Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Raven is the first in Helen Glynn Jones’ The Ravens series, and promises vampires, forbidden romance, forced proximity. Our protagonist is the heir to a hugely powerful vampiric ruling house, and ‘there’s nothing she can’t have’ - the curveball? She’s been born human.

After the way a similarly introduced book has taken us by storm *cough* serpent and wings* I was excited to read more vampire/human shenanigans this spooky season.

Unfortunately this book didn’t quite hit any of the key notes I was hoping for.
Forced proximity was between Emelia and her brand new vampire bodyguard, except at any time she could’ve had him replaced (and in fact fought hard for him not to be, lying and covering for him with no reason to at all within hours of meeting him). There really was no enemies to lovers, but vague disgruntlement at having a new guard while needing guarding because she couldn’t navigate going to a bathroom without feeling in danger, to catching obsessive feelings and suddenly being ‘in love’ with no real development of the relationship at all.

As for her being the heir to a super powerful family - she appears to have been so successfully cloistered that she is the most naive character I’ve come across in a while. For a while I assumed her parents had kept her clueless for some malevolent purpose we’d uncover, but no. Her peak main character moment was knowing where secret tunnels were to give her access around the castle away from her 24/7 guards. Except the first time her friendly old vampire uncle type guard came and found her there within moments, and the second tunnel she couldn’t reach the lever to go further anyway. At least she tried I guess?

None of the characters were fleshed out well at all and it was impossible to connect with or understand their motivations. We are told many times that Emelia does not want to be heir, that she has a ‘plan’ to escape - yet she’s apparently completely unaware of what she’ll be going into, nor has she made any real concrete decisions about how she’ll get away or even acknowledging that she’d need to ditch her phone to not be tracked, not keep contact with her parents (who rule ‘half the world’ so I imagine have the means to get her fetched home again…)

There was practically no world building or explanation of how anyone other than Emelia lives, other characters exist in a very two dimensional sense, existing either in relation to Emelia or to suddenly appear on page as a pawn piece for a ‘dramatic event’ (see James, whose doom was sealed by being given a name).

So much promise! I do think, in part, that I am not the audience this book has been written for, however other mature readers looking for scary vampire with rebellions and humans fighting for survival, this might not be what you were expecting - pass it to the teens it’s written for instead.

I loved it! Romance, fantasy, vampires and more. I cant wait for the next book. If you enjoy this genre you will love it and if you've never tried this genre before then prepare for a treat.

This story was reminiscent of the ya fantasy books of days gone, vampire academy, city of bones etc. Whilst not the same, it filled me with a sense of nostalgia that a lot of stories seem to be missing these days

I can see some great elements in this but it didn't hit for me. It felt flat and I could not get into the story or characters. It's just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was my first book by this author. I have to say I was a little confused because I thought it was marketed as a romantasy but it felt like it was written very much like a YA.

I feel like Insta love happened so quickly in this. We were given zero context for either character and then boom they’re in love.

I also feel like there was zero world building in this and I really had no idea what was going on.
This book had so much potential and it could’ve been so good if we have been given more background for the characters, if it hadn’t been Insta love and they hadn’t rushed it so much, and if there had been more depth to the female main character.

I couldn’t relate to the female main character at all. I felt like she had no depth to her character whatsoever. I also didn’t understand how she was only 17 and was supposed to take over for her dad who was over 500 years old. I didn’t really understand how that was gonna work .

All in all I really wanted to like this book because it sounded very much like The Serpent and The Wings of Night, but those were not the vibes I was getting once I read it.

All in all maybe I just wasn’t the right target audience for this book. However I felt that the synopsis of this book was very misleading and the book didn’t really match it.

2/5 stars for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC

I was intrigued by the concept, but unfortunately the book didn't live up to my expectations. I felt that the characters lacked depth and chemistry. I didn't feel a connection to the characters nor the story and felt it was written pretty juvenile.

DNF @ 30%

I was really looking forward to this book. I'm a vampire girl through and through and romantasy is created for me. I therefore had the book pre-ordered and when I saw it on Netgalley I requested a copy. Luckily One More Chapter granted me one.

However, after 30% I'm absolutely not feeling anything while reading. I'm almost at 1/3rd of the book and there is actually nothing about it that interests me. The characters don't feel very interesting. Our heroine seems naive and her place in society seems really unclear. Are her parents that stupid and naive too? Or are they just willfully blind that the future they want for their daughter is for sure not gonna happen? Speaking about that society. I still don't understand a thing of this world and what happened. There have been some info dumps, but the explanation seems extremely colored through our heroine's lack of knowledge. I understand not wanting to give everything away too soon, but the girl grew up in this world! She shouldn't be THIS lost. And we neither. I also have issues with the writing. I can't exactly pinpoint why it doesn't work for me, but it really doesn't. It makes the book an easy and quick read, but it also lacks life. It's as if the story is written like a newspaper article instead of a gripping novel.

So, the pre-order is cancelled and I'm gonna look for another book that hopefully fits me better. I'm sure there are readers for this book, there always are, but for me nothing in this book stood out.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

Unfortunately my frontal lobe is too developed to enjoy and of this book. I read the entire book for the integrity of this rating and I liked none of it. Just went I thought it could not get worse it did. I did not enjoy I’m sorry I tried.

