YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

A future chieftain

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

Okay sooo... If I had known this book was going to deal so heavily with what it deals with, I would not have read it. I feel like maybe I missed something with some early reviews/ the synopsis, but it was a LOT of racism and I didn't like it, no matter how well-intentioned.

Uhhhh what is this LOL. When I go into a ya fantasy wanting ya fantasy not poorly done racism for fun??

This romance... no. "Slow burn" when it's so obvious the entire until and then just suddenly happens.

Tbh crows belong to Leigh Bardugo and no one else

like... she says in her author bio that she donates to social justice with her illustrations so I'm sure she meant well but like.... white robed people hunting down the minorities? really? please no I'm just here for a fantasy read

turniip wrote: "like... she says in her author bio that she donates to social justice with her illustrations so I'm sure she meant well but like.... white robed people hunting down the minorities? really? please n..."

That is such a weird flex????

Jaye wrote: "Tbh crows belong to Leigh Bardugo and no one else"

Everyone was comparing it to SoC too and like??? there are 0 similarities except for the groups calling themselves crows

yeah it felt really weird to include but I guess that's twitter culture for ya.

Also for a slowburn romance there was the typical "jealous guy points out that he's staring at you" and then immediately they're like "yes omg i love his freckle"

Jaye wrote: "Uhhhh what is this LOL. When I go into a ya fantasy wanting ya fantasy not poorly done racism for fun??"

And like spoiled princes go down amongst the peasants and learn how hard it is.

turniip wrote: "Jaye wrote: "Tbh crows belong to Leigh Bardugo and no one else"

Everyone was comparing it to SoC too and like??? there are 0 similarities except for the groups calling themselves crows"

Yeah, I didn't really see the SoC comparisons. The magic system and influences are completely different

I don't think the book was for me unfortunately. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It just seemed pretty forgettable.

Did anyone listen to the audiobook? The narration really was my favourite part.

Clephiro (The Book Coven) wrote: "Did anyone listen to the audiobook? The narration really was my favourite part."

No, we know me and audiobooks :C I'm glad the narration was able to make it better for you though - we take any wins we can get in this house

I am listening to it right now

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Date changed. Restarting September 4th AND September 24th 2019. Happy Reading ☺

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Chapter 1-3
(view spoiler)[ hmm I am not sure about this just yet. So the crows are killers and giving whatever for their job. But Pa kept the prince alive. Only after the crows did their money dance for TEETH smh okay lol. Let me see more about this bone magic.. (hide spoiler)]

Getting my comments ready to post now! Give me just a few

Listened to the Audio via Audible - Still have no clue how to say this FMC's name nor spell it.. js.

Chapter5: (view spoiler)[ Ok so there are some interesting concepts here, a suppressed people that seems like they could be incredibly powerful but everyone else is afraid of them because of that? All in all its a little slow after the escape with the teeth (kind of gross but ok) Not sure I'm feeling this audio.. its like there is a British lady reading some Scottish brogue.. but it just doesn't seem right. Like every time the FMC says ken.. I think Scottish but its a different accent.. its throwing me. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 14: (view spoiler)[ I kind of wish the characters had a tad more depth.. I'm still just not really invested in these guys. There is a pretty complex world here with all these bird names (crows, vultures, sparrows, pigeons, phoenix's) and sinners, scummers, and a whole bunch of other peoples that I can't quite keep straight.. I'm going to need a key to separate all this I think. Occasionally I think that this whole story might be about actual birds.. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 21: (view spoiler)[ This fighting between these two.. both of them are wrong and both are right.. Its exhausting. The prince doesn't consider the crows his people.. but dang when is this FMC going to say enough is enough and stop just letting everyone run train over her. (hide spoiler)]
Chapter 22 (view spoiler)[ Eff this oath dude... This whole book has just for the most part been depressing and irritating. I'm not really a fan of either of these people and to be even more honest I don't feel like this world was built very clearly. I have a ton of issues picturing the scenes even and I can't understand why these groups are separated to begin with.. where is all this segregation even coming from. Where is the history, the backstory? I feel so lost here. (view spoiler)[
Finished: I'm not sure if it was because I was doing the audio, which I was not a fan of, or if it was just the book in general but I ended up not being a fan of this. (view spoiler)[ All in all it was confusing, hard to sink into with no backstory, there wasn't enough world building for me to understand the magical concepts well, I wasn't a fan of all the peoples being called by different bird names without some "real" explanations why those names were chosen, and tbh it was just kind of a depressing read in general. The ending was confusing to me.. I can't understand how some people can just "stop" being a crow. The FMC goes on and on about how she doesn't want to be chief, doesn't even know if she wants to be a crow.. So its a choice? Was the author trying to illistrate certain racial prejudices or cultural prejudices or maybe religious? By the end I couldn't tell what the actual point was.
I'm pretty sure this just wasn't for me (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Tiera if you take a look at the book on amazon. It has the 'caste legend' that is in the book if you do look inside. :)

I'm reading it with Heather on the 24th :) Just letting you guys know

Chapters 1-3

(view spoiler)[The concept of the Crows is interesting. So they've immune to the plague and they're hired to kill people who've been infected by it, and they were hired to kill the prince and his guard, but plot twist, they aren't infected and the Queen was trying to kill them, but the Fie's dad has sneaked them out.

I like the guard. He's quite witty and I think he's gonna butt heads with Fie throughout the book and they'll be great together. (hide spoiler)]

@maddie - starting this tonight! I’ll post some thoughts after the first few chapters.

Sounds good Heather!

Ch 1-3

(view spoiler)[ This is off to a slower start than I expected. But I'm still intrigued enough to push through this week and see how it goes..

