The tagline including "Pansexual Love Triangle" pulled me in, and I'm so glad it did.

This book was intriguing, but it was also so much of what I look for in a book. A world I get to learn, characters I got to love and even while reading all I wanted was more.

I absolutely loved In The Ravenous Dark - after I was unable to download this book prior to archiving, I made sure to pick it up - it is not a disappointment and I would strongly recommend giving this a read

Excellent worldbuilding, intriguing characters, a well thought-out magic system - I really enjoyed this and will be recommending it!

I found this story was able to grip me from page one and that’s not always an easy task. I got a couple of my friends to buy a copy of their own!

3.5 Stars.

I really enjoyed In the Ravenous Dark by A, M. Strickland! There was so much going on! I loved the worldbuilding and the plot itself. There were aspects of it I found kind of predictable and obvious, but there were other elements I was really surprised by. It was pretty action packed and completely gripping! And I really loved Rovan! Despite its kind of Ancient Greek setting, Rovan and the other characters were quite modern. Rovan is fierce and has spunk, and I really liked her!

I do think after the twist was revealed, the antagonist was kind of cartoon villain-esque. And I didn't really feel like the romances were developed enough, but I did love the pansexual rep, the polyamory, and the queer conversations around sexuality and identity. I also feel like I don't entirely understand the magic systems. There are actually a few issues I have with this book, but coming to it after reading a different stand-alone where not a huge amount happened skewed my judgement, I guess. But I definitely want to read more by A. M. Strickland!

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vomit, blood, reference to periods, fade-to-black sex scene, on the page semi-vague sex scene, death of a parent, misogyny, forced drugging, forced marriage, violence against women, threat of sexual violence, sexual violence, rape, forced pregnancy, people being burnt alive, and reference to suicide.

I was so excited to dive into this book, even if I put off actually finally reading it for so long. It seemed like exactly the type of book I’d love, and for that reason, it was one of my most hyped releases for early 2021. Unfortunately, while I did end up enjoying this book, I didn’t end up loving it (though I did give it a bonus star for how diverse it was!)

I think the main deterrent to my loving this book was that I never felt fully connected to the characters, especially Rovan. There was just some distance kept between me and the characters + their relationships, which also removed most of the urgency from the plot for me. I can’t quite pinpoint why I wasn’t able to fully connect with Rovan, but I just found it harder to support her specifically as the book went on (it was easy to hate her oppressors and want them dead, and the entire system overturned, but less easy to specifically want Rovan to succeed in her plans, especially when they became selfish). I also went into this book extremely excited about the romance (there’s very little poly + pansexual rep in books, and I was excited about that aspect of the story), but even that felt shallow and underwhelming. It was a bit too fast and sudden, and even if the romance came in later, it still didn’t get enough build-up beforehand. 

As the book went on, my interest seemed to wane, and I found it harder and harder to get excited about continuing. I think overall my main issue with the book is that it just wasn’t quite enough, of anything. The world-building wasn’t deep enough, and it felt like we got most of it right away, with very little being added on later. The romances and characters, while interesting at the surface level, never quite felt fully finished. It was a book that could’ve been better if priorities were shifted towards fleshing out the characters + relationships and the world a bit more.

Overall, I did still enjoy my time with this book and do want to try other books by this author, as the concept was unique, and I adored how diverse the characters were. I can definitely see myself enjoying other books by A. M. Strickland, even if this particular one wasn’t a favorite.

(Blog review up September 28)

A gorgeous queer story with loveable characters and an action-packed plot. The magic system is inventive and unique and this dark adventure takes a twist.

A.M. Strickland’s In the Ravenous Dark was a book I was extremely eager to read. It sounded so unique, and there were many elements throughout that I adore in my fantasy books. While I did enjoy this one, I did not love it in the way I had anticipated. In fact, my feelings at the start of the book contrasted hugely with my feelings at the end.

