Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop Series: The Others #2
Published by Roc (3.4.2014)
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Format: Hardcover, 369 pages
Source: Library
<em>After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.</em>
<em>The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside's shape-shifting leader—wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.</em>
<em>As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.</em>
My thoughts
Anne Bishop has a way with words! While this one didn’t quite have the magic that Written in Red did, it was still amazing! I think the best part of this series by far is the characterization. Each and every character is very fleshed out and realistic, and it seems like Anne really took care in building a personality for everyone. I looove the characters!
Meg is fabulous, and in this one I feel like she grew even more. She’s finally finding her way in the world, and she’s learning fast. She soaked things up like a sponge. She may have been simple in the first book because of her sheltered upbringing, but she’s very smart! I enjoyed getting back into her head!
I freaking love Simon and Meg. They are adorable! I love that their relationship doesn’t immediately develop into more. They’re friends, and even though there’s a hint of something it’s not emphasized. In fact, there’s a lot of tension in some parts because of the confusion about where they stand. And OMG it was pretty sexy! It’s just funny because while Meg sees Simon naked in bed as bad, he can’t grasp the difference between human skin and wolf skin. Simon is Simon, and that’s all he sees. He’s very simplistic and straight-forward. I love that about him, and I think it did a great job showing the nature of the Others.
All of the other characters I loved so much were back, too: Grandfather Erebus, Tess, the Elementals and Ponies…I adore them all so much! So many Others feels!
The only complaint I have is that this book had a very slight Second Book Syndrome. There is a lot of focus on building characters and relationships (which is not a bad thing at all!), and not a lot of action. I didn’t get bored or anything, it just didn’t have the drive the first book did. View Spoiler »
Overall Assessment
Plot: 4/5
Premise: 5/5
Writing style: 4.5/5
Originality: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World-building: 4.5/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 4.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Previous Book
I love this series. I just did a relisten to Written in Red. I plan to relisten to this one again soon. I want to be refreshed when Visions of Silver. :-)
Oohhh, is the audio good? I’ve been looking for a new audiobook to start!
If you don’t have it already, Edelweiss has Vision in Silver and they’re approving people: http://goo.gl/8pgIxC
Just add in the notes that you read and loved the first two :)
I love the audios and I’m waiting for Visions of Silver on audio instead of getting the ebook. There are people who don’t like the narration. I wouldn’t like the narrator for a series with the standard kick ass heroine, but for the innocence of Meg, I think she works great.
Nice, I’ll have to try it sometime!
I’ve heard such good things about this series! Time to pick it up!!
I’d love to see what you think!