Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read all 704 pages of this in roughly 3 sittings and my ADD brain never complained once. That's pretty unusual for me and it is absolutely representative of the quality of Hodgson's storytelling.

The world of The Raven Scholar was a delight to be in from beginning to end. The writing was lush and playful. I loveddd the humour. There's only a touch of it at the beginning but it really grows into its own thing as the story progresses. The POV changes are creative and easy to follow. Hodgson also does something quite fun with the formatting which works so well for the narration. I loved it. I think I will happily read anything this author puts out into the world.

The characters were great. Neema is one of my favourite protagonists in a long time! I love her. Sol is everything, I could just dedicate this entire review to Sol (and Pink-Pink, the grouchy chameleon). The supporting cast were diverse and interesting with believable motives and and complex loyalties. There were so many that I liked and hope to see more of in future instalments. I have to also give a quick praise for the combat sequences - I loved how every characters style and emotional state was reflected so vividly in those scenes.

The worldbuilding was also a dream. Hodgson really transports you to her island setting. You can feel the humidity in the air, the summer heat, can imagine the gardens and the waterways. It's beautiful and well brought to life. The history and the lore were a little sparse for the scope of the story she is trying to tell in book one, but what we did get was engaging enough.

If I had one complaint it would be that the plot was lacking something in the second half for me. Once the mystery of the mysterious death has concluded, the story falls a harder on political fantasy stereotypes than I would like and I lost a bit of interest in where things were going. But I was happy to be along for the ride. I cannot wait to see where Neema's journey will take her next!

Happy to welcome my first 5 star read of 2025! Please don't let the page count put you off, this story is worth every bit of space it takes up.

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My rating system:
✧✧✧✧✧ - loved it, no complaints
✧✧✧✧ - loved it, some technical flaws
✧✧✧ - liked it
✧✧ - disappointing
✧ - unenjoyable

Murder Mystery
Politics & Secrets
Reluctant Hero
Found Family
Second Chance
Closed Door Spice
Fantasy

This book had me so intrigued from the blurb and I couldn't wait to dive in.

At first it feels like there's a little bit too much going on, too many characters and different plot lines, but the further you go the more it starts making sense!

The book is also filled with twists and turns that had my jaw dropping!

The downside for me is the length of it. Over 600 pages/24 hour audiobook felt a little bit daunting to me. That being said, I absolutely love the narrator and I feel like she did a fantastic job! I enjoyed doing parallel audio and ebook for this one

4.5 ⭐️

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson. What a book. An incredible new fantasy novel. It feels unique and original. So well written with a brilliant cast of characters.

A bit of a remove from what Antonia Hodgson has written before, but the writing was just as brilliant as before, and this unique fantasy world takes it to a whole new level.

I loved the setting and the feel of this book. The plot feels original, and the twist at the end really took me by surprise. Brilliant. Cant wait for book 2.

Absolutely brilliant! I honestly didn’t want it to end! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25 STARS

I'm not going to lie, this was kinda difficult to get into. I really struggled for the first 6 chapters to have any understanding on what really was happening. It felt odd that the first 3 chapters were a prologue?? and then it finally changes to the main MC Neema. Personally for me, there was just too much throwing out random people and places names without pause and this felt so rushed and clunky.

Once I went back, read the books description and started over again it was fine :\ but by this point, the story has lost my attention and I found myself start gravitating towards other books.

As I continued it got way better and I really loved the world that Antonia has created and the idea of rival monasteries and characters inspired by sacred animals is so interesting and done in a way that felt new and fresh.

I am looking forward to continuing with the series :).

Thank you Hodderscape, Antonia Hodgson and NetGalley for a digital ARC of The Raven Scholar.

*Actual rating is 2.5 stars*

I had high hopes for this book, as I love both a tournament and a murder mystery. It felt like it would be a great combo, and it probably could have been if the story didn’t have a structure that made it so hard for me to focus on what was going on. The combination of both third and first person POV, multiple plot threads and character storylines thrown into the story just lost me. The book started out as a straightforward murder mystery/competition which I enjoyed. But then the further the book got the more it started to diverge and it just became a lot. It just made me lose interest as I tried to keep up with everything and everyone. It wasn’t just a book for me. If you enjoy all the things I brought up, then you’re clearly the audience for this book.

