Book Review: The Raven and the Dove by Kaitlyn Davis

Amazon Digital Services LLC
TBP: March 20th, 2010

A princess longing to be free…

On the dawn of her courtship trials, Princess Lyana Aethionus knows she should be focused on winning her perfect mate, yet her thoughts wander to the open sky waiting at the edge of her floating kingdom. One final adventure calls. Upon fleeing the palace, the last thing she expects to find is a raven prince locked in a death match with a dragon.

A bastard aching to belong…

Reviled son of a dead king, Rafe would do anything for his beloved half-brother, Prince Lysander Taetanus, including posing as him in the upcoming courtship trials. When a dragon interrupts their secret exchange, he orders his studious sibling to run. After suffering a fatal blow, Rafe is saved by a beautiful dove who possesses forbidden magic, just like him.

Fate brought them together, now destiny will tear them apart…

Unknown to the world above, on the foggy sea ten thousand feet below, a young king fights a forgotten war. He believes Lyana is the queen prophesied to save the world, and with the help of his favored spy, hidden deep in the highest ranks of the dove royal house, he will stop at nothing to have her.- Goodreads

I am not going to lie. I picked up this book for the cover. Seeing and reading about a Black fairy is huge (even though there were some suspicious scenes in the book). I enjoyed this cover and seeing this Black fairy do her thing.

With that being said. . . this book wasn’t for me. NOT because there was actually anything wrong with the book. It played on the cliche of a love triangle, forbidden love, betrayals a bit too much and what I meant by that is nothing was brought to this long worn table; it was just with dragons and faeries as opposed to humans.

However, with that being said the world building in this novel was great and the author did a fantastic job with pace, details and creating the romance.  While I see others completing enjoying it what caused me to lose interest was Rafe. How and why Lyana feel in love with him I will never know. He had no personality. If it had nothing to do with his brother he didn’t want anything to do with it. I liked the young king and his part in the story but I couldn’t stand Rafe.

Overall, there are a lot of people that are going to flock over this book. My thing is if you are going to do the same trope, do something new.

2 Pickles

Quick Five © with Kaitlyn Davis

Courtesy of Kaitlyn Davis

Name: Kaitlyn Davis

Who is Kaitlyn? Buffy (the vampire slayer) lover completely obsessed with all things paranormal and fantasy.

Website: http://kaitlyndavisbooks.blogspot.com/

Books: Midnight Fire Series (Book 1-4), Darlings of Urban Fantasy, Five Shades of Fantasy, The Shadow Soul (A Dance of Dragons #1)

Buy: Amazon,  and Barnes & Nobles

Meeting someone that knows from the beginning that writing is all they wanted to do is always an honor to interview. You see the passion for words the moment they speak about their experiences. Dear readers meet Kaitlyn Davis, a New Yorker whose love for writing matches her love for Young Adult.

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Why did you choose Young Adult as your breakout genre? Are you trying to reach the adults that read YA or the teenagers that read YA?

 

YA is my absolute favorite genre–to read and to write! Teenage emotions are so intense because everything is being experienced for the first time. It’s not just love–it’s all consuming first passion. It’s not just loss–its pain that rips you apart. I love exploring these overwhelming feelings in my books, and I love pushing my characters further than they ever thought imaginable. Those early experiences define people for most of their lives–I want to write the coming-of-age teen, not the often-jaded adult.

As far as my readers, everything I write is PG-13. If a book is YA, I believe any teen should feel comfortable picking it up! But, I also mix in complexities that appeal to an older audience. The more the merrier in my opinion!

Self Published
Expected to be Published 2014

 

What type of impact do you think your books are leaving in the literary world? What is it that makes you feel successful as a writer?

Probably not much! Self-publishing is still considered very faux pas in the literary world, but that’s okay with me. Nothing is more satisfying than hearing from my fans, and my readers make me feel more successful than anything else ever could! All I can hope is that people take a chance on my books, and if they enjoy them, are open to trying more great self-published titles. Like with anything else, there are some hidden gems if you just look for them!

 

 What matters most when you are writing your stories? Why does it matter?

A hard journey with a happy ending! I want to push my characters, bring them to the edge of their sanity, make them feel like everything is lost, and then finish in a way that keeps some sort of hope alive. The real world has too many sad stories; we don’t need any more of those. I believe reading should be an escape for my readers–a place where, unlike in real life, every tale gets some version of a happy ending!

 

Your latest book “The Shadow Soul (A Dance of Dragons #1)” which is expected to be released some time in 2014, is being compared to “Game of Thrones” series as well as the “Graceling Realm” series. Do you feel these comparisons are a huge expectation or it is a perfect comparison for your new series?

 

Not to sound full of myself, but I think the comparisons are perfect–even if those are very hard shoes to fill! The Shadow Soul has the epic scale of Game of Thrones–it’s told in a completely different world with warring kingdoms, surprising politics, and grandiose adventure. But at the same time, my book is as personable as Graceling with a very focused two character story line allowing me to dive deeply into their individual emotions. There are ruthless elements balanced by sweet moments–and did I mention dragons?

Self Published
Published Oct. 9, 2011
Kindle Edition

The book will go on-sale in February 2014, and you can check out more information on my blog! http://kaitlyndavisbooks.blogspot.com/p/a-dance-of-dragons.html

Finally, how have you grown as a writer since your debut novel in 2011? Do you still feel there is more room to grow?

 

Wow–truly leaps and bounds! My creativity has exploded now that I am constantly channeling it to write. My ideas have gotten bigger, my characters have become so much more complex, and my plots have been surprising even me.

Anyone who has read my Midnight Fire series would probably say the same. Ignite was great–but Simmer is better, and Blaze better still, and Scorch blows them all out of the water! And I hope this pattern continues!

Life is over the minute you stop being open to learn new things! I truly believe education is everything and I know I will grow stronger and stronger with each new book I write

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Kaitlyn loves new followers. Follow her to know more about her and her ever evolving books.

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