Margaret Owen

Debut author Margaret Owen crafts a powerful saga of vengeance, survival, and sacrifice--perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Kendare Blake--in The Merciful Crow. One way or another, we always feed the crows. A future chieftain Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime. A fugitive prince When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns. A too-cunning bodyguard Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

The Merciful Crow

Maria

update 09/06/2020: actually i didnt vibe with this at all so i’m lowering down my rating. v forgettable and although the magic system seemed promising it wasn’t anything unheard of before in ya. the romance, too, was rushed and boring and i really did not care for it at all. 

/// 

not sure how i feel about this book, it was enjoyable enough but not something to get attached to. the magic system was interesting, but there were archaic words randomly thrown at you every other sentence it felt really grating

Aishling

Great book, my only issue is being a bit confused on some terms used and the how the caste system works with birth and stuff but it didn’t interfere in my enjoyment of the book

Pien van Nunen

Didi Chanoch

Smart, impactful YA novel about privilege and responsibility.

Ella

margaret owen - you wrote an incredible fantasy book that got me out of my reading slump and I will be eternally grateful 🙏🏻

Nicole Dykeman

This book is awesome. The magic/caste system is super cool—especially the tooth magic. The band of Crows we follow are entertaining and lovable. There are lots of sweet, funny, and snarky moments to balance out the dark, gritty, and feisty moments. Fie is a fantastic main character, incredibly easy to root for with her firm dedication to her family and belief in her own abilities and rights. 

One of my favorite things about this book, though, was the dynamic between Fie, Tavin, and Jas, our main trio. The author really wasn’t afraid to dive deep into the problems with discrimination, prejudice, and privilege. The three of them simultaneously working together and teaching one another was wonderful to watch, and the growing romance between Fie and Tavin was believable (and shippable) precisely because their character growth was well-written. 

I am highly anticipating the sequel to this, not only to see where the characters end up, but to watch the plot unfold.

jess

BLOG | TWITTER 

A guilty admission: I came for the crows, because I'm inexplicably attracted to anything that has to do with crows, literal or figurative. I stayed for the impeccably built world, and the strong and well-written characters. Everything about this book was so new and refreshing, starting with the first line: "Pa was taking too long to cut the boys' throats." What. An. Opener. From the beginning, I was drawn in, first by the opening line and then by the beautifully macabre tone of the whole story. By the first chapter, I was hooked. 

I loved all our three main characters, but my favourite by far was Fie. You asked for a morally grey female protagonist? You have one in Fie, who's cunning and cutthroat--and more with her words than either a blade or magic. Due to her cast, Fie builds up walls to protect herself and her band, spits venom when she's angry, and basically has very little of a filter. She takes a long time to warm up to Tavin and Jasimir, the two other main characters--who eventually become part of Fie's own band of crows. Both the friendship--and the relationship she has with Tavin--are very slow burn, which makes it all the more heartwearming when Fie realizes she actually cares about them. The dynamics between the three were excellent, filled with snark and bickering that show just how tight their bonds become during the book. 

The setting was so vivid and different from so many books I've read before in a lot of ways. I would say that it is somewhat of a generic medieval setting, but it doesn't feel quite as generically European as a lot of fantasy, and there's some twists that set it apart from other generic medieval settings -- namely, the plague, and the whole culture of the crows. I've always found plagues and diseases fascinating, so having one as a centerpiece of The Merciful Crow made the setting so interesting. The culture of the crows are based around the plague, a duty they're forced to do, and it shapes the caste's whole existence from the clothes that they wear to the slang that they use, "fouled up" being one that stands out, and it all makes the world feel so much more alive. 

Not to mention the masks the crows wear when they go burn the bodies, delightfully reminiscent of the masks plague doctors wore during outbreaks of the bubonic plague. The magic system of the crows as well slots in perfectly with the whole tone of the book. Though the magic of the other castes may be fairly typical, I loved that the crows used teeth to draw their magic. It was creepy and I adored it. 

The pacing was excellent, along with the writing. Margaret Owen has a very, very distinct voice that makes the whole atmosphere of The Merciful Crow that much more vivid, and the book tumbles on at a steady pace, danger always lurking ahead. Fie's narration makes it clear that all of them are straining towards their goal, one step at a time, days walking and nights keeping watch and catching as much sleep as they can. It never stops being tense and exciting, even during the quiet, character-driven moments. 

