I no longer have an interest in reviewing this title but would like to thank the publisher and author for the opportunity, it is now far past the publication and archive date. I have awarded 3 stars to keep this review neutral.

Exceptionally fun - if a little predictable - with engaging characters, and a gripping tale of family and responsibility, I loved The Raven Heir and am only a little disappointed that it's a standalone! I loved this world and the brilliant message it sends kids about connecting with the environment.

It took me a little while to get into this, but when I did, I enjoyed it well enough. I really liked Cordelia, Giles, and Rosalind. The plot was a fun adventure, and the twist actually got me for once (which made me really happy).

I liked Cordelia's character arc, though I thought it could be a little more clearlly defined. It made sense, but it could have done with a little more. There were a couple of elements that were cool, but confused me a touch. But the story as a whole holds together nicely. I suspect my questions will be answered in later books. The sibling dynamics were a great blend of squabbling and fierce love, and the resolution wasn't quite what I expected, but it worked well.

Overall, I liked the characters, I liked the plot, and it was well-written.

3/5 mysterious white flowers for this one :)

If you like sibling dynamics, mysterious magic, and there-are-three-of-us-but-only-one-can-rule tropes, then this is the book for you :)

*Free ebook given courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review (thank you!). All opinions are my own.*
((Posted to goodreads))

I received this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

I was keen to pick this up after thoroughly enjoying Stephanie's previous middle grade series, plus the premise sounded really intriguing. I'm so glad I did, it was so fun and magical!

I really liked how we got to see glimpses of the politics of the world, even though the children don't actually know much going in - we learn with them which is a lovely touch. Cordelia is particularly endearing of our three main characters - she is wild and just wants to run free and I really felt empathy for her. Plus I am very jealous of her shape shifting! I loved that Giles' life ambition is basically to be a bard, and that Rosalind wants to be a knight. They are both so wonderful.

There is so much packed into this book, it really captures the longing to grow up and the frustration of adults not telling you things so clearly. It is about family more than it's about magic and royalty too - there's so many little moments that I could mention, but I won't because you should just read it!

I also saw a comment that this would make a wonderful movie, and I honestly couldn't agree more! it has a great story, excellent moral and honestly I can really picture the way some of it would play out. :) Pick it up producers!

4 stars.

I really enjoyed this book, it took me a while to get into (because of a reading slump) but once I did I really enjoyed it. I liked the triplets a lot, their personalities came through well and the story moved at a good pace.

4 stars, looking forward to more.

A wholesome solid fantasy book that is perfect for middle grade. I haven't read a books like this for years so this was a very quick read for me and I loved it. The Raven Heir is a great way to get a younger audience into the fantasy world.

Thank you to Bloomsbury & Netgalley for the Earc.

This was a wholesome middle-grade fantasy focused on family love and greedy royalty. The connections between the characters were so strong and developed and the protagonists themselves had such great character ARCs. The writing itself was so beautiful and atmospheric and it was a delight to read.

However, I felt that the pacing was off completely and there was confusion with me as to the direction of the plot. There was either a lot of disjointed things happening or not much at all. Furthermore, the development of the secondary characters wasn’t really there and I think that’s down to the length of the novel. Whilst I know this is being turned into a series, I think this book could have benefited from another 100 pages.

Overall, it was a fun, wholesome, and quite a fast read but there were areas that needed developing for me to truly love it.

A set of young triplets, Cordelia, Giles and Rosalind, their older half brother, and their sorceress mother, live in a castle deep within an enchanted forest. Cordelia, a shapechanger and the wild one of the threesome, longs to see the other side of the forest but it's probably a case of 'be careful what you wish for' because, suddenly, after a lifetime of isolation, the outside world comes to them. It appears that one of them - the oldest - is the heir to the Raven Throne. but their mother has always been careful to hide the order of their birth. "I'll tell you when you're older," is just a way of fobbing off enquiring minds. The noble faction that wants to put one of the triplets on the throne desires a puppet ruler and - as has happened before - their puppet is not likely to live long, so Mom is not likely to give them up easily. Unfortunately the castle is overrun, Mom and big brother are captured, but the triplets escape, and thus begins their adventure.

The triplets are very distinct from each other, with contrasting but complementary talents. They have to figure out how to outwit both their supporters and their enemies. A lovely mix of politics and magic with an evil granny thrown in for good measure. It's a book about family, good and bad. The pacing is good, and the plot twisty withoiut being incomprehensible. Though this is obviously the beginning of a series, it's c9omplete in itself - no cliffhangers. Recommended for the 10 - 12 year-olds in your life. Possibly good for younger YA readers, too.

