REVIEW: The Merciful Crow – Margaret Owen

“Pa was taking too long to cut the boys’ throats.”

With this opening line we are immediately thrust into the world of The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen.  Going in to this novel I was afraid that it would be another case of a premise too good to deliver.

I have very rarely been so happy to be wrong!

The first thing I think any review of this book will have to touch on is the world building.  From the very first page, the dynamic land of Sabor feels complex and real. A society created around a caste system which is based on a magic system which stems from a religious origin story?  Yes please! The true mastery of the world building is that none of these elements overshadowed the other or stepped on each others toes. I’m a huge sucker for unique magic systems so I was pretty much in love from the beginning.

“And at that moment, Fie found what her Chief voice sounded like.”

 While this novel can be described as a journey plot, I feel that the true driving force of the story is our main character Fie coming into her own as a young woman and a leader in a world that despises her.  Born in the lowest caste, the Crow caste, but with the touch of magic that marks her as a future Chief, Fie has a lot to contend with. And that’s before she rashly makes a wager with a runaway prince for the future of her people.

Yikes.

Fie’s journey to find herself and find her strength was real and engaging and I found myself rooting for her page after page.  

The romance is light and didn’t annoy me like a lot of romance in fantasy does.  I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and the tension added to the story rather than pulled focus from the primary story line.

“Madcap wheezed so hard, they had to lean on the cart.”

I was also super impressed with the representation.  There were queer characters and gender neutral characters and it felt so natural, not like the Token Gays.  Owen gave these characters space on the page without belaboring the point or trying to write a queer narrative where it wasn’t needed.  I loved that these characters were able to exist in the story without explanation or excuse.

I could ramble for pages and pages about how much I loved this book, which was one of the reasons it took me so long to write this review.  I cannot wait for the sequel and am convinced that I will read anything Margaret Owen writes!

(I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)