I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5!

Soul of a Raven is a Gothic Fantasy, imbuing mystery and magic into this dark and enchanting tale. This Story follows Wren, a child holding onto a magical pendant to protected from a dark entity, Corvus, who has hunted her family for centuries. This is a dual timeline book, bouncing from present to past though a manuscript written by a deceased family member.

It is honestly very interesting – I didn’t know the London Stone existed until this book, or any of the mystery surrounding it, So that was a cool bit of history! I was drawn in from the very beginning with the sacrifice, and the witchy and druidic elements in the story. I really liked the character of Corvus, he was my favorite of the book, but I didn't find that any of the characters disappointed me. I would highly recommend this book if you are into gothic literature, witchy/supernatural story lines and darker reads in general. I look forward to reading more from Catherine Bloor in the future!

Thanks to Cranthrope Millner Publishers and Catherine Bloor for sharing this ARC with me for my honest review!

Soul of the Raven by Catherine Bloor has the potential to be a great read, combining modern day to Druidic and even Victorian history. The story follows two protagonist timelines: Wren's during the Victorian era, and Serin's, during the present day, both discovering that they have a destiny to protect the London Stone that has been passed down through multiple generations of the women in their family. As the story develops, the reader slowly learns that their task is to keep a precious, magical pendant from the antagonist, Corvus, who has been in search of the Stone for hundreds of years.

The idea is fantastic. To combine factual history and putting a fictional twist on it is a wonderful idea as well as focusing on female protagonists and showcasing their resilience and heroic attributes. However, the development of the story, setting, and characters fell flat for me. I didn't quite connect with the characters like I was hoping. I felt that there was high level information provided so the reader can get a general idea of who the characters were but I would have preferred a little more depth in each, especially Corvus.

The writing style felt simplistic and at times was beautifully written. However, there were several moments where it felt like certain sentences or paragraphs were written in an attempt to be as poetic as possible but for parts where it wasn't necessary. I felt that the modern day chapters were a little monotonous and didn't really need to be added as it didn't contribute much to the story.

Overall, I would love to see some more buildup of the storyline and the characters, including more of the origin story for each character and how they are all interconnected.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to like this book. But unfortunately I was just not interested in the characters or the story. The story is told between two different timelines and the bulk of the story is the story from the past. I did not understand why the author felt the need to include the modern day timeline at all. The modern day part is only a few pages out of the whole book and nothing at all happens that adds to the story.

I was provided an advance copy of Soul of a Raven through Net Galley for an honest review. I would like to thank the publisher and the author for the opportunity.

Soul of a Raven is a little difficult for me to rate; it was not a book that I raced home to pick up, but once I started reading each night, I became absolutely engrossed in the story and did not want to put it down.

The novel is technically a dual timeline story, with a modern day character finding a 19th century manuscript about the life of an ancestor, Wren. However, the modern story and characters only take up a few pages of the story with nearly all of the action taking place in the late 1800s.

The historical tale, involving Wren and Corvus, is quite dark and tragic and has an almost hypnotic feel.

For the first quarter of the book, I really wasn’t sure how I felt about it. While I was fascinated, I wasn’t sure I actually liked the story; but once I realised that that I wouldn’t be moving back and forth between timelines and really embraced Wren’s story, I loved the book. And, without giving anything away, I absolutely did not expect the ending.

I would absolutely recommend Soul of a Raven and if, like me, you struggle a little at the beginning, bear with it – it is well worth the effort.

A gothic infused historical novel that I loved, it was excuted incredibly well and was everything that I have looked for in this genre but hadn't found yet. I loved it.

Soul of a Raven by Catherine Bloor is a fantasy gothic with druidic and witchy elements that is both suspenseful and mysterious.

The story follows Wren who is tasked with protecting something ancient from a dark shadowy force who has stalked her predecessors for centuries. A mystical pendant, moon magic, and ravens conjure a beguiling story about fate and inheritance.

I really enjoyed this story as it had a good balance of magic and mystery. The story itself was gothic, with its supernatural aspects along with its past-present timeline. There was enough suspense and drama to keep me engaged and the magic was enchanting. I was worried this was going to be a high fantasy tale, but I'm so glad it wasn't. The characters were interesting, and I would have liked more information about the origins of the antagonist. The story is a magical interpretation of the famous London Stone which I didn't know anything about. This was a good read, and I look forward to reading future works by the author.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this book is what drew me to it the most. That happens a lot to me and, honestly, I'm normally left feeling like the story didn't live up to the covers hype lol. But this! This gothic story is really perfectly done. It's like a story within a story. "It started with a human sacrifice", and I was already hooked. Corvus was really the star of the show and I looked forward to his chapters.