Epic Fantasy at it's best. This was so engaging, every time I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was proven wrong, in the best possible way.

Dare I say Magnificent

This book was incredible.
Wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it wasn't that I'd enjoy it this much!
So well written, loved every minute of reading this!

The most perfectly written, entertaining, witty, absorbing and breathtakingly book I have read in a long time! Neema a is from a poor, faraway background and when she gets the chance to study, she grabs it, hard. But not coming from the same social circles as her peer scholars means that she is outcast, with just her books and translations for company. Resulting in her becoming a friendless, absolutely brilliant scholar, her beautiful penmanship noted by the emperor. Her rise within the court is resented and she remains friendless, recalling her childhood days with her one friend Cain who she has not seen or heard from for years. One order from the Emperor changes everything: she must write an order to exile a young girl, not yet a woman - a punishment that will bring the girl a certain, lingering and terrible death. A pivotal moment in Neema's life, and the start of all that is to come. Riveting.

Wow. This book was amazing and I don’t care that we are only in March; I just know it will be one of my favorite read of 2025.

There is so much to love about this book:

The writing style: it was like nothing I’ve ever read before. I loved how, even it’s written in third person, you get many different POV’s. The dry and peculiar humor was just perfection and even if the stakes were very high, I couldn’t stop myself for laughing out loud at some dialogues or inner thoughts of the different characters.

Talking about the characters, they are all so complex and interesting. I just loved getting to know them, their motivations, the relationships between them, their back stories, etc. it was wonderfully done. The fact that after a few chapters we jump 8 years in the future made a lot for character development and I really enjoyed it. It was also so, so, so refreshing to have main characters in their thirties.

I really loved the relationship between Neema and Cain. I loved the fact that Neema is a POC. We still too rarely see main characters being POC and she had such an interesting past. Cain was also a fascinating character and he was so, so, so fun.

The world building was great and very well written. I never felt overwhelmed with information. I just continuously wanted to know more. The whole mythology is so well made and interesting.

The trials part was done right. I do enjoy trials, but often feel a bit disappointed. That wasn’t the case in this book; I was always trying to figure out what the contenders needed to do to win the contests/fights/games and what was the main goal of each trial.

I litteraly couldn’t put my kindle done and the plot twists were plot twisting! I do read a lot of fantasy but this one got me: 😱😱😱😱 so many times! I really cannot wait for book 2.

Don’t be scared about the number of pages! I swear they fly by! :)

And to quote The Raven: Yes, you and this book are magnificent 🐦‍⬛🖤

Thank you so so much to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton&Antonia Hodgson for an advance earc of this book ♥️

This book! It took me a while to get in to as it is quite dense but once I started to understand the world and get to know the characters I couldn’t put it down. I will definitely be reading the next one as now I am so invested in each character. So many fantasy books now are about special teenagers who feel two dimensional so this book was so refreshing.

Some parts of this book are 5 star for me but it wasn’t easy to get in to and I think it could have been a bit tighter so I’m going for a 4 star for now. I do applaud the ambition though. I also found the change of focus with the narration/POV a bit jarring to begin with (that’s a bit vague but don’t want to spoil anything!).

I didn’t like the use of footnotes in this but that might be a me thing and the formatting was a bit odd in the ARC so that might have been part of it. Felt like they were unnecessary and took me out of the story. Hopefully formatting in the actual book helps with this.

I loved this, it's almost like hogwarts houses meets the hunger games but so much more - I really resonated with Neema and cannot wait to read her next adventures

Such a great book. Probably my favorite book I've read this year.
I can say that the story has kept me gripped from the start to finish. There were no slow moments. And I really liked the writing style and how skillfully the humor was integrated into the story.
The plot was very interesting and well executed, with a lot of twists and turns that kept me entertained until the end.
The characters were well rounded. I enjoyed all the different perspectives. I loved following their relationships.
Can't wait to read the next book!