In truth, my three-star rating is an overall feeling, yet the book can be split into different ratings. At first, I thought the book was a little slow. Despite this, there were unique elements and interesting details that had me considering it a four-star rating. It felt like it would grow into a full four-star rating, and I was eager to see it develop more. As things started to progress, however, my interest started to lessen. I remained curious about how things would play out, but everything became quick and cliched. The depth I had been hoping for did not appear, and everything started to fall together too easily. Which is why the end of the book was a two-star rating for me. It was so easily concluded, wrapped together in a pretty bow. By the end, I disliked the main character and felt the growth that should have happened was never quite there. In fact, the way everyone accepted her made it feel like she didn’t need to do any growing to amend her selfish behaviour at all.

All in all, this was a great concept with some interesting points. However, it didn’t quite work for me in the way I had anticipated. I can see many loving it, but it wasn’t quite for me.

2.5 stars

Rovan lives in Thanopolis, a place where the rare magic of bloodmages is strictly controlled.
Rovan's father drilled into her the importance of hiding her magic, and since his own magic was discovered which resulted in his death, that is what she's done.
That is, until Rovan is witnessed using her powers and is taken to the royal palace where she is assigned a dead being as a guardian who watches her every move.
Can Rovan escape the palace and her new guardian Ivrilos?
Can Rovan trust any of the royals, such as Lydea the gorgeous princess?

The premise of this book with its bloodmages, royals and deceptions intrigued me, as well as the cover. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would in the end.
Rovan was a protagonist that I liked overall, but there were many times when she acted without thinking and could be quite selfish.
I liked Lydea and Japha more than Rovan and found them interesting.
While I wasn't a huge fan of the romance, I did really like the diversity.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention until around 70% when the story went in a direction that I really didn't like. After that I lost all interest and investment in what happened. I continued reading seeing as I was close to the end, hoping that things would get better, but they didn't.
The concepts of the bloodmages and the sigils they used were interesting.
The writing style was easy to follow.
It's a shame that I didn't enjoy this as much in the end as I did to begin with.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

In the Ravenous Dark follows Rovan, a pansexual bloodmage who has spent most of her life hiding from bloodmage council (I can't remember if they have a name). Either way, Rovan ends up where she least wants to be: in the palace and shackled to a Guardian who is in charge of keeping her in line. Picture a brooding and moody half ghost.

Between Ivirlos (ghosty boy) and Lydea (super hot princess), Rovan's heart is torn and this is before the three of them find out a realm shattering secret. The three must decide if they can trust each other enough to work together.

Hi yes this story ends in polyamory and I was slayed by it. Also, I 100% believe Japha exists in a queer-platonic relationship with Rovan and Lydea and I AM HERE FOR IT. This book is so fucking gay and dark and like this is want I need in my life. I need more of this. I loved Rovan with every fiber of my being and how selfish and determined she was. The girl screws up several times, but it never makes her stop. Also her anger at the world is something I relate to a lot.

There was a huge plot twist/switch of direction late into this book. It blew my fucking mind. I'm still not over it. I loved every damn second of this book.

In the Ravenous Dark offers up a standalone dark fantasy on the higher end of YA. It’s packed with insidious politics, intriguing magic, undead spirits and delicious romance.

I really liked the bloodlines magic system. Sometimes the world was a little dense to read and difficult to get a grip of, but on the whole, I liked it (although, I must say, I personally think it would’ve worked better as a duology to allow smoother development of the world and its characters).

I really enjoyed the dark tone of the entire novel; I didn’t know who was trustworthy or what twists were around the corner. Additionally, I loved how positive it was for female sexuality and queer representation (pansexuality, a sexuality, polyamory, non-binary identity). The main character, Rovan, was a really enjoyable protagonist; she had such a bratty attitude that, for me, read as petulantly badass. Basically, she was a sass master. And I absolutely adored her friendship with Japha.

