I love the cover on this book and was very excited to get a chance to read it! I adored the characters and the writing style was really good! It was a little confusing at times with the magic but it was a decent story!

And if I stayed up until past 2 am to finish this, what's it to you? I'm an adult. And sleep is for the weak.

Can't believe I left this languishing on my night table for months before finally getting around to it. I'm obsessed. I couldn't put it down. I loved every minute of it. I just—*collapses on my bed in despair that it's over*

This was just too good. The political machinations, the lies and betrayal, the twists—all of it was so well written! Throw in the magic and bloodthirsty monsters and spirits and it was everything I needed. Every character was so well thought out and used to their full power in life and in their death.

And the sweet little romance! Daksh and Katyani have my whole heart and then some and I would die for a second book of just them on a monster-bashing adventure.

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra was a magical world set in an alternative India. Katyani the protagonist is a strong female character. She was orphaned but raised by royalty to be fierce and loyal. She is a protector for the Queens guard. She is tasked with protecting the future King. There are some romantic elements, but I was left wanting more, it is a slow-burn book.

There are twists, betrayals, secrets, and lies that move the story along. The world building keeps you interested.



Thank you to the publisher, Rait Mehrotra and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books & St Martins Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE in exchange for my honest review!

When a series of assassination attempts threaten the lives of the royal family in the kingdom of Chandela, Katyani—the best guardswoman in the Garuda, Chandela’s network of spies—is tasked with escorting the crown princes to a monastic school called the gurukul, where they will learns the skills necessary to be the next leaders of their kingdom. But when Katyani and the princes are rushed back to Chandela before their semester of training is complete, tragedy strikes and Katyani finds herself stripped of everything and everyone she knows and loves.

Steeped with medieval Indian culture, NIGHT OF THE RAVEN, DAWN OF THE DOVE, is a standalone YA historical fantasy that will pull readers in with its magic and monsters, court politics, delightful banter, and budding romance.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The first 30% really popped off and I was eager for more.

Unfortunately, it was after that point where things started to fall a bit flat for me and I was ultimately left feeling underwhelmed. Some of the major moments didn’t hold the weight I think they deserved, and the romance was a bit lackluster.

I would still recommend this book to readers who enjoy fantasy but have a difficult time committing to a long series. Standalone fantasy books are hard to come by, so it’s really refreshing that you can find that with this novel.

3.5/5 Stars

I enjoyed this book. I thought the pacing was well done and I liked Katyani's character and development. The worldbuilding was neat with the monsters and magic that we were simply expected to accept. The romance didn't do much for me but it at least didn't get in the way. I will say I did not understand how the second brother could have really been acting like he loved his (adopted) siblings for years and years but been harboring an evil plotting resentment the whole time and was more than willing to murder them all. All of the deaths were gutting, though, and it is impressive the author could pull that off when so often deaths in books feel gratuitous or like they only happened because it is expected that people die in fantasy.

Vernacular doesn’t match the time period of medieval India (ie ‘spill the beans’). Times passes quickly within a few sentences and lacks strong emotional storytelling but was a memorable journey with many twists.

I wanted to love this book so much. And I did really like it but not as much as I thought I would from the synopsis. I started this one and read about 30% and ended up putting it down for a few months. I tried again with the audiobook and I had a much easier time. I loved the world building and mythology referenced and would love to see more stories set in this world. I was disappointed in the insta love trope and the fact that this was a stand alone book. I think the ending was rushed and I’d have preferred a longer build up and a second book to really flesh out the story.

But, overall, this was a solid 4 stars. I’d read more from this author and I’d recommend this for fans of fantasy stand alone stories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one.

It's been a hot second since I read this and so I don't remember very much now. This one started slow, but it really grew on me. It captured me by 50% and I was invested to the end. I kind of wish there was a sequel, because I came to love the MC. Anyway, would reread and definitely recommend this if you like YA fantasy.

Unfortunately ended up DNFing this one, just not for me. MC ended up annoying me too much, and I just didn’t care about how obsessed she was with the mysterious “bad boy”

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is a fascinating YA tale full of political intrigue in an ancient Indian-inspired world with magic, monsters, and mayhem!

This is the first book I’ve read by Rati Mehrotra. The premise made me want to pick it up, and the twists kept me from putting it down. The culture and lore is really interesting, and the main character is wonderfully fierce!

I struggled with mixed feelings of “too much” yet “not enough” happening when it came to the world building and certain aspects of the plot. There’s a lot to take in — political schemes and betrayals, battles, a magical system and mythical creatures, etc. — but none of it was hashed out fully enough in this book, in my opinion. I feel like this could have easily been made into a duology, allowing for things to be filled out more completely while not overwhelming readers with information overload.

Overall, I did enjoy Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove and do recommend it, especially for YA readers who enjoy political intrigue and their fantasy books to be infused with different cultures.

*Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book. This did not affect my opinion or the content of my review.

the world building of this was IMMACULATE! It is immersed in so much atmosphere with monsters from hindu mythology.
The plot itself delivers on everything you could want from YA fantasy from intricate court intrigue to dangerous quest/adventures. I think the only part that didn't quite work for me was the romance, but its very slow and faint so it wasn't an issue - it was really just a matter of preference and I'm positive other people will eat it up.
Our MC is extremely refreshing and I want to cry in joy that for once, a YA doesn't have a trope-y archetype. She's smart, fierce and skilled, protective, but most of all, nuanced and REAL.
This will definitely go down as a fav!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I received an e-arc/audio arc of Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn't the story I was expecting by the synopsis, so I wasn't vibing with it. I tried a few chapters but put it down at 8%. The Medieval India-inspired setting was interesting, and this is a standalone fantasy. I found there to be a lot of info dump in the first few chapters which took me out of the story.

