Read, Read, No Sleep, Repeat's Reviews > The Raven and the Rush

Now I’ve seen a lot of really gorgeous covers this year, but I think the cover of The Raven and the Rush is my favourite. Everything about this book is as stunning as the cover: the writing is beautiful, the story is unique with glorious world building and richly described landscapes, and the characters are wonderfully complex and three dimensional.

The story follows the two main protagonists Rhosynora Ravenwood, and Evrathedyn Blackrook, both second children who are forced to fulfil responsibilities and embrace a future that they never wanted.

Despite being faced with a bleak and frankly horrific future, Rhosyn is kind, generous and loyal. I really felt for Evra who was ripped from his quiet life as a scholar to take over as the Lord of his kingdom and try to right the heinous wrongs of his father. Evra really grows throughout the story as he faces his responsibilities, learns who he can trust and learns from his mistakes.

In contrast to the dark physical and emotional landscape of the book, Rhosyn and Evra’s romance is a ray of light. Their relationship is a beautiful example of forbidden love, full of angst and quiet passion that brings hope to an uncertain future. Although this is the first book in the series, the story has a very satisfactory conclusion for the couple, so I imagine the next book features new protagonists and I’m excited to know more about their world!

The Raven and the Rush is a glorious tale filled with epic battles, conflict, political intrigue, and enduring love and I loved every word. Sarah M Cradit has made it to my one click author list.