I don't know how to put into words how perfect this book was for <i>me specifically</i>.

Don't get me wrong - it's excellent all around, in particular if you love epic fantasy. It has the length and plot unravelling of the Mistborn trilogy mixed with the humour of the Discworld universe; an odd pairing if I ever saw one but it WORKS.

I cried, I laughed, I said <i>WHAT?!</i> at several points in the story. I can't believe I've read it so early that I now have to wait more than a year for the sequel.

I read this whilst on holiday and kept wanting to pick it up instead of socialise with friends I hadn't seen in over a year. THAT is how good this is. I don't even really want to go into much more detail to be honest, the synopsis gave me enough to know I would enjoy it (trials/competition for the throne, 8 different clans that send a contender? Sign me up), so I would recommend going in with just the synopsis having been read because once the story starts going it opens up a whole new world.

5 million stars. I've preordered an extra special edition just because I loved it that much. (Goldsboro, if you were wondering).

I read and listened the audiobook at the same time, and it really made the experience that much better. The audiobook is perfectly narrated, and it really gave more of that magical vibe when reading. The book itself is really interesting with a unique magic system, the trials were done in a very good way and the twists kept on coming. I can't wait to continue this series.

The structure of the empire of Orrun is based on a rich society in which each person chooses which faction represented by one of the eight mythological creatures to affiliate with. The characteristics of each faction and creature are also of great importance to the political aspect of the empire, making it the scene of much political intrigues.
In addition, the next heir to the throne will not be chosen by bloodline, but through mortal trials faced by a participant of one of the eight factions. And finally... let's also add the death of a contender to give the plot a twist... intriguing, right?


The story follows Neema (a trusted scholar of the king and member of the Raven faction) who suddenly finds herself having to take the place of her companion d&ath in the competition for the throne in order to discover the culprit behind the latter's murder. Neema comes from the 'poor' part of the kingdom and for this very reason, in order to reach her position and gain a minimum of respect, she has had to work, sacrifice twice as much as the others and perform morally questionable acts... only to risk losing everything with this assignment. I admit that I was not a big fan of Neema initially, but then, oh what a development she had! In the end I couldn't help but root for her.

The thing is this: Neema is the protagonist, but practically every single character in his own way shines in-depth, complexity and has their own history and motivations for their actions. Every one of them at some point in the story has done something questionable, however, you will find yourself rooting for them anyway and you will realise that the concepts of 'good' 'evil' in this book are decidedly nebulous.

✨It's been ages since I've read an epic fantasy and that's why I'm so happy to be back in this genre with "the Raven Scholar!".I found myself reading every single word of the 700 pages because nothing was left to chance and every single detail, character and event found itself to be vital to the plot further on answering all my questions!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Antonia Hodgson for the ARC on which this review is based.

From the very first chapters, The Raven Scholar captivates with its immersive world, richly detailed history, and conflict. The novel delivers an engaging mix of political intrigue, high-stakes competition, and a gripping murder mystery, making for a fresh and exciting epic fantasy experience.

The world is impressively fleshed out, with a deep history, cultural traditions, and an expansive society shaped by eight mythical beings. Citizens pledge loyalty to one of these factions, influencing their values and roles in society. This unique mythology adds depth to both world-building and character dynamics, creating a setting that feels both organic and expansive.

The plot centers on an emperor’s decision to step down after a reign of 24 years. The new leader will be chosen via a brutal competition between representatives of different factions for the throne. However, before the contest begins, one contender is murdered, forcing Neema Kraa, a brilliant scholar, to take their place while also unraveling the mystery behind the crime.

The character work is a major highlight. Neema proves to be a compelling protagonist, using intellect and strategy to navigate court politics and the dangerous trials. Cain, the sly and mischievous Fox contender, offers a delightful contrast with his humor and irreverence. The entire cast is well-developed, each contender feeling distinct and layered, with their relationships, shared history and rivalries adding further complexity.

