Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati MehrotraMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Disclaimers: I received a review copy of this book via the author's publicist and Netgalley, having become aware of it because the author is on the same writers' forum as me.
I greatly enjoyed the medieval Indian fantasy setting as a change from a medieval European fantasy setting, and (given that I have almost no prior knowledge) the setting felt well-researched without becoming the focus. There's a glossary at the back, but my Kindle's dictionary and Wikipedia between them adequately explained to me what the various foods, trees, items of clothing, and supernatural beings were, so I was able to follow the story and get a feel for what things looked like with minimal disruption to the flow. This isn't always the case with settings that are unfamiliar to me.
The plot took a stronger turn for the tragic than I was anticipating about a quarter of the way through (not that the blurb didn't warn me), and the protagonist had a really bad time of it. However, she persevered with courage, intelligence and resourcefulness, and made good use of her allies, all of which is what I look for in a protagonist.
I did struggle a little with suspension of disbelief about a couple of the key plot elements. The protagonist is betrayed, and to me, it was difficult to believe that the people who betrayed her could have concealed their treachery so effectively for so long. (view spoiler) However, everything else in the plot was well justified, including the romance (both people involved were actually admirable).
The adventure portions, which took the main focus, were varied, well handled and suspenseful, with action scenes that meant something and weren't just there for their own sake. The minor characters I found a little difficult to keep straight sometimes, since they're not strongly individual, but the major characters acted believably and developed over the course of the book.
All in all, sound and solid. I enjoyed it, and will look for other books by this author.
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