“She might win the throne. She might destroy an empire. Either way, it begins with murder.”

I listened to the audiobook which was so good! The narrator did such an incredible job at keeping all the characters distinct & the narration had me completely hooked.

This is an epic fantasy with a murder mystery while there are deadly trials happening to see who will become the next leader of the empire.

Our MC is a raven scholar who works directly for the emperor & so becomes the perfect person to be put in charge to find the killer while the trials are happening.
I loved Neema so much, she was such an interesting character, who is so out of her depth trying to juggle her roles as raven scholar, find a killer & the role she plays in the trials.
I loved seeing her resilience & the inventive ways in which she scrapes things together to ensure her survival & success.
She is so driven & sometimes at the expense of those she loves so it was fun watching her have to work with the fox contender who happens to be her ex boyfriend & a man she still very much has feelings for. The angst & tension between them was immaculate.

I also loved the other characters, they were all so well written & fleshed out & despite the vast range of characters & threads, it all worked so well especially as it all started to connect to the build up to the ending.

The story is addictive & twisty, the suspense & tension that is built up will keep you reading well into the night & the plot was TWISTING, just when I thought I worked things out the full reveal still had me shook!

Highly recommend reading & especially listening to the audiobook!

From the very first page, this book had its claws in me—what an opening! The world-building is rich and layered, with each monastery linked to an animal that shapes its people’s skills and personalities. I was instantly drawn to Neema, the MC—clever, fierce, and so relatable. Cain from the Fox Monastery had me grinning throughout; his humour was spot-on and perfectly timed.

And Sol—a solitary fragment of the Raven entity—was such a brilliantly unique character. Equal parts hilarious and exasperating, like a deeply sarcastic, slightly spiteful child. But his dynamic with Neema added so much depth and heart to the story.

The twists? Completely blindsided me. I love when a fantasy keeps me guessing. Absolutely one of my top reads this year. More like this, please!

One of the best book of this year
This book deserves all the praise in the world and to write an essay would not be enough to even begin to describe how amazing it felt to read this
I have never been so enthralled with a story from the very first part of the freaking PROLOGUE
And the fact that this part will haunt the narrative throughout the entire book is genius
What is even more genius is the plot inside the plot that i did not see coming even from the bottom of the ocean, i am still left thinking about it

From the very opening of this book I was captured. You're taken right in to the thick of it, with an emotional and gut wrenching prologue. This opener in a new fantasy trilogy is definitely not one to miss!
The writing is engaging and witty, with a sarcasm running through the dialogue and banter that keeps you enjoying the humour even as the plot thickens and things get serious! The world building is incredibly well done, and the reader learns along with the plot about the different animal factions and the history of this complex and interesting world.
Through the perspective of the narrator we learn how the 8 contenders will be competing for the throne. Neema, a Raven Scholar employed by the current emperor, ends up tasked with the job of solving a murder which puts her in contention for the throne!
The narrator of the audio did a great job bringing the story to life and made for a great and fun listen.

I had the privilege of listening to an ALC of this book last month and I cannot describe how much I loved it. Antonia Hodgson has absolutely crushed it with this book. Based on the description I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting, this book is a mash up of a murder mystery and epic fantasy and I was not ready for all of the twists and turns. I’ve gotten sick of predictable plot twists, but every time I thought I knew where this was going the author pulled another surprise out of the bag. This book tells the story of a country where the next emperor or empress is chosen via a competition rather than inherited. It opens with a shocking event 8 years prior and then a time skip forward to the day before the competition starts. The story focuses on how the choices made on that fateful day 8 years ago have shaped the characters and how it still drives them.
The world building and back story were incredibly detailed and immersive. I sometimes struggle to keep up with worldbuilding when listening to an audiobook but I was hooked from the start and found it easy to keep up. This was helped by the incredible narration of Daphne Kouma and the masterful production of the audiobook.
I loved the relationship between Neema and Cain. Neema is such a compelling main character with an interesting backstory and motivations and her relationship with Cain is complicated and messy. They both have very complex character arcs and it’s wonderful to see how their stories intertwine and weave in and out from each other; pain, joy and every emotion in between. All of the characters were flawed, each of them making morally dubious decisions and dealing with the internal conflicts those decisions create as well as the real life consequences. The scheming and backstabbing are absolutely delicious. Benna, Ruko and Sol are all characters that I can’t get enough of.
I’m really not sure about where this series will go from here. Hodgson has proved that I cannot predict her actions! I can’t wait to see where she takes it from here.

4.25 ⭐️
I haven’t been this surprised by a fantasy book since The Will of the Many—and that’s saying something.

The Raven Scholar is absolutely bursting at the seams in the best possible way. It’s overstuffed, chaotic, twisty, and somehow still manages to be deeply thoughtful and wildly entertaining. There’s murder, political intrigue, gods with agendas, trials, and a scholar with a serious need to finish her thoughts—even if it kills her (or someone else).