The competition itself stands out for its originality, requiring more than brute strength or magical prowess. Many challenges rely on wit, strategy, and knowledge, keeping the trials fresh and unpredictable. The murder mystery is also well-executed, with numerous suspects, hidden motives, and satisfying twists that keep readers guessing.

Despite the high stakes, the book maintains a wry sense of humor, both in its narration and character interactions. This balance of intensity and levity makes the novel engaging and prevents it from becoming too heavy.

While the magic system is intriguing, certain abilities feel underexplored, leaving some elements feeling vague. I hope to see deeper exploration of abilities like Houdsight and maybe some newer ones as well. The aspects of the Guardians inc. Sol and Fox were an excellent addition and hopefully aspects of other Guardians are also explored.

The Raven Scholar is an epic fantasy that successfully merges political intrigue, competition, and a murder mystery into a fast-paced, engaging read. With compelling characters, sharp twists, and an intricate world, it is a must-read for fans of intelligent, high-stakes fantasy. Despite its length, it never drags, and its clever storytelling ensures readers stay hooked until the very last page.

This book was incredible from start to finish. From the intricate world building, intriguing magic system and flawed but fascinating characters, I was completely absorbed in this world from page one. There were several twists throughout that had me completely floored, and the narrative style flowed excellently with some brilliant comedic moments spread throughout. I can't wait for the next book!

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson is an intriguing fantasy novel set in the empire of Orrun, where the delicate peace that has lasted for twenty-four years is about to come to an end. The story kicks off when Emperor Bersun the Brusque’s reign comes to a close, and seven exceptional individuals – warriors, strategists, and thinkers – compete to take his place. However, things take a dark turn when one of them is murdered, and it falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor's brilliant and eccentric High Scholar, to unravel the mystery before the deadly competition reaches its conclusion.

What makes this book stand out is the unique world-building. The empire of Orrun is a complex, rich society where people align themselves with one of eight mythical creatures. Each faction has its distinct qualities, and these creatures are deeply embedded in the culture and beliefs of the empire. The idea of factions aligned with powerful creatures, each vying for influence, caught my attention right away. Neema’s role as High Scholar puts her in an unusual position, as she competes alongside the warriors, all while trying to uncover the truth behind the murder that threatens to undo everything.

The combination of a throne competition and a murder mystery adds layers of intrigue and suspense to the plot. The pressure is on Neema, not only to solve the crime but also to navigate the dangerous politics and ambitions of those around her. As she delves deeper into the mystery, Neema uncovers long-buried secrets, leading to a thrilling unravelling of dangerous histories. The tension builds as the trials progress, and readers are kept on the edge of their seats, wondering who will win and who will fall.

At the heart of this novel is Neema’s journey, which is not just about solving the crime, but also about her place in the empire’s future. As she battles against the other contenders and struggles to untangle the web of secrets, she faces the ultimate question: will she succeed and claim the throne, or will death be the price of failure? With the enigmatic Raven watching over her, the stakes have never been higher.

If you're a fan of epic fantasy, political intrigue, and murder mysteries, The Raven Scholar is a captivating read that brings together these elements in an innovative way. The world-building is immersive, the characters are complex, and the plot is full of twists and turns. Whether you're drawn in by the fascinating mythical creatures, the competition for the throne, or the compelling murder mystery, this book promises to be a thrilling ride from start to finish.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

One of the best fantasies I have ever read!

Whatever you think you know about this book going in... forget it. I recommend going in knowing as little as possible. The emperor's reign is ending and there's a competition to become to new one - that's all you need to know!

I have never read a Fantasy that was so fantastic at twisting every expectation and prediction I had. Every time I thought I had figured "it" out, I was thrown for a loop and left in awe of Hodgson's ability to keep shocking me. Yet it never felt forced - the unveiling of new information was natural and logical, just impressively surprising!

One of the most unique things about this book is how it is written and, without spoiling anything, I think the narrative voice is what has you engaged at all times.

I can't say anything else without spoiling any of the many reveals, so just know this: you NEED to read this book. The Raven Scholar is a masterclass in world building, mysteries, trials, and magic - all the best parts of a great Fantasy!