Also, one thing I absolutely adored was the casual queerness of the book--yes, the main relationship is F/M, but there are several queer side characters. Jasimir is gay. It's not a big deal--there's even a throwaway mention of a son being brought in as a potential suitor for him. Tavin is pan. There's a character in Fie's crow band who uses they/them pronouns and it's so normalized that I didn't even notice until the book was nearly over. 

If you're looking for a book with excellent world building, a phenomenal atmosphere, and characters that will latch onto your heart, I would definitely recommend you check out The Merciful Crow.

Jillian Clare

Ope, found a new favorite. Bare bones review: 

Magic system was really unusual and I highly enjoyed the lore surrounding it, with brilliant empathetic, caring characters who just want to do what’s right in a really bleak world. 
I absolutely will be coming back to the sequel for these characters! They’re lovely and flawed, they own up to their mistakes, and they’re just as open to learning from them. Fie, Tavin, and Jasimir were so entertaining and their dialogue always sparked. The snappy, clever dialogue made this one of the most engrossing books I’ve read in months. 5/5 stars would definitely recommend!

Zahia Saeed 

Sheena

Obviously this was overhyped as overhyped could be yet nevertheless “Merciful Crow” was still a somewhat enjoyable read with some major flaws that some readers may not be able to overlook. The original world-building adventure of a tale really started to pick up the pace ⅓ into the read after a slow and painful start. Seriously I had for a brief moment considered dropping this but I had decided to struggle through and wallah! I persevered and made it to the end. Kudos to me! Anyways… the downside of this novel were the characters. I. Hated. All. Of. Them. And not one, not one had any redeeming factors to make them worth liking. And let’s not forget the romance in which I can’t even formulate enough words to describe how bloody awful is was. This read could’ve done without the romance and I was left cringing with the instant love “my life would suck without you” type of romance. The “relationship” between Fie and Tavin was rushed and unbelievable. Like what was the purpose of adding the romance into this YA fantasy novel?! I need answers damnit! Despite those flaws, I was still enthralled by the author’s writing style and her ability to draw me in (enough) to the YA fantasy world she was able to create that's filled with action, adventure, and world-building.

Livia

2.5/5 stars


this take me way longer to finish than i was expecting. to put it simply, the first part was confusing but interesting, the middle part was boring, and then we got to the fun part where jas finally has his own actual personality after tavin was not with fie and jas, at least for a brief moment.

definitely very trope-y, in which i was hoping some of them are executed better. and will i ever stop being disturbed by underaged teenagers having sex and proclaiming their undying love for each other already? probably. good for them, but still weird and unrealistic for me.

I absolutely loved this book, every single chapter. There was no lull in this for me or any point that I didn’t enjoy. I devoured it and cannot wait to read the second. 

This books has a caste-like magic system, where each caste is linked to certain magics and witches who can harness it. The main character is part of the lowest caste, the Crows, tasked with managing victims of the Plague as they are immune. However, they are looked down upon by the entirety of society and she attempts to find a way to fix that with some unlikely allies.

Tace

I absolutely loved this book, every single chapter. There was no lull in this for me or any point that I didn’t enjoy. I devoured it and cannot wait to read the second. 

This books has a caste-like magic system, where each caste is linked to certain magics and witches who can harness it. The main character is part of the lowest caste, the Crows, tasked with managing victims of the Plague as they are immune. However, they are looked down upon by the entirety of society and she attempts to find a way to fix that with some unlikely allies.

✓ Dark Fantasy
✓ Wonderful magic system
✓ Enemies to lovers romance

Cecilia Spencer 

I haven’t read a fantasy book in so long and I was kind of cautious to pick this up. The first 2 chapters immediately hooked me and I freaking loved this book!! I need the second one in my life right now and yes, I will be squealing about Tavin for the rest of my life!! 😁

Julia Thompson 

A thoroughly enjoyable and fast read. I loved the caste system, it was unique, fascinating, and also infuriating. The unfairn treatment and complete ignorance to the struggles of the Crows left me raging page after page. It wasn't until the last bit of the book that I decided to like the prince but boy did I fall for Tavin fast. I cannot wait for the next book to see how this story continues.

Jessica Guht

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. The world, the magic, the humor, I loved it all and I can't wait for the sequel.