The Raven Heir is a really fun new middle-grade fantasy adventure full of magic, sibling banter, and long-kept secrets. The cover alone captivated me, with it’s beautiful colours and tantalising background of mountains and castles, and I was intrigued by the premise, which is different to a lot of other middle-grade stories I’ve read. And I really liked the idea of triplet characters – twins are quite prevalent in literature, but it’s quite rare to get anything beyond that.

As I started reading the book I learnt that, as well as her triplet siblings, Cordelia has an older brother, and that made me really happy as well! I’m the oldest sister of quadruplets, and so I really liked seeing myself reflected in the character of Connall, even if he had quite a minor role, and I definitely appreciated the family dynamics that Burgis fits in amidst all the other chaos happening.

Cordelia, the main character, loves her family, but she’s always felt a strong tug deep within her that calls her beyond the walls of her mother’s castle, and it takes all of her energy to stop herself from launching to the skies as a bird, or scurrying off as a fox to find freedom, and answers to the questions her mother refuses to answer, about their past and the outside world. But one day, an army presents itself at their door, demanding the heir to the Raven Throne, yet Cordelia’s mother still refuses to reveal the meaning of those words, and so Cordelia flies off, which leads her mother and older brother to be captures, and the triplets alone in the wild, alone for the first time.

From here, the siblings must evade those hunting for them, as some of the Dukes want to place one of them on the throne to use as puppets, while the others want to kill them and plant their own heir to gain power, and Cordelia discovers the location of the Raven Crown, broken and abandoned after the rulers broke their covenant with the earth. To stop the war and save their mother, the triplets will have to find the crown and reunite its pieces, but Cordelia learns other secrets about herself that she can’t bear to tell Rosalind or Giles, and the tension between them builds along with the danger.

It was a touching story, and it gripped me from beginning to end. I think any child looking for a new adventure will love this, and the fact that it’s the start of a new series means there’s more fun to come!

Cordelia can change into any animal she wants, she can be as huge as a bear and as small as a worm. But this still doesn't give her the freedom she longs for. When she gives in to this craving she accidentally sets off a chain of reactions, separating her from half her family. She is fiercely protective and all her instincts are driving her to rescue them but she realises that the whole land is at stake, not just her family and she has to make some difficult decisions.

From the start of the book you are thrown straight into the action and it doesn't let up for a minute. I loved that despite all their magic and the way they were brought up with this huge destiny, they are still normal siblings, bickering over the slightest thing while at the same time trying to protect each other from the bad guys.

The book is full of mystery and secrets, I really couldn't guess what was going to happen. There is a wonderfully fulfilling ending but I am still extremely happy to hear that there is a book 2 on the way.

Huge thanks to @KidsBloomsbury for the finished copy of The Raven Heir by @stephanieburgis! It was published yesterday & I finished reading it late last night - best fantasy I've read for a long while - a very satisfying, cleverly plotted read. https://t.co/KYN6nfhxxM

A solid fantasy story that would make a good introduction to the genre for Middle Grade readers.

The story follows Cordelia, together with her siblings: Giles, and Rosalind, as they enter the world beyond the castle in the forest that is all that they know, having been made to flee after their home is beseiged.

The plot centres around the fact that the realm needs a new king/queen, and that many of the noble families fight for ascendancy and to have influence over the next heir to the throne.

That's pretty much it.

It's well-written, and it's a fast-paced read, so might be a good introduction to the genre, but for me, an older reader, so admittedly not the target audience, it lacked depth of character or plot, and felt pretty generic. It was nicely written, but I found myself feeling pretty indifferent on finishing it.

There was no real explanation of why Cordelia should feel so strongly about a country she'd been isolated from for her whole life that she would go to the lengths she does at the end. The whole search for the crown, and the varying (and often very convenient) forms of magic are not delved into as much as they could be. But, I think it is the characters that suffer most. I was the most interested in the eldest brother, who had protected, defended, and known about Cordelia all along, but he is only given a few fleeting mentions, and no real back story. Cordelia and her siblings suffer from having single personality traits (or abilities) and that is the only thing about them that is ever really mentioned. Whatever the situation, each sibling tries to tackle it with their ability, no matter how inappropriate it is, and it seems as though it just over-emphasises that each ability is 'their thing': you've got the fighty one, the 'wild' one, and the singing one; they don't really grow or show any depth beyond their single skill.

I know I'm not the target audience, but I came to this fresh from reading another Middle Grade book about magic, a journey, and centering on three siblings, and really loved it, so much that I immediately bought the sequels. This just felt a bit generic, but it wasn't bad, or offensive in any way, just not very memorable, so would make a solid fantasy introduction to a young reader.