The money dance - all I pictured was a haka dance >.< I'm hoping we get a good explanation of the teeth and bone magic within this world and that it isn't left vague. (hide spoiler)]

ch 7 (view spoiler)[ I feel bad that the crows get treated so poorly, especially when their job is the worst. Tavin is cute and seems to care about Fie, maybe they'll get together. Jasimir has a lot to learn before he's king (hide spoiler)]
ch 12 (view spoiler)[ It's nice Jas is teaching Fie to read. He's so ignorant of the world, it's good he's seeing how things are when people don't know he's the prince. The queen is terrible and not very creative. Everyone just dies in a hunting accident and that's not suspicious? (hide spoiler)]
ch 19 (view spoiler)[ I feel like there's a lot of down time in this book. I find I don't have too much to say since last update. I like that Fie and Tavin got together and I hope he's okay after being kidnapped. And it's good the Fie and Jasimir are getting along. I just want more action I guess (hide spoiler)]
finished (view spoiler)[ I was surprised Tavin and Jasimir are brothers! It makes sense, since they look alike. I'm glad the crows got their hawks, but I'm so sad Tavin can't come with Fie :( I hope in the next book, they'll figure out a way to be together. And maybe Jasimir can find someone to love too. (hide spoiler)]

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Date changed. Restarting December 1st 2019. Happy Reading ☺

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I'll join this as well! Finally! XD

And I'm finishing my current read today so I'll be able to stay up with you!

Awesome!!

Try for lots of updates please :p

ok re starting this one today, hopefully I actually stick with it this time!

ch 1-3

(view spoiler)[ I do like the imagery in this one and so far the plague concept is super intriguing. I'm curious why the crows are immune as well but I dig their group and how they operate.

I read the first couple of chapters back in like September but couldn't really get into it. This time I'm hooked and definitely want to know how the story progresses, so I'm glad I'm giving it another go! That being said, I wasn't surprised the prince was alive still but I do love how Fie's father set it up to sneak him and Tavin out!

Fie is feisty for sure and I think she will be fun to read, but I think I'm more interested in Tavin/Jasimir currently. (hide spoiler)]

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Date changed. Restarting June 15th 2021. Happy Reading ☺

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Oops I knew there was a book I was missing XD I picked up my book for the 18th before this one, so I'll just swap them both around

Hey Maddie I was just gifted this book and it seems too exciting I’m starting it right away so I’ll be joining you!

I just finished chapter 1 and there are a lot of confusions here but it all seems exciting.
I thought so many things while reading that chapter and made notes of them (view spoiler)[
I literally just read the first two paragraphs and I didn’t understand anything and that sounds so weird to me so I’m just gonna keep going until I understand something.
I think I’m starting to understand there’s a plague and these people can’t get the sickness and they are called the merciful crows are looking to get rid of the bodies and clean up and stuff and people are whether scared of them or disgusted by them or they envy them but I think they’re scared of them more because they would talk about them when they weren’t in earshot or something like that still a bit confused..
I’m literally 12 pages in and I’m so confused there’s so many words I don’t understand and so many statements that are just like thrown in a blender and just typed in but I’m intrigued I admit I am I’m also cry laughing right now but just go with it.
I’m curious to know if the queen is going to play a huge part in this book or not and if carrying the dead prince in their cart it’s going to make a difference either also it was mentioned twice that the crows weren’t called before to the palace so how did the royal family avoid getting the plague interested in knowing that I hope it is revealed at some point (hide spoiler)]

Yes join!

And yay for thoughts, that's what I love about BRs, all the internal thoughts and questions while reading. I'll be picking this up tomorrow or the next day :)

Chapter two
(view spoiler)[The queen gives me the impression that she’s a Karen lol, I was expecting her to yell out “the audACITY” lol 😂 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4
(view spoiler)[I really like Tavin and really excited about this book!! I am confused about something I mean the crows are supposed to be saving people from getting the plague so why do people hate them so much because they get paid for it I mean they’re getting rid of the bodies that could be contagious for others am I getting this wrong way or what why do they hate the crows when they’re doing them a favor and what is the problem between hawks and crows why is there a problem between the royals and the crows why are there so many things I still don’t understand lol (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5
I just love Tavin so much ugh

Chapter 8
It is so annoying for me to ship couples when they all call each other cousins lol xD
Also why don’t we know more about the rest of the crows, I think that would have gotten us more invested, like the story isn’t just about 6 or 7 people..

Chapter 10
(view spoiler)[I just knew something was going to go wrong (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12 - 50%
(view spoiler)[I still ship Tavin and Fie so hard and a huge part of me unfortunately wishes Pa would die already because it just seems like he is going to be tortured at this point or used in a way against Fie or the three of them. Also I have a feeling that the prince and Fie will make good friends but I am sad to know that Tavin will split from him when he is king..:( (hide spoiler)]

OMG I love all of your updates <3 I unfortunately won't be reading this yet, but soon for sure!

Maddie wrote: "OMG I love all of your updates <3 I unfortunately won't be reading this yet, but soon for sure!"

Aww that’s unfortunate.. I can’t put it down lol 😂

Yay, that'll motivate me! Do you have the sequel? I don't yet

My hold hasn't come in yet for this one, but I can't wait to start it. I have even put the second one on hold already!

Maddie wrote: "Yay, that'll motivate me! Do you have the sequel? I don't yet"

Yes I got the audiobook for the sequel but I’ve got a lot this month so I don’t know if I’ll get to it or not this month, depends on the ending lol

Sarah wrote: "My hold hasn't come in yet for this one, but I can't wait to start it. I have even put the second one on hold already!"

I’m only a bit past half way through but it’s amazing so far, I totally recommend getting into it as soon as you can!