Oh my god, this book was everything I expected and more. Honestly so good. Can’t wait for the next one

The premise of this book was incredible, I was instantly intrigued and excited to read it.
However, I felt the actual book didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s marketed as young adult I believe, but this reminds me of something I would have read as a pre-teen, just with a spice scene. The writing tells rather than shows, and does so very quickly. I felt no real attachment to any of the characters, and I feel this was due to the pacing of the story. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me, but it may be perfect for others, I definitely recommend reading a variety of reviews before deciding for yourself.

While I enjoy fantasy/romantasy novels, I've never been a huge fan of vampire themed stories - for me, it's Buffy for nothing. So, I was a little wary of diving into The Last Raven. It did take me a while to settle into the storyline with immediate mentions of The Red Rising and Safe Zones. Once a little background was provided, then it was easy to follow and understand the world building, which to be fair, is kept nice and simple.
Our protagonist is Emelia Raven, the sole heir to the Raven dynasty of vampires, who control a large portion of the globe. However, Emelia is actually human and has very different views to those of her parents. I did struggle a little with the depth of naviety displayed by the character, but this is explained by the protectiveness of her family and her lack of contact with anyone else.
The storyline does move rapidly and is enjoyable, even though I could unfortunately guess the twists and turns ahead. But I am a lot longer than the age group for this book and that probably helps me to guess.
All in all, a fun and quick paced storyline with plenty of action and little spice that would definitely be popular with YA group.

ARC Review
Rating 3 🌟

I finished The Last Raven in a day and found it disappointing. I felt misled by the synopsis, in that the world-building was lacking and as a reader believed there to be thrilling and action packed elements but they were minimal.

The romance was percieved to be hate to lovers yet the insta-love troupe felt far more accurate. Emilia, lacked depth. Shes supposed to be the heir to this vampire world but knows nothing about it and is just naive.
Kyle.....bodyguard for sure had the perfect opportunity to be hot, broody and swoon worthy all at once, but our friend Kyle was just boring.

I found that the plot twist predictable and actually undermined the overall story. This was supposed to be a fantasy but I was very let down.

However, I am extremely grateful to Netgalley and Helen Glynn Jones for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review! Thank you!

If you liked Twilight, this is for you. The FMC is just as blah as Bella is. So there’s that. It wasn’t horrible, by any means, it was just kind of okay and not much more. Average story, IMO. Not sure I would continue with the series, if I am being honest.

I mainly wanted to read this book because of the book cover. I am a bit disappointed about the book because it didn’t live up to my expectations. Did I think the book would be a 5 star? No, but I expected a good book for me to enjoy. The world building was non existent, which can work if the plot is character driven but it’s not. The synopsis of the story didn’t really match the writing which was confusing and the romance honestly felt a bit childish in the sense where, I was thinking “adults wouldn’t act like this”. The romance didn’t feel genuine and just felt rushed. I think I also wasnt able to enjoy the book either because I simply wasn’t a fan of the characters, mainly the FMC. I found her character to be empty, there wasn’t much to her besides her overthinking about her choices. By the end of the book, I became disinterested. What I will say is that I was able to finish this book within a day, so the writing is about to hold the readers.

Emelia is not only the daughter of the infamous ravens but sole heir. She's grown up very sheltered due to her unique condition, she's the human daughter of vampire parents. She meets Kyle her new bodyguard and quickly realizing that the world is not what she thought it was. Emelia has to decide whether she wants to leave everything she knows and loves or stay. I had fun reading this book. I will say there was no buildup to the romance though, one chapter they didn't like each other and then the next chapter they're making out. I also could not stop thinking about how his name was Kyle, I just do not think that name fit with the vibes. I did skim so of the middle of. the book but I was hooked on the last few pages. Overall, it was a fun easy read but I will not continue reading the series. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I truly wanted to love this because it has everything I could ever want in a romantasy read, but I sadly feel like I’m not the target audience for this one. But for those who are looking for a book that reads on the younger side of YA, that’s easy to get into and is fast paced then I’d recommend this one!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Helen Glynn Jones for my ARC, I truly appreciate it!

2.75/5

The Last Raven is book one in the brand new series The Ravens by Helen Glynn Jones.
A fun forbidden romance vampire story that was utterly addicting.
The world building here is done very well, totally easy to follow and has you captured from the beginning.

Thanks to One More Chapter and NetGalley for a galley of this guide for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 23%

Nope nope nope. I tried and was determined to read this simply because it’s not a long book, but the writing and the characters were too much for me to handle.

The dialogue was so clunky, the narration was repetitive and very much tell instead of show. And the characters, I didn’t realize I could despise the 2 main characters so much in such a short period of time, but turns out I can!

Emelia and Kyle might as well have the personalities of cardboard and about the same amount of chemistry too. And somehow they still have their first kiss at 22% despite the lack of chemistry? And yes that was the final straw to my DNF because this book is clearly a romance first and a fantasy second, and if the romance is that boring, I don’t care how it ends.

Read if you want I guess, but this was not for me.

I think if this was marketed a bit differently it would be great because then readers would know more of what to expect. I did like the story and I enjoyed it but I went into it expecting some great, intense, vampire/human romance and it read more like twilight. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that it was just not what I was expecting! I did enjoy this read and I would recommend it to people!

⭐️ 3/5

This unfortunately not what I expected.
It felt immature, juvenile, predictable and cliche.

This does not mean it is a 'BAD' book... it just means I was expecting some Jude/Cardan level of fantasy and above.

This felt more like a bad version of movie-Twilight. Which is exactly the way I saw characters in my mind.

It did feel hard to get through mostly because I was unable to feel much depth or emotion from the characters and plot.

Many of you will love this, so still give it a chance .