Laura Kehoe

Sheila

Teetering between 2.5 and 3 stars for this one, but I'm feeling magnanimous today so I'll round up to 3 stars. The plot was pretty derivative and I couldn't help but think it was really weird that all of the castes were named after birds for some reason?? I mean I suppose it was linked to the type of magic found in each group but the same characteristics can be found in other animals - no reason was given as to why this particular world was so hung up on birds. There were gods mentioned but they didn't seem to be birds so??? 

That said, the story can be boiled down to an unnecessarily long moral of "eat the rich," which I'll support in any guise.

Sahi K

Another book I’ve been waiting to read since before its release and really hoping that it would live up to my expectations - I can’t tell you all how happy I am that it did. 

There are many things in this book that impressed me but I have to give the main props to the world building. Even though a lot of the terminology related to the world is thrown at us right from the beginning without context, it didn’t take me long to piece it all together and understand how the caste system works and how it’s all named. The idea of the caste system being named after birds with Phoenixes at the top and Crows at the book is pretty unique, as well as the single unique kind of magic (or Birthright) that each caste possesses. The Crows are the lowest caste, highly discriminated against and tormented, or even openly killed while no one tries to protect them - but they never stop their job of mercy killing the people suffering from the Sinner’s plague. Theirs is probably the most important job of this kingdom and the only thing stopping the plague from spreading indefinitely and killing everyone, but they are condemned for doing it. It was heartbreaking to read but also increased my admiration for the Merciful Crows while reminding me a lot about the plight of the magic wielders from The Broken Earth trilogy. The magic system in this book is also utterly unique, with the witches belonging to the Crow caste able to perform magic using teeth. It felt gross initially but I quickly became fascinated with how it worked and kept waiting to read more about its workings. There are also different kinds of creatures and magics we don’t know much about yet but it’ll be interesting to get to know them better. I also hope that author will provide more background in the next installment about why the plague doesn’t affect only the Crow caste and how their discrimination came to be so rampant. Another thing that really impressed me was that there seems to be no misogyny here, with women being in very important leadership positions and no one batting an eyelid about it. Sexual and gender diversity also seems to be a normal and accepting part of this world because we get bi/pan as well as gay royals, and a non-binary side character, and it’s just presented as fact rather then something significantly different. It was very nice to see the casual representation. 

It took me a few chapters to get used to the writing style but once I got the hang of it, it was a breeze. I also did a mix of both the audiobook and the ebook and I think it was a fun experience. I initially had trouble with the usage of new language for normal conversational words and it took me a while to glean their actual meaning by observing the context. But I saw a couple of reviewers mention that these words are Scottish influenced and while I guess that’s different from usual, I still can’t understand why it had to be so. Otherwise, the writing is amazing. The pacing is consistent and fast, full of twists and turns and betrayals from unexpected quarters, always keeping us on our toes. I laughed and cried and gasped all the time, and never wanted to put it down. What I also found awesome was that the author didn’t shy away from talking about periods or birth control, and it’s nice that they aren’t taboo topics anymore. The story is also essentially a quest and it has quickly become a favorite trope of mine, so I very much enjoyed going on this treacherous journey with the characters. I found the author’s descriptions also to be very detailed and could totally imagine it all happening right in front of my eyes. 

Fie is the daughter of the chief of the band of Crows and an absolutely brilliant character to follow. She is loyal and fiesty and has a bit of a temper, hates that she and her family members have to be silent in the face of taunts and threats but will suffer it all to keep them safe. She is also fearful to hope for anything good but will not stop trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. I really admired her strength and tenacity, pushing through adversity and despair, getting ready even to sacrifice herself if there was a possibility that her caste might have a better future. Every struggle of hers felt real and painful and every time she succeeded, it filled my heart with joy. 

Jas is the prince and Tavin is his bodyguard who have faked their deaths. I initially hated them because being from the royal castes, they never cared for the Crow castes until they needed their help. Jas was particularly infuriating because he is privileged and ignorant and just wants what he wants, and I wished Fie would smack him to get him in line. Tavin seems to know a little bit about the hardships that Fie’s people face but doesn’t seem to mind the status quo much either. But he is also a charmer and a flirt, so it was easy to start liking him sooner. It takes the two boys to be in the Crows shoes and being hunted indiscriminately to actually understand how much they have failed to protect their own people and I liked seeing that transformation of their minds. There was also a slow burn romance (no triangle here at all) which I adored, especially because it was based on mutual respect and they also had open conversations about consent and sex which was nice to see in a YA novel. I just hope we get to see a lot more of them in the next book. 

