With all the world building that went on I feel like this should have been a series vs a stand alone. As so much was fit in, the main story got dragged out as there was not much to it. I feel like from an editing stand point how could the main story had more conflict or turns that would have allowed for the bigger world we got. The romance was dragged out to the point I did not care if they got together. Something was just off for me.

I hereby claim that my all-time favorite trope is FMC flirts hard with shy MMC who lives of life of celibacy.

I was really surprised how much I enjoyed Night of the Raven, the first 20% started a bit slow I wasn't sure where this was going and was like hmm horny monk? ok......

But let me tell you once it passed 20% the book will keep you glued to the end. There's magic, court politics, conspiracy, interesting monsters/spirits, unlikely alliances. I love Katyani who's so fierce and loyal and love her relationship with MMC and how they're always there for each other even though nothing was really declared....There were also lots of cackle moments for me, I cannot recommend this book enough!

This is a beautiful fantasy book. The author does a stellar job and world building and at the same time, keeping the plot forward moving. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Rich in culture and vivid imagery, this story will grip you from page 1! I loved the broodiness of our male protagonist and the sassiness and strength of our FMC. Perfect complements to an amazing tale!

Soul bonded to the queen of Chandela, Katyani serves as a personal guard and protects the royal family. Against her wishes, Katyani is forced to escort the heir Ayan and his cousin Bhairav to a monastic school to hone their skills. When they’re forced to return earlier than expected, Katyani’s loyalty is tested as the world she knows is stolen from her.

Because of her skills and her unique relationship with the queen, Katyani comes off arrogant at times. She is fierce and unquestionably loyal. Sometimes I liked Katyani, and sometimes I did not. I was thrown off by her behavior toward Daksh--the potential lovinterest--after their first meeting, which conflicted with my original perception of her. Additionally, I didn’t understand her feelings for him. I wanted a stronger foundation between them before it started to look like they were possibly falling for each other.

Although I did not always like Katyani, her story was compelling and kept me glued to the pages. The world building, especially the monsters and the existence of ghosts, was the most fascinating part of the book. The magic system needed further explanation. I would have liked more about the concept of spiritual power and how it is utilized. 

This book would be great for those who like standalone fantasies with strong female protagonists and court politics. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. While I enjoyed the magic system and thought it was interesting, I just couldn't find myself getting invested in the characters.

Katyani is an orphan, a skilled warrior bound to the Queen of Chandela through a soul bond, and through the royal family through the bounds of friendship. Raised with the royal family, Katyani considers the royal children her siblings. She's in charge of spies and protecting these "siblings" despite her young age and student status.

There's so much world building for this world based on medieval India, and so many events happening that I feel like I can't summarize it well enough to do this book justice. It's so detailed and lovingly rendered, you really have to read it slowly to take it all in properly.

wow this was an adventure!!

throughout the whole book, i found the characters so easy to love, the setting beautiful and easy to follow, and the plot with a side of romance perfectly written in a fast pace and engaging way.

daksh and katyani were such lovable and sweet characters that felt so real.

with the twists that kept be engaged and a slow burn romance that had me pining the entire book, this was a book that many will enjoy!!

This book was such a pleasant surprise! It was so intriguing and kept me gripped all the way through the pacing was so good and I thought the world building was absolutely fantastic. I’ll definitely be picking up Rati Mehrotra’s next book, this was fantastic

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I loved this exploration into medieval India, and the way the author brought legendary mythology to life amongst the pages. I wanted to know more about the deadly creatures and their gods as we journeyed through the forests with Katyani, our main character. Katyani is an orphan, a skilled warrior bound to the Queen of Chandela through a soul bond, and through the royal family through the bounds of friendship. Being raised amongst the royal family, Katyani considers the royal children her siblings and they her. She is their bodyguard, and accompanies the crown prince and his cousin to a specialty school that trains royals. She too is a student, which was hard to understand as the reader. Katyani is in charge of spies, questioning captives and protecting the royal family -- it seemed odd that she would be a "student" here. Unfortunately, this is where some storytelling issues come into play.