A comforting adventure, with fantastic world-building!

I really enjoyed this book. Cordelia is a strong, complex heroine, and what stood out to me most was how good the world-building is. I think everyone would love the ability to transform into any animal of their choosing, and it was especially mesmerising to see how the world around Cordelia changed depending on what creature she was.

One of the biggest strengths of this book (aside from the world-building) is the familial relationships - I won't go into too much detail here as it involves big spoilers, but I loved the relationships between Cordelia and her triplet siblings, as well as her complex relationship with her mother. This elevated the book for me so it became not just a story about magic, but also of family dynamics and therefore the stakes were considerably raised.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and decided of my own volition to leave an honest review.

This book, like the other books by the author published by Bloomsbury, is such a comforting, enjoyable read. I loved it!

Having read the blurb and seen the cover, we were excited to read this book as my children and I both enjoy fantasy books. It did not disappoint.

The story is about the Kingdom of Corvenne where the dukes and duchesses are constantly fighting about who should be on the throne leading the land and all the people to be in a constant state of disruption with death and destruction all around. Since the Raven Crown was broken no king or Queen has been able to sit on the throne and survive.

The story centres on Cordelia and her family who have been living In a castle hidden in an enchanted forest since before she was born. Her mother is a sorceress and her elder brother Connall is following in her footsteps but she and her triplets have chosen to follow other paths. Giles loves to sing; Rosalind loves to fight and Cordelia can change shape into any animal she wants. Alys a family friend lives with them in the castle. The triplets have no idea about life outside the forest until their life is shattered by the arrival of 2 dukes who want the eldest triplet to be the King or Queen but none of them know who this is.

The triplets set out on a journey to save their family and escape the crown but it turns into a journey of revelations, self discovery, learning what it means to trust and be trusted and being selfless in the face of adversity. It encourages the reader to reflect on what it means to be a family.

We thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it for age 9-12 although younger children would enjoy it, some of the plot points and way the story is laid out could be confusing for them.

THE RAVEN HEIR is a fun, cute, fast, little book about the power of family.

Cordelia is the only narrator, trying to escape with her siblings as various secrets come to light. Not all of them are nice secrets, so she tries to keep them to herself - except that doesn't go well, and she has to work out what family really means.

t was nice to see a book merge blood and found family elements. Often, if you have a found family book, then the blood family is a toxic mess. I love seeing strong, supportive, loving blood families, and this book has that as well as found families.

Her shapeshifting powers were pretty cool - and the variety of animals she transformed into was great. From eavesdropping, to escaping rooms, to defence, she had a shape for everything and didn't stick to one main form. It was a versatile use of magic.

The elements of the story about all the various Dukes trying to control the throne was nice - often in MG there is just one manipulative element and one who are nice, but nope, all of them are to be avoided. The way it ended, though, seemed a bit unrealistic - that Cordelia could just put her foot down and that was that. She is only 12, she didn't even say she'd take her mother's advice or anything. She's a sheltered child whose never been at court, and no one really points out that she's going to hopeless in charge?

It did, however, fall into the category of books that leave very little impression on me. I've just finished it, and am sat here struggling to think of something to say. It's not a "bad book" - those reviews are really easy to write, as I can delve into all the reasons I didn't enjoy a book. But it's also not a book I really enjoyed or had loads of thoughts about.

I have been a huge fan of Stephanie Burgis for a long time now, and so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Raven Heir, her latest middle grade fantasy novel.

I loved the siblings, especially Cordelia, Rosalind, and Giles. At the beginning of the book, they all have their own ideas of what to do, but I loved the way that their strong family bond kept them together. I loved their different takes on magic, and the way they slowly began to put some trust in each other. I especially loved Cordelia’s magic, the connection to the land, and the creatures who live there, is so appealing. And have you seen the beautiful cover?

Overall, this was a wonderful, magical adventure, and a story of true family. It’s suitable for children and adults alike. I can’t wait to read whatever Stephanie Burgis writes next.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

This was a solid children's fantasy novel.

Cordelia was a likeable, relatable main character and her shapeshifting powers were so cool and seemed like a lot of fun. I also really enjoyed the relationships she has with her siblings. It's a lovely tale of familial love and loyalty and is filled with gorgeous descriptors.

The writing was light and engaging and made the novel easy to read. This was a really nice read for me, I enjoyed it.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I am a great fan of Stephanie Burgis and she has not failed to come up with the goods yet again. What a heroine, who can transform into any creature; it reminded me of scenes from the Disney version of "Sword in the Stone".