Georgia Kostopoulou

Give me birds, give me wings, give me magic and take my heart away! I love reading fantasy and that is no news! I love reading about all the things I just mentioned, so I had to read “The Raven and the Dove” too! And I loved their story! Now, I need to read the rest of the books in the series!!!

The Raven and the Dove is an epic fantasy retelling of Tristan and Isolde that will make your heart melt! We have a slow burn romance. Main characters with bird wings, like the Dove, the Raven, the Owl and more. We even have dragons… So buckle up, grab a drink and enjoy the ride!

In a land like no other, so many years ago, the islands were lifted from the sea and are now hanging above them mist. Each of these islands host a different kingdom, a different type of bird people. Nobody knows what caused the islands to be lifted in the air. The people of old would say it was magic, but magic is not accepted in this world. It is most probably their Gods that are keeping the islands in the sky. And anyone that displays signs of magic would be punished by death.

Princess Lyana Aethionus is not yet eighteen, but since it is not so long until she reaches that age, she will participate in the courtship trials and if she wins, she will be able to chose her mate. The trials are organized by her father, in order to find a suitable mate mostly for her brother but for Lyana as well. That’s not exactly what the princess wants, but it will be a great chance for her to travel outside their island, a big adventure, one she always longed to live. For now, she will have to make do with spying on the other kingdoms’ delegation, before they reach the palace. This is when she finds a Raven. And this is when a dragon finds said Raven and wounds him. Lyana knows it’s dangerous to reveal her healing magic to anyone but her most trusted friend, but she cannot leave the brave Raven to die. Little did she know, he has a secret of his own.

Rafe is the bastard son of the late Raven King. Thankfully for him, his brother, Prince Lysander Taetanus, loves him as equal, even though the people are not so fond of him. After all, Rafe did survive the fire that killed his parents without a scratch. He was just a boy, but he couldn’t save anyone else but himself. He and his brother the prince, have made an agreement. Rafe, the warrior of the two, will participate in the courtship trials instead of Xander (Lysander). The participants are always wearing masks, and the brothers have the same built and hair, so Rafe can easily pass for Xander. They have a reason to do that. They need to get a mate for the Raven Prince, so as to ensure stability and prosperity for their kingdom.

But as the people of the floating islands make plans, so do the people below. Because there are people below. There is a King as well. A King with his own plans and a prophecy to fulfil. The prophesy that will bring the end of the war and is reflected in Lyana and that makes her the center of everything. King Malek has a spy close to the princess, someone that also has magic and helps him in his plans!

I loved all the relationships we got to see in this one! The love and relationship between siblings was different in each House. The two sibling of the House of Peace, Lyana and her brother are very close but do not have the same relationship the half siblings of the House or Whispers have. Xander and Rafe express such a devoted love, they would do anything for each other. They trust each other and they keep their most dangerous secrets.

This book is a pretty good start for a series. It has enough worldbuilding to intrigue the reader and also understand the world and the politics, the hidden agendas and the schemes that take place. And there is also a cliffhanger at the end, that haves you begging for more! Especially with all that the main characters go through at those last pages!

I had the chance to listen to the audiobook and I consider myself very lucky to do so! Even though there were so many different point of views in the book, the narrator made it so easy to understand whose POV we were following at the time. I want to keep reading the series and I would preferer to continue with the audiobooks as this was a very enjoyable experience for me!

Thank you to NetGalley & Kaitlyn Davis, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Audiobooks for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.