“There was a world of light out there; she just had to remember it.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book intrigued me from the gorgeous cover, and then I saw it marketed as a fantasy involving assassins and enemy kingdoms set in a medieval-India inspired setting!

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove follows Katyani, a young woman with a soul bond to a queen, who is also the bodyguard of the royal family. She is sent away to the gurukul, a monastic academy where young royals are trained, to protect the crown prince and the second in line, his cousin. Can she keep them safe while managing to pass her own lessons and also dealing with the annoyingly lawful good son of the Acharya (the leader of the school)?

I will start by admitting that in the first 10% of this book I almost DNFed it. There was explicit animal death/violence, and... while I do not expect medieval fantasy characters to be saying things like "thee" and "thine", phrases like "weirdo" "spill the beans", etc. were thrown in every so often that pulled me out of the story. Finally, when I met the assumed love interest, I assumed it was soulmates/love at first sight and was about to return my physical copy to the library haha!

I am very very glad I continued, as this book had me laughing out loud, tearing up, caring about what happened to all the characters, and putting down all my other reads to only focus on this one. That's something I almost never do, and I think if not for hating the beginning of this book, it could have been five star potential! There were some things in the middle that were just laughable and I couldn't decide how to feel about them either, like <spoiler>the love interest ignoring her for a while and a makeout session with a monster. </spoiler>

All in all, this was a great time! It's been some time since I've been so heavily invested in a book, and I am adding Mehrotra's upcoming book to my TBR list right now! I would recommend this to people who enjoy fantasy with plot twist after plot twist, a slow burn so tantalizingly slow you have to ask "is this candle even lit", and the heirs of enemy kingdoms learning how to rule against the backdrops of their ancestors'/parents' mistakes.

I found it very easy to get swept up in this book. The world that Mehrotra creates is full of history and magic and monsters, that jumps off the page. Katyani is also a wonderful protagonist that you will want to root for. I was immediately drawn in by the twist on the traditional roles. Often in stories, it’s the girl who needs to be protected, but in Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove, Katyani protects the prince. I thought it was a refreshing change of pace. Katyani is also so brave and strong-willed that the role of guardswoman suits her perfectly.

I really enjoyed the journey through the forest, and Katyani’s time spent training at the school. That’s where she meets Daksh – and I really enjoyed hi character as well. The romance in this book is definitely a slow-burn and also a subplot to the larger political intrigue focus and many plot twists that play out. I enjoy a slow-burn romance, however, since I became so invested in the characters and their relationship, I did find myself wanting a little bit more from their romance. There was a lot of build-up and I’m not sure if the outcome fully lived up to all of the tension.

However, that being said, the lack of romantic focus did not take away overly much from my overall enjoyment of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and found it hard to put down. I think that it was satisfying as a standalone, but would also be interested in reading a sequel. I would love to know what happens next for these characters.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love mythologies and this novel was no different. Characters were relatable and strong. YA fantasy at its best. I enjoyed losing myself in Chandela.

This was a fun read enjoyed the authors writing. I read it pretty quickly not sure if I would reread nothing to do with the book just not my style.

Pretty enjoyable read! I loved the authors portrayal of an interesting fantasy setting, including political intrigue and mythological aspects. The characters were also well developed.
My main disappointment came with a lackluster romantic subplot- not followed through and therefore left disappointed in the ending.

I was sold at fantasy with a medieval India setting!!

This is a YA semi high fantasy story. Unlike most YA Fantasy the romance doesn’t take center stage. It actually sort of floats along and then is rushed to resolution at the end. Almost felt like there was more story to be told but it got cut off.

That said the rest of the story is really great, and I found myself immersed. The FMC has growth which we live to see especially in a YA story. If romance isn’t your main objective but you love political intrigue, creepy monsters, betrayal, interesting plot twists and a short short read (for fantasy) … this is the fantasy for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion

I read this book in one sitting, on the road home from a convention, back in October 2022. So, I have a difficult time sleeping in certain moving vehicles, and apparently a cargo van is one of those vehicles I can’t sleep in…so on those long trips across the country week after week, I would either watch things with my vehicle mates (we’d play stuff through apps on our phones), or I’d try to read.

This was one of the e-ARCs I selected and read through the evening into the night as we made our way to our hotel stop for that particular night.

I have to say, this book kept me guessing a little bit. Just when I thought I knew who I could trust, who Katyani could trust, more information would get revealed and it would change everything. The statement “bonds can be broken” from the summary was definitely true in this case. This book was definitely one with a strong character focus. It had its moments of intrigue and such, which was great, wondering who was on whose side, who desired what goals and achievements, and who could be trusted or believed.

It made for a wild ride.

I think I rated this down to 4 stars because it did take a little while for the intrigue to really start to settle in, and for the ball to really get rolling on the “meat” and action of the plot. There was a lot of time spent building up the characters and the world and the relationships and the bits of magic.

Like I said, I followed Katyani and the princes and Saksh and everyone else through this story, finishing it within just a few hours, so it wasn’t a book that dragged too much overall. I would have liked a little more expansion on the romance subplot, but overall this was a pretty solid story. I’m definitely going to have to keep an eye out for future books by Rati Mehrotra.