Katyani is a super warrior, but also constantly a damsel in distress who needs to be saved by various men throughout the story. She manages to always know what to do and what to say in order to get dark and dangerous creatures to help her (even after they attack her). The romance seemed forced early on, and leaned heavily on the trope of "all that matters is her" .... particularly when the love interest is celibate until a certain age based on his beliefs. The love interest, Daksh, threw those beliefs away pretty quickly, and there really wasn't a romantic tension built and maintained. She's also incredibly beautiful, so other royalty within the camp are besotted.

I also, never felt entirely connected to Katyani. I know the bond was her main issue (which she really didn't seem to actually have an issue with at the beginning...) but I never felt like the bond was detrimental to her, or affected her in any major way; so it was hard to see the high-stakes of this bond and why she would want it to end. Which brings me to the magic.

It was odd, and I was confused about how it worked. At the beginning of the story, the soul-bond and the magic that Chandela can wield makes it seem like magic is NOT prevalent in the world, and very difficult to wield... as it seems it is something that must be obtained through spiritual study, but then by the end of the book everyone is wielding it and you can recoup your spiritual energy rather quickly by the end? I really think if the magic system and the overall working of that magic was fleshed out, the story would have been much more enjoyable.

There were also moments during dialogue that I felt yanked out of medieval India and thrown into a modern-day high school; so some word choices and slang elimination I think would have kept me more firmly planted in the world that Rati Mehrotra was building. Overall, it was an incredible premise, the execution was a bit lacking for me though.

It was incredibly hard to put this wonderful book down! The entire book was amazing from to finish. A lot of YA fantasy can let you down but not this one. 😊

Short review but I thought this book was awesome.

If you like courtly intrigue with a layer of betrayal, sprinkled with action, and a little romance then this will hit all the right notes. The magic and creatures interspersed in the world are really interesting too!

At first, there is a lot of world building and set up and establishment of characters so it can be overwhelming but please persevere to chapter three and then everything becomes much more clear. The story picks up right away after that.

Just a warning that there are some scenes that are pretty violent but necessary.

And it's a standalone (I think) because everything wraps up quite well. Give it a chance! The audiobook narrator is great too.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this book, despite feeling like it dragged a little during the first quarter. I wondered for a while about the purpose of spending so much time on what happened prior to Katyani, Ayan, and Bhairav being recalled to the palace. However, having finished the book, I don’t feel like it was time wasted. It established the characters and was necessary for understanding Katyani’s conflicted feelings when the truth about her family is revealed.

There was a good balance of character and plot. I usually find myself drawn to character-driven books over plot-driven ones because I just don’t care what happens if I don’t care about the characters. But this book was driven by both.

Something this book did well was showing that nobody is truly 100% good or evil. People can be good without being perfect. People can do horrible things because of their past experiences—they may not be justified in their actions, but their feelings and desires for revenge are not without cause. Real people are complex, and so are the characters in this book.

Katyani (18) sometimes annoyed me with her bravado, but she was compassionate, loyal, and vulnerable, too. I did like her. Daksh (19) was hard to figure out—he seemed to proud and closed off at the start, but he was just reserved and possibly a bit shy about himself. Two other characters I liked a lot were Revaa (15? 16?) and the Achariya. He reminded he a little of Oogway from Kung Fu Panda, for some reason. Only he’s not a tortoise, and he isn’t as cheerful.

I would definitely read another book by this author.

Notes: I don't recall anything bad.

I was super excited to get my hands on this book but was a little let down since it was so very slow at the beginning. I had a hard time getting through the first third of the book since the pacing was tedious and a little boring since nothing really happened. I hate to say if I had not been buddy reading this, I might have put it down. But I am glad to say that it finally picked up and boy did the plot go in a totally unexpected, super surprising direction and I am glad I gave the book a go.

I thought this was the start to a series but based on the ending, this wrapped up perfectly and felt like a complete story. This is a solid read for anyone who likes historical fiction with a fantasy flare to it, tales of countries at war, badass girls who can hold their own, political machinations and tons of twists you could never see coming.

I will admit that I am very glad I listened to the audio because there were so many words I would have had no idea how to pronounce while reading, it was really nice to have the narrator say them for me. The narrator did a really good job on telling the story and giving the characters personality, I recommend the audio for anyone who likes to listen to their books.

I've been hearing SO MUCH about Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra. Naturally, it got me curious, so I had to pick it up the first chance I got. This is one of those delightful books that blends fantasy with historical fiction.

