the perspective of Cassi whose chapters were incredibly insightful!

Lyana and Rafe are perfect main characters and I honestly couldn’t help but fall in love with them and their story. While I’m not a fan of insta-love I was impressed with how much it didn’t frustrate me in this story.

I did find the beginning a little bit confusing, especially with the introduction to the different houses. It was hard to get my head wrapped around all the information and to figure out who was who. However this quickly passed and it all somewhat clicked into place.

Kaitlyn Davis has created this breath-taking, mesmerising world which I cannot honestly wait to dive back into! I recommend The Raven and The Dove to any YA fantasy lover!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kaitlyn Davis for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I admittedly was drawn to The Raven and the Dove by the beautiful cover art thinking it would be another fae story I would fall in love with, but instead it was a really interesting retelling about of Triston and Isolde within an avian society. All the the world building and details about the different houses/species and such was interesting, but it ultimately made it really hard to get sucked in to the story initially because there was just so much of it. The one truly fantastic thing this book has going for itself is the characters. Lyanna, Rafe, Xander, Cassi, and Malek carried this story through to the end, and although I could sense some heavy influence from other well known YA characters (I got a Darkling vibe from Malek), they all stand on their own as interesting additions to the YA world. The one thing that really rubbed me the wrong way, and always does within YA novels, was the insta love between Lyanna and Rafe. It seems like an almost unavoidable trope in YA, but it just takes so much away from the story. Overall, I liked The Raven and the Dove, but I didn't love it. It's a fun story with winged characters and dragons, and if that's something that draws you in than go for it.

** CONTAINS SPOILERS **

I actually didn't realise, when I requested this book, that it's a retelling of Triston and Isolde. I LOVE Triston and Isolde, so I was incredbily excited as I started reading and realised.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the way that it was reimagined. The concept of the Avian society was really cute and interesting, and I hope it's expanded upon even more in the next book, and that we get a glimpse of the other households. I'm not gonna lie, I'd even read a spinoff about the other houses because this world is so intriguing.

There aren't words to describe the heartbreak and anger about what Cassie does to Rafe. I was gobsmacked.

My only niggle with the story was one little plot hole : Malek not knowing Cassie is a bird. He MUST have known that she was one in order for her to be an effective spy. I'm hoping that this is a plot point that will be resolved in the next book, or that Malek did know all along and Cassie just didn't know he knew.

I cannot wait for the sequel!!!

4.5/5

I got about 10 percent into this book and I realized it wasn't really holding my attention so I will not be finishing this novel. I'll probably try to read it again in the future when I'm not feeling so drained.

I enjoyed this book. I found it kept my interest . Is it one of my favourite books? No but it was good enough that I do want to read the next book .

Set in a world, with floating cities and winged people, we follow a few main characters. Lyanna - the dove princess who wants to have more independence; Cassi - the owl best friend of Lyanna and she has an unexpected allegiance; Rafe - the raven bastard who wishes for a life of his own; Lysander - the raven prince with a heart of gold and deep care for his people. They each have their own POV, which was insightful into their thoughts and motivations.

Lyanna and Rafe are the main characters of this book - I enjoyed their individual backgrounds and how they discover one another. But their romance was a bit insta-love and had the particular flavour of an "undeniable connection." Following them, I have to say they're a good pairing and their storylines ended up in very dark places, which will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the sequel.

The main plot line was surrounding the courtship trails where the royal princes and princesses must find their mate. All of the participants are wearing a mask during the tests to create an air of mystery. However, there are several underlying plots: to have forbidden magical abilities is either death or exile, and an earthly king wants his foretold match from above. Everyone has a secret they're hiding, all will eventually be revealed.

Asides from the focus on romance, there's themes of undying loyalty, greater truths, and the power within. The ending was shocking and I didn't expect one of the characters to do what they did. It was brutal, but they were resolute in their goals. I'm so happy I got an early copy of this book, and I'm excited for the sequel!

This probably will be stated everywhere but the cover art is beautiful! The story and the characters were decent and had some possibilities. I enjoyed the world building and the beauty that was described and I liked the concept of the book that followed. The characters were a little weak at times and not a lot of growth with them either. But the next book sounds wonderful and will continue the series. So a decent read, not a favorite but a good read. Would recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!!

This was one of those fantasy novels that pulls you in from the very beginning. The writing style was super intriguing, and I think that it really helped to explain and unravel the world to the reader.
I absolutely adored the character development and world building, and I think this is one that people are genuinely going to enjoy this coming May!

Great book that's is loosely based on a classic story, but then takes the story into a magical world. The characters are well done and the story flows smoothly.

Admittedly, I went into this thinking this was gonna be something with fae or whatever considering the dude on the cover looked like off-brand Rhysand. But this took me - happily - by surprise.

First of all, there's a lot going on, so you kinda gotta strap in. But I think it's overall explained pretty well and you definitely learn more as you go. If the combination of magic, people-birds, royalty, and cute brothers catches your eye, then you'll be in for a treat.

I loved how unique the plot ended up being, even if it was a little weird and hard to grasp entirely. My only problem is that a lot of it, you're sort of told is going to happen through a certain characters perspective. While there were still some surprises in the end, it sort of felt I was just reading and waiting for what I know was going to happen to happen. This made the writing kind of eh at times. I honestly think it was better during some character's POVs than others (btw, this follows like, four people).

