The Merciful Crow Review (Spoiler Free)
- Suzie B
- Jul 6, 2019
- 3 min read
About the Book
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?
The Review
The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
4.5/5 Stars
First off: The Merciful Crow filled me with the intense desire to create. I could see the characters and scenes so clearly in my mind, and I couldn't focus of drawing anything else until I got a couple of them out of my head. So I present to you Barf: aka my favorite character of the entire book. I'm kidding, of course. I mean, he's just a cat, that would be ridiculous, right? Ha... haha... he... Yeah, okay, He's my favorite. The other characters were amazing and I loved them, too, but my loyalties will always be to cats before people. Sorry. (I'm really not though, cats are the best.)
This book also made me angry. Not at the book, of course, but at the world that created it. The Merciful Crow is a perfect example of how fantasy novels can capture reality in ways most people don't even realize.
It is a tale of a girl from a family that gets discriminated against based purely of the caste they were born into, despite the fact that without them, the entire society would fall apart. Literally. And then you have two characters from higher castes: A prince and a guard.
The prince is heir to his father's throne, a throne that is meant to protect all people of the kingdom, and yet it has consistently failed to pass laws to protect Crows (the lowest caste) from the discrimination they face. Indeed, before the prince fakes his death and begins spending time with the crows, he hadn't even realized just how deep that systemic discrimination ran through their society.
And finally there is the prince's personal guard, the Hawk. Far from royalty himself, and yet he shares the princes blindness to the suffering of the Crows until he stands in their midst. Hawks are charged with enforcing the laws and defending the people of the kingdom, and he is shocked to find that the Hawks would partake in the abuse of the Crows instead of defending them. In fact, he spends a good portion of the book denying just that, even when faced with indisputable evidence of the opposite being true.
Does any of this sound familiar? Because to me it sounds a lot like modern day society, but set in another world with magic and new parameters of why they are being discriminated against. Those on top are blind to the suffering of the marginalized, and those who are supposed to protect often abuse or are blind to their colleagues misconduct.
This book showcased the worst of our society, but also gave me hope. Because things can change, people can change. It may not be quick, and it certainly won't be easy, but it can happen. I really enjoyed this book for the reason I enjoy most books: it showed the truth of humanity. It showed that change is possible. It showed that people can grow. Not everyone, some people are too blinded by their self-righteous zeal, but some people truly can change for the better.
So please, go out. Read this book. Share it with your friends and family. You won't regret it.
Some of my favorite quotes from the book*:
"Even Phoenixes need ash to rise from." - pg 46
"One way or another, we feed the crows." - pg 66
"No one answered, and now we all will." - pg 75
"When you act in anger, you have already lost your battle." - pg 101
"I will follow until I must lead. I will shield until I must strike. I will fight until I must heal." - pg 293
*Note: All quotes & pages numbers were taken from an advanced copy of the book. I will update them upon the release of the final product.
Where can you buy this book?
Right Here! Bookmarks ships anywhere!
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