Neema, our reluctant heroine, is exactly the kind of character I love: sharp, frustrating, awkwardly self-aware, and unapologetically annoying. And I mean that with full affection. She’s pedantic and socially prickly in a way that actually matters to the story. Her interactions with the rest of the cast—especially Cain, in a romance that’s quietly mature and refreshingly understated—add so much heart to the chaos. No angsty enemies-to-lovers here, just two people who know each other and choose each other, despite everything.

The structure is complex but purposeful. What initially felt like POV overload eventually revealed itself as a brilliant Rubik’s Cube of a narrative—every shift adding new dimension, new tension, and new ways of seeing the world and its characters. I love when a book trusts the reader to get there, and Hodgson does just that.

Also, shoutout to the audiobook—Daphne Kouma is phenomenal. The distinct voices she gave each character helped anchor me through all the twists, and there are so many. The second half especially? Off the rails in the best way. My jaw literally dropped more than once, and there’s one character introduced halfway through who instantly became a fave—I kind of wish they’d been there from page one.

There are some moments where the worldbuilding fumbles slightly—especially around the presence (and denial) of magic—but the pacing and character work kept me turning pages without caring too much. And thematically? The book is unflinching about guilt, grief, and culpability, all while a dead girl lingers in the background like a ghost haunting every choice.

I genuinely can’t wait to see where this series goes next. Hodgson has only opened one corner of this world, and there are two more books coming? I feel like I just cracked open a mystery box and found a whole second layer underneath.

This one’s a ride—and a smart, funny, heartbreaking one at that.

The emperor of Orrun is coming to the end of his reign after twenty-four years, and a successor is needed to replace Bersun the Brusque.
The succession will come from one of the seven monasteries. Bear, Fox, Hound, Monkey, Ox, Raven and Tiger. All bitter rivals, all the best candidates in their respective fields. But this year a proxy eighth place has been chosen, that one is the monastery of the Dragon.
But when disaster strikes and one of the candidates is murdered, Neema Kraa the High Scholar to the emperor is tasked with investigating the death, and things become very difficult, very quickly.
It’s a race against time, can she find out the truth before the contest is over?
With everything stacked against her and the whole kingdom watching, this will be the ultimate test. One that could destroy her and the kingdom itself.
This is a great start to a series that has all the signs of becoming an epic trilogy.
Antonia Hodgson has created a wonderful story, set in a beautiful and mysterious world, with a main character to die for.
This novel is narrated by Daphne Kouma and she does an amazing job with it.
She brings the author’s world to life with her fantastic ability to draw the listener in.
This book is a great example of fantasy at its best. Both author and narrator do a highly accomplished job, and I very much look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Hodderscape for the opportunity to listen and review this most excellent book.

4.5⭐️

The Raven Scholar is a brilliant new epic fantasy that I think is a must read! It takes you along a journey full of colourful characters, lies and deceit, trials, murder and a fight for the throne with a really complex and impressively built world of animal guardians and those who worship them... or pretend to.

'The Raven Scholar' follows Neema Kraa when she is thrown into a battle for a crown she doesn't want as well as an investigation into the murder of a fellow Raven. She is quickly roped into a brutal game of politics and a cut throat competition that she may not survive.

This book has so many layers to it, through our various POVs and timelines and at times was difficult to comprehend, but Antonia Hodgson is a master at writing, and it all came together so beautifully. The twist and turns this story took had me constantly speculating and immersed in the story, it was truly captivating!

There were such complex characters within this book, all with their own motivations and flaws. It was truly brilliant such fully fleshed out backgrounds, as it felt like I truly understood the characters and why they made the decisions they made throughout the novel. Huge props to Daphne Kouma, she is an amazing job narrating this book! She gave each character such personality and had amazing expression which really benefitted the novel!

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for providing me with an ALC in return for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

This was a solid but somewhat confusing read. But I really respect the author for being bold and taking risks with their writing. It’s refreshing to see something different from what we typically get!

It did take me quite a while to get into the plot, and I genuinely started enjoying the book after the solitary raven, “Sol,” was introduced! The world-building is definitely one of the most unique and imaginative I’ve read. But, the trials themselves felt ridiculous; no one, except Ruko, seemed to take them seriously, despite being competitors who had supposedly trained their entire lives for this competition. It was laughable that Neema, with no experience or training, managed to outperform most of these contenders.

I also can’t muster any sympathy for Ruko; I despise him for what he did to his sister and can't imagine ever forgiving him.

The storyline surrounding Princess Yasila still remains unclear to me.

I don't think I knew what I was getting into with this book, but I am so very glad that I ended up picking it up. It is genuinely one of the best things I have read in a really, really long time.