Katyani owes her life to the Queen of Chandela – quite literally. She is bound to the royal family through magic and loyalty, making her one of the best guards around. This is only partly why she's so annoyed to be shipped off with the young princes.

Yes, she must protect them. But must they stay in a monastic school in the middle of nowhere? The presence of another, Daksh, isn't helping matters. That man sees more than he lets on, for better or worse.

I have been craving a few good standalone fantasy novels, and Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove delivers on that promise! It's a solid and fun read, offering so many surprises along the way.

When I first read the description, I was worried that it would end with a cliffhanger and the promise of a second book (despite what I had been told), so imagine my delight when everything got wrapped up with a neat little bow. Okay, it wasn't quite like that. Every plot arc got resolved, proving that this is the self-contained novel I had been hoping for.

There's a lot to love about Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove. Personally, I loved the characters (especially Katyani), the worldbuilding, and the writing in general. I would happily have read several hundred more pages set in this world. (Ironic since I was specifically looking for a standalone when I picked this up).

I can't wait to see what Rati Mehrotra comes up with next. I will add her to my list of authors to watch because I can't miss out on whatever it will be!

It didn’t take me long to fall into this book and its incredible world-building. After the first few pages, I couldn’t read fast enough.

Orphaned Katyani nearly dies as a child, but is saved by the queen’s magic. Consequently, a forbidden soul bond develops between them, and Katya, now a strong guardsman, acts as the queen’s bodyguard. But she’s also a part of royal family and grows up considering the crown prince and his two cousins her siblings. As a fan of the found family trope, I loved this aspect. When a horrible tragedy strikes, everything Katya holds dear is ripped from her, and she’s betrayed in the worst way. I wanted to scream with her at the unjustness of her situation.

With forests filled with monsters and spirits, strong magic, and a medieval India setting, the world-building is immersive and complex. Seriously, the author should get a gold star for creating this world. The action scenes are well-choreographed and easy to picture as they play out. And did I mention the tension during these scenes? I gasped out loud more than once. The way Katya teases a serious-minded and stoic Daksh made me laugh – I enjoyed seeing his emotionless mask drop occasionally. They share a romantic relationship, but more importantly the two of them support each other when it’s needed most.

Shocking deaths, political schemes, and a quest for vindication made this a captivating read. I also like that it’s a standalone, but I certainly wouldn’t mind spending more time with these characters in this world. Highly recommend to fantasy fans.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is an utter delight. The author did such an amazing job building this world that I got completely lost in. But it wasn't complicated or hard to follow. The characters were great and the plot was intriguing and fast paced. Very well done!

I am really struggling with the rating here. There were elements I liked and elements I didn't like.
It might be a "not for me" type of thing because everyone else seems to be raving about this one. It's likened to An Ember in the Ashes series (which is one of my all time favorite series) and I didn't get those vibes at all.

Here's what I liked: The idea of the FMC being the guardswoman to the princes. The monsters/ monster hunting/ Indian mythology. The magic system seems cool. And the big reveal/ big ending

Here's what I didn't like: By the time we get to the fast paced big ending stuff, I still wasn't connected to any of the characters. I didn't feel for any of them. I just had feelings of indifference. I honestly almost DNF'd it several times because I didn't care for the characters.
This book just didn't pull me in as much as I wanted it to.

This book is gorgeous, in both the bookcover and the settings. It’s vibrant and lush and the world building is great. The book is set in medieval India and as other reviewers have noted, influenced by Indian mythology.

Katyani is a bodyguard for the royal family and also shares a soul bond with the queen. She grew up in the castle and knows more about the ins and outs than even the royal family. She goes away for further training but has to come back due to impending war.

I really enjoyed how fierce of a character she was written - considering in medieval times, girls and women are often portrayed as weak. I loved the action and the political intrigue. I found that the romance, however, was a bit lacking and frankly, I don’t know if it was even needed. It’s a standalone book and I appreciate that it was wrapped up nicely. It’s a quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for this eARC. Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is out now.

The atmosphere and setting really make this book. I don't often read standalone fantasies because I often feel like the story is left incomplete, but that was not the case for this at all! I want more books in this world but the story felt complete and I was left satisfied with how everything played out and concluded.