If you’ve been a fan of the dark vibes in the Something Dark And Holy series, or like the complexities of Naomi Novik’s The Scholomance trilogy, or even the ferocity found in Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow, then definitely check out In the Ravenous Dark.

Thank you kindly to the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I didn't like this book at all. . I found it a bit too boring but also wasn't keen on the plot either. After the first chunk it stopped interesting me.. I've kinda come to the realisation that this wasn't the book for me. Ended up not finishing this book.

This one took me by surprise, in an exceptionally good way. I loved how dark and raw this story was, and even though I did not expect to love it as much, I was sucked into the story from the beginning, and really enjoyed it. I normally don't like the main character, but Rovan was amazing, and I loved how fierce she was. This will definitely be a book you can find me rereading!

This wasn't as perfect as I wanted it to be but it still had a lot of things I appreciated!

Let me talk about the negatives first so we end on a positive note: I wasn't the biggest fan of the pacing of this novel. Rarely does it ever happen that I want a standalone to be a duology (usually, it's the other way around) but I feel like In the Ravenous Dark would have benefitted from having more space to elaborate, develop and grow. So many things happened in the second half of the book that I found myself struggling to keep up and recognize the plot points for what they were. I feel like the relationship dynamics suffered at the cost of the plot progressing as well.

THE POSITIVES, HOWEVER! There were plenty. I really adored the representation in this book and I specifically enjoyed the ace and poly rep. I thought both were done really, really well, and none of the characters ever felt like tokens. Rather than the MC, I felt like the side characters were extremely loveable. I also felt like the author managed to give the MC a strong enough voice.

Overall - there were things that could have been improved, IMO, but I'll definitely be checking up whatever the author's publishes next!

Not for me at all, not my cup of tea , I enjoyed the rep, but the fantasy just no, completely and irrevocably no.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

While I liked the overall concept of the story, I didn’t love how it was actually pulled off and I had a hard time getting through the book.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Okaaaayyyy, so I have mixed feelings about this one. First of all, I love that there is a pansexual main character, I love how most of the characters are queer, and the rep is fantastic. However, the magic system just fell a little bit flat for me. There just seemed to be a lot going on for it to be a standalone. It really should have been either a longer book, or a Duology, because a lot more world building and information was needed to really make this the spectacular fantasy I know this could have been. The relationships could have been explored more as well. Lydea and Ivralos were such interesting characters that some more exploration of them as people, and their relationship with Rovan.

When this book first started, I was eager to dive into the world. The magic system seemed wonderful and it started off and I was certain that it was going to be a dark tale. Somewhere along the way, a lot of that fizzled out for me.

When Roven is young, her father sacrifices himself to keep her bloodmage ability hidden. For years, she has followed everything her father told her to keep her magic hidden, but when she shows herself to save someone Roven soon finds herself in an entirely different world.

What I loved about this was the diversity. When it came to gender and sexual identity there was a number of characters who identified a number of ways and no one batted an eye. I loved that and it was so comforting to have an environment like that.

Roven herself really seemed like such a strong character and she was. She was interesting and definitely lost her way at one point and didn't seem like herself as she became blinded by what she wanted to accomplish.

The world that I thought was going to be so interesting didn't have as much building as I thought it would so this fantasy quickly felt like a different genre entirely almost.

There is also instalove here once and one might be able to argue for twice as I feel like the build up to the second did lack a little bit.

For a book as long as this one was, I would have hoped that a lot more was explained, but this easily could have been a hundred pages longer to dive in deeper into the world and the characters and it really would have benefitted from that.

Overall, this wasn't a terrible read. I had moments where I enjoyed it, but I simply wish there had been more.

I love a fantasy novel, and this book manages to take all the beautiful bits about fantasy novels, and turns them upside down, creating a dark fantasy world. It's clever, well written, fast paced, and utterly brilliant. You'll fall in love - and hate - with all the characters you encounter. Your heart will beat faster, and you'll be torn between wanting to experience the world to understand it, and being very glad you don't live in it.