I will say that it starts with a different POV to the rest of the book, and I found it a little confusing although there's some really good information that you need later. That was probably the lowest part of the book for me. From there though, it builds and gets better and better! By the second half of the book I was absolutely feral for it - I kept having to voice note my friend, screaming about the way the twists and turns were revealed! They were put together so well and some literally had me gasping. It's been a long time since a book did that to me!

The society itself is really interesting with the concept of the eight and the way that people align to the houses. A lot of similar things I have seen has people born into houses and I really like that this is through a choice and affiliation. I suspect that there is still a lot of family affiliation, but it felt quite fresh to me.

I like the way that the politics worked and how the 'shutting out the commoners' element gives obvious parallels to things in real life, but it didn't feel too heavy handed. And the concept of the trials and the emperor was really interesting.

In many ways, this book possibly shouldn't work, because it's a mish mash of so many things. It's part murder mystery, part trial to the death, part politics, part fantasy, and it's just SO good. I really don't think I'm able to articulate that enough!

Neema is such a good main character, and her traits often made me laugh. She just can't not share information, especially if someone else gets it wrong and that just made me laugh. I really liked the concept of how the people did align with the houses and it didn't feel too much like everyone had to be basically the same person - we see that best in Raven house. I loved Kane as a fox, although I did find his initial characterisation a little bit more frustrating because it played into one of my least favourite tropes, blaming someone for another's decision. I also really enjoyed meeting all the contestants and seeing how their alignments worked.

Then we have my favourite thing - an animal character! Without saying anything too spoilery, a raven that lives inside your chest is just very hard core! And the commentary about it going in and out being all "I won't show you that, don't imagine this <very explicit description>" just had me cackling. The way that the narration splits between the characters, but also is sometimes the raven worked really well for me. Not only because you had some snarky commentary that would have otherwise been out of place, but because it was a good way to add world building.

I also need to talk about the audio production on this, because I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook, and the narrator did such an amazing job! I can't even tell you how fantastic a job they did! And the production itself is really excellent because it plays into the atmosphere it, and uses like the music in between chapters and sections really well. I definitely recommend the audiobook.

Overall, despite the slow start and one of my least favourite tropes, I can't help but give this book 5 stars! That should highlight just how much it blew me away. I'm already looking forward to re-reading it in preparation for part two. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Sad to say I didn't love this one as much as I hoped. It's a book with a good story, great characters, and balanced humor, but unfortunately I couldn't connect with any of it, and reading past the 30% ended up feeling like a chore, which I'm sure is part of the reason why it took me over a month to get through my ARC, even though I loved the beginning of the book. The Raven Scholar will appeal to many readers; I'm not one of them, sadly.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodderscape for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for both the eARC and audio ARC copies of this book in exchange for an honest review (read and listened to in combination).

I have to say that I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but this chaotic fantasy book has turned out to be one of my favourite reads so far this year.

The mix of humorous and more serious aspects meant I never knew what was going to happen next, and I found it hard to put down (despite the length). There’s something to keep everyone intrigued - political intrigue, games and a murder mystery, and some romance.

The characters are very well developed and the world building was very unique, but just so well crafted (and not in an overwhelming way!)

I love good banter and humour, and two of my absolute favourite things in this book were the witty dialogue and characters. Both were seamlessly interwoven with the more serious aspects of the story.

For example: “I’m not furious,” Katsan said, furious.

As well as the humour, I appreciated the fearless approach to dealing with characters to move the story along, and the plot twists were fantastic.

I also adored watching the various relationships between the characters grow and develop, and can’t wait to see how they develop further.

I really enjoyed the audiobook, and the narrator’s accents and voices for the characters were on point.

Bring on the next book!

The book starts off focusing on two twins who have just reached a stage of maturity in their society as they travel to visit the emperor. It turns out their father was a rebel many years ago and tried to overthrow the emperor and the story starts from there. Except it doesn't exactly, as it flips then to focus on Neema - the titular Raven Scholar. For some reason the empire decides who is going to control the empire for 24 years at a time by having a series of trials set up by each of the 8 main houses of the Gods and then also fighting each other on a daily basis to gain points. I did struggle to get into the book as the main character is supposed to be unlikeable - a know it all who signed an order of exile and fated a teenager to her death because she wanted to show off her calligraphy as much as anything - but there are layers to Neema - and to the book as a whole. It turns out that the story you think you know might not be quite as it seems and there are reveals and twists and turns throughout the story. The cast is large and this didn't help me engage with the story, but it did payoff and after slogging through the first 45% of the book I flew through the rest. There is a lot of politics, scheming, trials, secrets, historical tales being exposed, mythical/legendary/holy creatures becoming more present in the living realm. There is a LOT going on and I've no idea where the author could take it in the sequel but I am interested to find out. I thought the narration was good, there were a lot of different personalities and even species to cover and this was done well, but I'm not sure if the actual voice of the narrator fit the protagonist that well, in that she sounded to me at least, a lot younger than the age she was portrayed as.

