Book Review: Raven by

After the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly Taylor's parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets...
Raven is a fantasy novel for children and young adults set in the beautiful province of British Columbia.




Wow, this book was so interesting and different than some of my recent reads. The first couple of chapters were fantastically creepy and interesting at the same time. We are introduced to a girl who's mother doesn't really talk to her. She is not allowed to go anywhere, talk to anybody and hasn't even seen her father who lives in the house!  She has never had a cooked meal, only eating canned food and her mother watches her out the window as she comes and goes from school.

The introduction was very creepy, I wasn't sure what to expect, a horror book or heavy tale of loss and depression. But the story develops into this fantastical tale of shape shifters and good vs evil. It was so reminiscent of stories by The Brothers Grimm that I was surprised when I finished it that this was not a book that people were talking about.

The only thing that I noticed caught me off guard was that it felt that it could be a middle grade novel. As the main character is really in her teens, she was so guarded and protected throughout her childhood that she is very naive and emotional. For the majority of the book I kept thinking she was younger than she was. As she moves to Canada and begins to see what family is really about, the connection, friendships and love that comes from that we see her constantly overwhelmed with emotions on how she should feel.  I loved being able to see things from a different perspective, it felt so nice to just go back to the basic things in life and have that reminder.

Not only does Lilly learn what family is, there is some fantastic supernatural things going on. A blend of wonderful and interesting characters.  When Lilly moves to Canada to live with her Grandfather after her mother and father disappear we learn several mysterious secrets that surround the family. The best part is their connection to the Ravens.

This book is currently available for $0.99 and at that price it's a steal
Happy Reading!