To conclude, I had such fun reading about this unique world of Sabor. It’s brutal and unfair but the wonderful characters fighting back felt amazing to read about. The author gives this book a very satisfying conclusion, with enough threads wrapped up that it feels complete but also leaving us excited for what might happen next. If you like the trope of characters who can’t get along but have to go on a quest together, then this is the perfect book for you. I promise you’ll enjoy this journey.

Story Eater

I'm only 49 pages in, and I've already guessed what the "twist" is at the end. I have not looked ahead or "peeked." 

I will test that theory by inserting a spoiler sentence here (view spoiler)[I think the prince is Tavin,not Jasimir (like in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) (hide spoiler)]. I will eat crow ha! if I'm wrong. Metaphorically, of course.

**Post-Finish**

I was kinda right about the "twist." It still wasn't the bombshell others touted it to be, in my opinion. I didn't like this one too much. The world building and special abilities felt gimmicky and derivative (just a fancy word for taken from somewhere else).

Belle Waters

Amanda J 

I thought this was a fun story. The characters and world they lived in were some of the best aspects of this book. It's a good solid YA fantasy with representation. I enjoyed the storyline of this one more than the sequel's.
It fell flat in terms of writing. At times it seemed the author was trying to showcase the cleverness of the characters and it didn't work. Instead, the reader is left feeling like they're missing something. Spending a few more lines expounding would go a long way. 
The magic system is interesting and the characters are great.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and then bought my own copy. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Merciful Crow

Author: Margaret Owen

Book Series: The Merciful Crow Book 1

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: fantasy lovers, bird theme, plagues, secret smuggling

Publication Date: July 30, 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, near animal death/torture TW, gore, slight romance, lots of death and sickness)

Publisher: Henry Holt

Pages: 384

Synopsis: A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

Review: For the most part I enjoyed the book. It had really good character development and I thought the idea of the world was really cool. I especially liked how most of the positions were based on birds and the plot was very intriguing and kept me hooked for the majority of the book.

However, I thought the world building was confusing as was the magic system. I honestly didn’t know that Fie had magic until she used it during the raid and I was like “where did that come from??”. And there was a part where Fie mentioned that the prince’s long hair will give him lice, which is why they cut theirs close to their head, but then at the same time was described with longer hair? The book also didn’t explain a lot about what was going on and it was really hard to get into at first.

Verdict: Could have been fleshed out more but it was a good book.

Ana Ignat

2.5 stars***

so I was enjoying it (3 stars) but the romance kinda just... not ruined it, but brought my enjoyment down. i feel like it was suuuuper out of nowhere and kinda cringe but eh whatever. i lost interest in the middle and forgot what was going on but i didn’t go back just bc i wasn’t that invested in the story. the ending was good tho i think everything wrapped up pretty nicely! and i did love the magic system i thought it was super cool.

Heather Harrington

*3.5

In a land where people are ranked by birds: Phoenix for the royal family, Owls for scholars, Fie and her family are the lowliest of lows, the Crows. Looked down upon by everyone, the Crows job is to go into infected places and collect those who have fallen victim to the Sinner's Plague. When their job takes Fie's band to the royal palace, Fie is hoping for the payment of a lifetime. What she gets is a very much alive and healthy fugitive prince and his charmingly annoying bodyguard, Tavin. Prince Jasimir faked his death to get away from his ruthless step-mother, the Queen, who has been gunning to get him out of the picture. Fie has no sympathy and is ready to cut her losses when the Prince offers her a wager she can't refuse: protect him and he'll make sure the kingdom gives the Crows the respect and safety they so desperately deserve. Soon Fie finds there's more to the Prince, and especially Tavin, than she originally thought, and it'll take more than her cunning and sword if she hopes to see them through to safety.

I really enjoyed the world building in this. The different societal castes are so interesting to read about, and the prejudices each have against one another feels very real. Fie was so independent and feisty, but also had such vulnerability and heart. I loved her interaction with Jasimir and Tavin, and really liked how they eventually turned into their own little band. My only gripe was that I felt the dialogue at times was a little clunky, and found myself having to reread parts just to make sure I knew what was going on. Other than that, I liked this a lot and can't wait to see where it goes from here.

The Merciful Crow

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