I come into this story with zero expectation and I was blown away.
I really loved this story.
Dark academia, murder mystery story with trials.
I loved Neema and Cain and I can't wait for the next book in this epic fantasy!
The audiobook was excellent and really worked well with the different POVs.

This truly epic story is nearly impossible to sum up in a review. It is long but it covers so much. It doesn’t drag either, I would sit down to listen to a bit only to find several hours had gone by. The audiobook is one of the best produced I’ve heard, the different voices she manages make each character more real.

The world building is unique, I can’t think of anything similar. Anything animal based is always going to intrigue me. I don’t know how to continue now without having this book to read, hopefully the sequel comes along quickly!

At times it did feel a bit much how everything/the world seemed to be against Neema. She came across as more hated than someone who was positioned as being a potential antagonist. I thought for a large cast of characters they were all very well developed, I did feel that I knew them and that they had arcs that were important to the plot. Of course I have my favourites and ones I hope to see more of in the future (Sol and Pink Pink especially!)

I really hope everyone picks this up and they become as obsessed with it as I have! I need people to talk to about this and discuss!

This book is so much more than it seems on the surface, it truly feels like you’re reading an epic tale with a full world. I’m sure anyone who does pick it up with find it truly magnificent!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Without doubt my favourite fantasy book of the year (and I know it’s only April, but I can’t see it being knocked off the top spot!)
Bersun the Brusque, emperor of Orrun, has reached the end of his twenty-four-year tenure and now, eight contenders trained at rival monasteries, each representing one of the eight animal guardians of the world are set to compete for the throne. Until one of them is found killed. It falls to Neema Kraa, high scholar to the emperor, to investigate the murder. Can she uncover the truth before the contest is over? The task is difficult, deadly, and may just change the entire world as she knows it.
This book is incredible. The world building is detailed and masterful without ever feeling heavy or overly complicated, the plot is easy to follow but the twists had me literally gasping. I’m usually the kind of person who predicts these sorts of things but Hodgson managed to surprise me at almost every turn.
The characters are wonderful. I loved Neema and her little idiosyncrasies, and I felt she was such a relatable reluctant MC. Cain was an absolute joy and I missed him whenever he wasn’t around. The supporting cast were brilliantly engaging and very well-rounded too. It was difficult to know who to root for!
The writing is beautiful too, poetic yet not overdone. I received an ARC of the audiobook and it was an absolute treat. The narrator is just incredible and her ability to inhabit all of the (many) characters in this book was quite honestly amazing.
I would highly recommend this book to fantasy fans and I cannot wait to read more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

After a twenty‑four‑year reign, Emperor Bersun’s death throws Orrun into chaos. Seven challengers—each bound to a sacred beast (Fox, Raven, Tiger, Ox, Bear, Monkey, Hound and a hidden Dragon)—enter a deadly competition for the throne. When the Raven champion is killed, bookish High Scholar Neema Kraa is thrust from her quiet studies into lethal trials, murder investigations and the whims of a demanding avian god.

Listening to the audiobook was a total delight. The ensemble cast brings every courtier, conspirator and creature to vivid life, and that gravelly, Gollum‑style Raven voice stole the show. Hodgson layers palace intrigue, inventive magic, unexpected twists and just enough romance to keep you hooked—and she sprinkles in humour that had me laughing out loud more than once.

⤷ 4.75✩

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton Audio for providing me with this E-ARC via NetGalley

This book was an unexpected read that I absolutely loved. This has the potential to become one of my favourite fantasy series. My emotions were all over the place: from nearly crying to laughing out loud, to utter shock.

The character work is excellent. Both main and side characters have intricate backgrounds to the extent that you find yourself empathising with the villainous characters. You fully understand their motivations.

The plottwists are perfectly executed. All the various subplots build toward one reveal that tiss everything together in a stunning way.

Regarding the audio, it was a work of art. The narrator portrayed all emtoions perfectly and kept the suspense at just the right level throughout. I was very satisfied with this narrator.

I am already highly anticipating the next book. I cannot wait!

It took me quite a while to get into this book, and I was tempted to dnf this book but I pushed through and I am glad. There is a lot of worldbuilding and I think that was the major thing for me with this book.

Apart from that I really enjoyed this book, I thought that the world created was really interesting, and the characters were good to read. The plot also works really well, and I would really recommend this book.

I will continue to read this series, and will look out for future releases by this author, but will concede that I likely will need to reread this book for as it is so heavy.

I loved this audiobook and can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book.
I was so invested in the fate of the characters and loved the 8 animal gods who were set to return.
The fragment of the raven was such a great character and made it both funny and at times sad.
I am looking forward to the continuation of this series.