So what ended up really grabbing me wasn't necessarily the plot or the writing, but the CHARACTERS. Specifically the two brothers, Xander and Rafe. I just want to give them so many hugs. Xander, the crown prince, is the softer character that just wants to read books and loves his people and is just so sweet. Rafe, the bastard, is a little rougher around the edges because of his upbringing, but would do absolutely anything for his brother, and I just !!! I love them and I'm so sorry for calling him an off brand Rhysand. Besides the brothers, there's Lyanna and Cassi. Lyanna took a little warming up to, mostly because she has the kind of peppy personality that is SO different from my own, but her exploring outside of her kingdom and her love for adventure was adorable, v Tangled-esque. I had a love/hate relationship with Cassi, mostly because I was never really looking forward to her chapters, but I liked her outside of her own perspective more.

Overall, this hit me where it's most important, with the characters. The plot was really interesting as well, which helped for some of the parts that I didn't love about it. I'm excited for the next one to see where this goes!

Three and a half
Ok lets be honest I wanted to read this because of the beautiful cover and I've a feeling I won't be the only one so yes call me fickle. However the world building ideas with winged communities living above a dense thick mist was extremely intriguing. Below the mist is what I can only describe as people desperate to fulfil a prophecy but not everything is exactly as it seems.
The story primarily settles on four main characters, there's Lyana the spoilt princess, Rafe the bastard son, Xander the crown Prince and Cassie who has secrets of her own. Lyana if I'm blunt just didn't resonate with me but I did applaud her determination to use her gifts. Rafe is so loyal to his brother and he was so close to being my favourite character. Xander might not be the fighter that his younger brother is but he is nevertheless a wonderful character and a lovely surprise. As for Cassie she's an incredible force who is severely underestimated and if it wasn't for her actions towards the end would have been my favourite. There's magic and mystery here plus Dragons that seem to be vicious and attracted to magic. I have absolutely no idea were this storyline is going because there is an absolutely huge cliff hanger but I would be interested in finding out just why the atrocities that happen at the end were felt necessary because believe me it's brutal !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Going into this book I was hoping to just fall in love with a YA fantasy, I found the premise to be promising, but this was just a miss for me. I found the writing to be eloquent, and I thought the world was magnificent, but I thought the was all over the place.

I did find there to be some very lovable characters, that were wonderful and interesting which I have been having trouble with recently, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have issues. I did like the character Raf, he’s your classic YA male protagonist, he’s broody, with a gruesome past, who doesn’t think he’s worthy. Anna was sometimes a little insufferable, she’s very privileged, despite her magic supposedly marginalizes her.

I didn’t mind the romance, I found it to be quite lovely. I didn’t care for this book much and that means I’m not planning on reading the sequel in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this one. It has a very impressive world system. However, while reading it I was never fully involved with the story or the characters and the magic system was a bit confusing (at least the part of the down world beyond the fog). I guess this is because The Raven and The Dove does not add anything extra to the YA scene. The male characters, Rafe, is the typical “I am so cool but I can’t be with you” kind of guy, which we already saw in many stories. Then, of course, we have the insta-forbidden-love, another common trope. It is really well written, very easy to read, and it has amazing descriptions of this world with floating islands that you wish you could see with your own eyes. But, I could not connect with the main characters and the secondary ones were way more interesting. I personally thought that Xander has so much more potential as a character and it is a shame that we see what he can do only at the end and probably in the next book, which probably would not be on my priority TBR. Still, it deserves three stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the arc!

Wow what an interesting book. I really liked how everything was avian inspired- especially how depending on which kind of 'bird' you are you may have different talents or abilities.

For the most part The Raven and the Dove was told through four different perspectives: MC Lysana (The Dove Princess), her BFF Cassi (an Owl with her own secret agenda), Rafe (the bastard born, dark and broody love interest) and his half-brother Xander (the real prince, my personal favourite).

First of all, this is a Tristan and Iseult retelling so fully expect betray and cheating from the main character. I feel like it could have been done in a better way, because the Insta Fluffy Love between Lysana and Rafe was just not compelling enough to justify her cheating on her fiance (WHO IS RAFE'S BROTHER).

Anyway, the plot moved really quickly and I enjoyed all of the POV's except for Lysana. I just could not get passed the spoiled princess who gets what she wants attitude. She had the personality of a wannabe Ariel from The Little Mermaid in the way that "she wants to see more, do more, everything is exciting".

Also the plot was all over the place (but a lot of it was still pretty cool and engaging).


All this and more is why I have to give The Raven and the Dove a 2.9/5 star rating. I may add more to this review later.

“Throughout his young yet trying life, he’d learned one very important thing - positivity was a power all it’s own.”
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Thanks to Netgalley I was able to read this book in advance and I absolutely adored it. The world is split between men who live on earth and others with wings that live on flying islands. The world above knows nothing about the world below, but Ana really wants to explore it and know all of its secrets. She is a princess with dove wings and she hopes to find a mate who can take her to see the world and with whom she can be completely herself. Indeed she has magic, which is prohibited in her culture and she keeps it very hidden until she has to save the life of a very brave and very mysterious Raven. Their love is very slow, they are not meant to be together, but neither of them can resist the other, especially because they feel completely accepted as they are! This is a book full of secrets and betrayals, which makes us understand how love can be a very powerful tool, but something that can even destroy you, when betrayals come from your family. Indeed Xander is the royal prince, he is the one meant for Lyana and he wants so badly to be the perfect king that he isn’t capable to see the love between her and his brother and the fact that she is not the right person for him. Nonetheless, destiny has completely other plans and the book ends with a huge cliffhanger that I cannot wait to read the sequel!

Fantasy is typically not something that I enjoy, I find it hard to care about characters in fantasy worlds. But this was just too darn cute not to love it, even if it was a little slow and boring for me personally. If you love fantasy and romance, though, then this is a great read.