Review by jennifer756cranmer -- Apollo's Raven

[Jennifer Lorraine Cranmer]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Apollo's Raven" by Linnea Tanner.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Apollo’s Raven by Linnea Tanner is a historical fiction novel that takes place a few generations after the death of Mark Antony in Britannia. Catrin, the youngest daughter of the Cantiaci king, is charged with saving the kingdom. The kingdom seems to be attacked from three sides. She has to save it from her awful half-brother, Marrock. Marrock is working with a rival tribe and the Romans to overthrow the Cantiaci king, Amren. She also has to contend with her father’s spiritual advisor, Agrona. Agrona’s body actually holds the soul of the former queen, whom the king had beheaded, and she is out for revenge. To top it all off, Catrin has been charged by King Amren to reverse a curse that his former queen cast on him at the time of her death. With all this on her plate, a personal discovery of her connection to the raven might be too much for the young princess. But she begins to learn to harness the power of the raven as she is charged with guarding Marcellus, a Roman captive being held to ensure the safe return of the king. Marcellus is the great-grandson of Mark Antony himself and the son of Senator Lucius Antonius. The senator has his own ideas about fully capturing Britannia for Rome to elevate himself. Even though Catrin and Marcellus have been charged with gathering information from each other, they soon find that they are in love. When Marrock falsifies a letter to the queen from the senator, war threatens to break loose. Catrin has to choose between loyalty to her family and people and her love for the young Roman.

I truly enjoyed this novel. It has just the right amount of history to make it believable. It is suitable for young adults because of some sexual content and anyone that finds the history and folklore of the Roman empire will not be able to put this book down.

I thought the love story inside this book was very genuine. I really liked how the author included questioning feelings from both Marcellus and Catrin. Often times we find that two characters just fall in love and nothing else matters and they do not question their circumstances. It gave the novel a level of truth that is uncommon with most romantic situations in stories. I truly appreciated the realism it brought to the storyline.

I enjoyed how the gods and ancient druids are used in the story. I liked that it showed how the people really believed in the gods and looked to them for guidance and protection. I appreciated that the druids were rare. It made it understandable that some would not believe, but we could still look at Catrin as someone real and struggling with her abilities instead of her just knowing exactly how it all would work. She had to find her own way. I appreciated that this was her inner struggle and even her own people, like her mother, were often not accepting of it.

Overall, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I gave the novel 4 out of 4 stars. This book was very well edited. The author really had a wonderful understanding of the time in history as well as human nature. It brought a level of believability to the novel that is not often seen in fiction. The author left me craving more at the end of this novel. I am so glad that it is not the end of the story. I cannot wait for the opportunity to read the next novel in the series.

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Apollo's Raven
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