There was definitely something...sumputuous about this book. Draven is at pains to describe the world and motivations of the primary characters. The 3rd person perspective goes between Martise and Silhara, offering the reader a sometimes unnecessary but often intriguing dichotomy of perception.

I will say while the relationship between the two built nicely it did kind of sideline the plot at times. ( )

I don't really have anything bad to say about this except for unoriginal.
It is a sweet romance story in which everything feels like a device for the purpose of said romance.
The story is simple and predictable which isn't necessarily a bad thing because this kind of romance can be enjoyable as is.
The logic behind the magic is a bit weak even tho its the unexplained kind.
The magic feels more like a tool that just fills whatever purpose is required at the moment.
(I probably should mention that there is quite a bit of smut.)
An enjoyable read but nothing special. ( )

Starts slow, but worth the trudge through the beginning quarter or so. ( )

I liked this overall, and it's about as close to a romance novel that I would get.

I did however think Martise could have been so much more, and I found myself annoyed at how repetitively they reminded me that she was absolutely not physically attractive in any way, I not only took offense to this as a female but as a human being in general. She wasn't disfigured so I really didn't understand why her 'plainness' had to be mentioned so many time. ( )

[b:Master of Crows|6811150|Master of Crows (Master of Crows, #1)|Grace Draven|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316187731s/6811150.jpg|7018843] by [a:Grace Draven|2759153|Grace Draven|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1318912237p2/2759153.jpg]
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Suspense
3.5 Stars

The negatives.
There are a couple of editing errors, but my biggest problem was the overly descriptive paragraphs of scenery. They were Numerous! It slowed the flow of the story down so much, I actually considered not finishing the book.
It drove me nuts!
Scenery is not action.
The author even described the main female character, Martise, so many times I wanted to scream, "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"
I'm not over my rant about this, but I think I made my point. So I will shut up about it and try to get over it. I got through it and finished the book.
I will say at the 35% mark, things Finally started moving forward.

The positives.
The main characters, Martise & Silhara are truly interesting. So is Silhara's servant Gurn. However, I do feel that all the characters, including the mc's, could have been better developed if the author hadn't insisted on repeating what we already knew. So many words wasted on inactivity.

Between the 30% to 35% mark there is an excellent scene and it completely revitalized my interest in the story. It was jammed full of action and suspense.
I can't say the the overly descriptive paragraphs stopped at this point, but they did lessen quit a bit. From this point on the action picks up substantially throughout the rest of the book. There is danger, intrigue and suspense.

The romance between Martise & Silhara has some really steamy action that is tastefully done. You can feel the love & respect between them.

This came close to being a 'young adult' book. Considering the age of the mc's and the love scenes, I would mark it more 'new adult'.

All in all, once you get close to the 30% mark, it became a pretty good story. ( )