🔎 Book Review 🔎

Title: The Night Raven: The Moonwind Mysteries #1
Author: Johan Rundberg
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley for my free ebook copy in exchange for my honest review.

Well, despite being a middle grade book, I found this to be quite creepy. 😂 I’m a chicken. However, this book really did have some pretty dark material, so I might caution parents to read it first.

The first half of this book was a rough start for me, but the second half of the book had me at the edge of my seat. Set in 1880, the story follows twelve year old Mika, an orphan in Stockholm, as she gets wrapped up in a mystery involving a notorious serial killer. 🔪

At first, I felt like this story was a solid three stars but then rounded up to four after I thought about it a bit more. 🤭

The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg is a middle grade mystery book. The story is set in Stockholm in 1880. A notorious serial killer called the Night Raven is finally caught and the city seems to be safe again. Twelve-year-old Mika lives in an orphanage. One night she hears a knock on the frontdoor and when she opens it, there’s a boy who hands her a newborn baby girl. He speaks in cryptic messages and talks about the Dark Angel. A few days later a detective shows up, asking questions about the little girl and the boy.

Mika is a sharp and witty protagonist. We get to know her story and her personality through the book and I enjoyed reading about her. I would have liked to feel more of a connection to the other characters, such as detective Hoff. As a reader, you don’t really get to know him. All I know is that he lives with his cat and that he’s been a police officer for some time.

What I did really like about the story, is that it makes you feel like you’re traveling back in time in Stockholm. When Mika and Hoff set out on their detective work, you can just imagine them running through the streets of the city in the cold winter months. There aren’t a lot of historical details in the book, but the overall atmosphere is there.

I thought the plot is interesting and mysterious, but for me it felt a bit rushed at times. The story is fast paced and I feel like some parts lack detail. Because of this, I couldn’t always understand the connections Mika makes, the choices detective Hoff makes or why the story moved in a particular direction. That being said, this offcourse is my opinion. I think the fast paced plot would work for a lot of young readers.

For me, this was a nice and quick read. I liked the protagonist and the overall storyline. I would recommend this book to middle grade readers who enjoy a good mystery.

This was so very good! This is a middle grade mystery and it was very fast paced and kept the reader wanting more. This is the first in a series and I cannot wait for the second one to come out!
I just reviewed The Night Raven by Johan Rundberg. #TheNightRaven #NetGalley
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I really enjoyed this book. It kept me reading, I just has to know what happened at the end. There was great characters and character development in this story. The author sets a great scene and you can feel the setting come alive. I could feel the cold, smell the smells and felt the pain and anguish of the characters. I will continue to read the series. I'm very curious to see what will happen to our protagonist.

Contrary to negative reviews I've seen, I believe this is a good first book for a series. I give it 4.25 stars.

The Night Raven is recommended for readers in grades 5-9, ages 10-14. I suggest those recommendations be taken seriously because it is a bit darker at times than is typically found in middle grade books.

I liked Mika and watching her grow and learn. She's had a hard life, but she cares so much for other people and I find that admirable considering the time period and all the hard times that everyone is going through. She's clever, and while that does get her into trouble at times, it also helps her.

Back to those hard times, those are where a lot of the darker elements lie. But you have to remember that the people are struggling, if not outright poor, and doing all they can to survive a harsh winter in 1880. I don't believe all of the detail was entirely necessary, especially considering this is intended for middle grade readers, but they certainly help you visualize the times and the struggles.

I do look forward to reading the rest of the series whenever they are translated. If you're into mysteries and don't mind darker elements, then I recommend reading The Night Raven. However, if you're a parent, I suggest reading this beforehand to determine whether or not your child can handle those darker moments.

This book was full of suspense. I was gripped from the first page, mystery was surrounding Mika and you could see something big was going to happen. I can't wait for the next installment, with some questions yet to be answered. A book that will be thoroughly enjoyed by young and old alike.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Raven is filled with vivid descriptions and a gritty taste that portray the city and the mystery well. Mika's and the inspector's interactions are heart warming, and the story has an overall Sherlockian feel that makes you want more of Mika.

This story might be a little scarier for younger children (it also includes two instances of mature language).

The formatting of this book made it difficult to read, but other than that, it was wonderful.

This middle grade book will keep any teen hooked!

I so wanted this book to be longer. Can't wait to see what Johan has up his sleeve next. Looking forward to seeing for adventures of Mika!

Absolutely amazing! This would keep any teen reading. Gripping and mysterious... One of those books that you simply have to read.

This was a wonderful short story. I am looking forward to more adventures of Mika. I appreciated that the characters were well developed, the plot was never stale, and the story had such a great twist. I look forward to seeing what Johan brings up next!

The night raven is a middle grade historical murder mystery that can catch the attention of all readers, adult or child. Although this is aimed for children i don’t think this is suitable as all adults are characterised to be mean and Violent toward children. The book was good when the pace picked up but it did take a while if force reading for me to get to that point.

What happens when a measly little orphan, disgraced by society, becomes a ravenous crime fighter? Well that is certainly one way to make yourself known in a poor, small town and that’s exactly what this protagonist, Mika, does. When a mystery baby is dropped at the door of her orphanage it unwinds the story of an executed serial killer and the truth behind his imprisonment. Mika and her policeman sidekick intertwine both Justice and conspiracy in this knock out mystery story.

While I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book there some questions left unanswered at the end. The actual plot of the story was closed, so the questions that are remaining are not quite cliffhanger status but they are large enough to make you wonder; is there supposed to be a second book? Is there even enough outstanding questions to warrant spending the time writing or reading the second book? Personally, I do not think a whole new book could be written to answer these questions. I would much prefer if this book was a little longer and closed up all of the loose ties at the end.

In the end I rate this book four stars because it did completely captivate my attention and I simply could not put it down. The author does an incredible job at making you feel like you are watching a movie. I mean, seriously, an entire screenplay was going on in my head the entire time I was reading. The detail and the thought put into this book is incredible!

I very rarely want books to be LONGER these days, as most I read are well over 400 pages and absolutely don’t need to be. But I couldn’t get enough of this book and the adventures and would have loved a bit more meat to this story.

Mika, our main character, is an orphan you can’t help but love as a pseudo-mother figure to the younger children. Not only that, but she has a mysterious past herself that it seems we will learn more about in book two. Our lovable, giant brute cop, Valdemar, as our 2nd main character is a great balance to the intelligent, young Mika and there’s something about them as a duo that just works. We most definitely don’t get enough of his story, and am hoping for more about his past in book two as well. The story was quite fast paced, especially towards the end, and I wish we could have had a bit more time to marinate in the mystery itself. We come to the conclusions and the “I know who dunnit!” realizations a bit too quickly in my opinion, but it makes for a light and easy read, while still being interesting.

Overall I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading book two!

I really enjoyed this easy-to-read historical fiction/mystery set in 1880's Stockholm. Mika is a twelve year old orphan, and on one chill winter night she hears a knock at the orphanage door. She opens to reveal a man with a small baby, a warning on his lips. He disappears quickly, and it is then that her adventure truly begins. Constable Valdemar Hoff pays her a visit after she and her ward register the baby, and starts to bring her along on his investigation of 'The Night Raven', a notorious murderer in the city.

Mika is sharp as a whip and hardened by her life. Her attention to detail is incredible and she helps Hoff on the case. The overall tone of the book is a bit melancholy but it's quite thrilling at the same time. Hoff and Mika have a very father-daughter type relationship in a lot of ways but it's true to the era even so. He trusts her intuition and listens when she speaks (something very few people in her life do.)

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the cover (it's so pretty), I'm becoming a fast fan of mysteries, and during the month of March I challenged myself to read more middle grades: so it checked all the boxes. I think for young readers it is an illustrious depiction of Stockholm in the 19th century and transports them immediately to the snowy streets and around the city with Mika and Hoff as they solve the murders.


The original Swedish publication was released in 2021, but the English translation releases in August of 2023. I think this would be a great addition to any library or middle school classroom.

*arc review for netgalley read

I had to force myself to read this and I gave up around 15%. The plot wasn't engaging, everything was boring, and I did not like any of the characters.

I found the plot engaging to a certain extent. However, I found the characterization of pretty much all of the adults to be unnecessarily violent and many passages to be too grotesque to recommend this book as a middle grade appropriate read.

I really enjoyed this book. I do wish there were more details about characters, but hopefully those will come in future books. I appreciated that there were some surprises. It kept me engaged throughout the book. I felt like there were no big lulls while reading.

This was an overall interesting and enjoyable middle grade historical mystery with a couple of issues that kept me from giving it a higher rating..

I liked Mika as a protagonist. She was very mature for her age, but that makes sense considering how she grew up and the time period she lived in. She was level headed and smart, but still had moments where the unfairness of the world and her situation got to her.

Hoff could’ve been more developed. We don’t really learn anything about him besides that he has been an officer for a decent amount of time and had possibly been put on some type of probation. He also apparently isn’t very good at his job. I understand that the author wanted Mika to come across as smart, but Hoff in the process comes across as completely incompetent. I wish that their relationship could’ve been balanced out more, and that we had been giving more time to see them form a bond.

The author isn’t afraid to show the darkness (both literally and figuratively) of life in 1880 Stockholm. While reading I really got a feel for how bleak everything was. I do wish we could’ve gotten a bit more historical details, though. If it wasn’t for the book summary and the occasional mention of a horse and carriage I wouldn't have known what time period this book was set in.

The plot moves quickly, which will help keep young readers' attention, but I kept finding myself wishing for more detail. Everything happens so fast, I didn’t feel like I had the time to get invested in the mystery or the characters as much as I wanted to.

Despite some of the issues with the plot and characters, I did like this book enough that I would consider reading the next book in the series.

The Night Raven is the first of four books (published in Sweden so far) of The Moonwind Mysteries series. This edition has been translated from Swedish to English.
The book follows a twelve-year-old orphan named Mika who lives in Stockholm in the late 1880s. A serial killer was apprehended the year before, but a new body is found that brings that conclusion into question. Mika partners with a detective to investigate this newest murder.
Overall, I'd rate this book 3.75/5 (round up to 4). The plot line is interesting and moves at a good pace. Once I was 40% of the way in, I was hooked and needed to know what happened! There were a few times where the plot seemed to jump around and I wish the characters were a bit more fleshed out. The story was good enough that I am interested in reading the rest of the series.
I'll also note that while this book is recommended for grades 5-9 on Amazon, there were a couple parts that seemed a little intense for kids under 12. For example, one scene describes poor/starving people fighting over meat that was vomited up by one of the characters. Additionally, there is a description of cooking a child to eat - the conversation is in jest, but it is pretty descriptive. There are also some mature themes discussed (abandoned children, starvation, criminal execution, child labor/abuse etc.).